padappotti
This is a well-written, well-acted, well-scored, well-edited, well- shot, and well-paced movie. Sure, there are some directorial mistakes such as city raised actors butchering the accent, disruption of the narrative by some song sequences, etc. However, I don't understand how this movie was regarded as a POS when it came out. I'm disheartened by tamil audience's verdict. OKK is a subpar movie and in no way can compare to this. Mani, if you get a chance to read this, please consider collaborating more with Jayamohan and other prominent writers in the future. If you believe love stories is what would get tamil audience celebrate a movie, please work on one along with a writer. I'm giving 10 just to boost the score. This is an easy 7+ movie.
Vihari_Krishna
Story : It is an atypical "Good vs Evil" story told in Maniratnam's perception.Performances : The casting is superb. Everyone acted well but Aravind Swamy and Arjun shine in their roles. Gautham Karthik makes a fine debut.Story-Screenplay-Direction : Story is nice with some interesting twists thrown in. Screenplay is little dragging. It is absolutely dull in the scenes following Sam's conviction. The concept of hero joining Bergman is unconvincingly told. I thought hero is avenging. Direction is nice. The scenes like Thomas taking the newly born baby into his hands and looking at Jesus Christ's idol are excellently shot and they show the class of Maniratnam.Music & Background Score : Music by A.R.Rahman is godly. It is divine, sweet, eclectic, soul stirring and adjectives are insufficient. Every song is a gem. This is easily the best album from Mani-ARR combo since "Alaipayuthey". Background Score is excellent again. Rahman has bought in the global music feel to the background score. The orchestration is superb. In short, the music and background score out shines the movie itself.Other Departments : Cinematography by Rajeev Menon is topnotch effort. Watch the climax and know how good the cinematography of this film is. Editing is okay. Artwork is excellent.Final Piece : This is typical Maniratnam movie. It is dark, silent and has little commercial elements. But Maniratnam's fans like me may like this film. I liked it. Plus points are some extraordinary scenes, excellent music, performances by Arjun and Aravind and world class cinematography. Minus points are over all slow pace of the movie, unconvincing told concept of hero joining Bergman and lack of universal appeal. Watch it with academic interest.
amar-nathanson
Forgiveness or Revenge: When faced with the criminal destroying everything you stand for, which path would you choose? What leads to spiritual enlightenment, following a preacher formally educated in a religious discipline, or a peek into a heart filled with childlike innocence. Can a human truly be classified as being God or Devil, or are both entities inside each of us, and only the circumstances dictate who manifests outside? With a biblically inspired tale set in the backdrop of the lives of Christian fishermen in Southern Tamil Nadu, these are some of the questions director Mani Ratnam seems to be asking.While the ideas of sin, redemption, revenge, forgiveness in cinema have been around since the beginning of cinema itself, the choice of the sea as a backdrop allows the director to use the various moods of Mother Nature to elevate the emotions in the depicted events, and credit, in this regard, is due to the cinematographer, Rajiv Menon. For a movie with seemingly lofty intentions, the actors do not disappoint. Arvind Swamy as the pragmatic priest who uses carrots and sticks to straighten a boy with an adverse past, Gautham as the enigmatic young hero in constant struggle to grapple with his place in the society around him, Thulasi the young convent girl who refuses to grow up, and Arjun, the man who made a deal with the Devil, and would stop at nothing to get ahead, all of them play their characters convincingly. The disappointments in the movie are the under utilization of some songs in the excellent soundtrack, and the final showdown which, although shot splendidly, could have packed a stronger emotional punch, either through better dialogue or by tweaking the storyline. Part of this could have also been an outcome of editing, and one hopes that an uncut version of the movie releases on DVD at some point that better explains these problems.Following Thalapathy and Raavan, this is the director's third venture to be inspired by a religious epic. While the other two movies were more direct retelling of the Mahabharata and Ramayana, Kadal is not quite a reinterpretation of an epic, but characters and events were certainly inspired by the stories from the Christian faith (the betrayal, crucifixion, resurrection). Is it mere coincidence that the hero, born as a child to a woman named Mary, and constantly referred to as God's son in the movie, sported longish hair, mustache and beard on his thin visage almost reminding us of the Biblical son of God. Of course, if indeed the purpose was make a movie inspired by the story of Christ, then unlike Raavan and Thalapathy, why is religion an explicit element in this movie. Perhaps, since the question posed is that of choosing a path for life, a religious backdrop is inevitable. In a tale about forgiveness, Christianity may have provided the ideal landscape.Director Mani Ratnam, it appears, has indeed traveled a far distance from his evergreen hits such as Mouna Ragam, Roja, Anjali, where the movie takes you through an emotional journey without necessarily asking you to stop and think about what you just saw. Movies such as Raavan and Kadal have through their sub-textual intent made us question our premises about their stories and possibly, our own.
