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Reviews
The Da Vinci Code (2006)
Another Well Made Film by Ron Howard
I went to see the film on the first day when it was released for the public. Having read a few negative reviews in the media, I was rather apprehensive about this film by Ron Howard. I recently purchased the illustrated edition of the Da Vinci Code, but decided to read it after watching the film, as I did not want to know how the story begins, progress and ends. Here I was inside the theater with no anticipation or expectation. The author, Dan Brown never claimed his book was based on facts, and consequently he called it a fiction.
The result was fantastic. I enjoyed every second of it's 149 minutes. It was Indiana Jones all over again, except the Da Vinci Code was a bit more intellectually written, a step higher than the average "Boys Adventure" story. During the hunting for the Holy Grail, the characters study several paintings by Leonardo Da Vinci, and found a clue in his Last Supper. Whether the person standing right side of Christ was Mary Magdalin or John the Apostle maybe debatable. But for the sake of the film, it had to be Mary Magdalin to whom Christ was married and bore a child. Apparently this information was considered taboo in the religious world, and certain factions within the religion tried to conceal that side from the public at any cost- including murders.
AS the story progress, there were a couple of times, the dialog seemed to be a bit lengthy when explaining some of the controversial theories. This is to be expected in a film like this, as it is going to be screened worldwide where there are millions of non Christians gather into their theaters to enjoy.
Tom Hanks has done justice to his character as Professor Robert Langdon. Ian Mckellan is brilliant as Lee Teibing who outshines all others. Audrey TauTou's Sophie is commendable. French actor Jean Reno- I haven't seen him since his appearance in Mission Impossible- is built for this role. Paul Bettany's Silas too was well done. The sound effects combined with the Dolby Digital was fabulous. All in all, Ron Howard made another good film to entertain the hungry audiences worldwide.
The Man-Eating Leopard of Rudraprayag (2005)
Man eating Leopard of Rudraprayag
It is one of the well documented stories ever written on the subject by the author and the hunter Jim Corbett who went after the man eating leopard of Rudraprayag in the year 1925-26. He was accompanied by the Commissioner of Kumaon, Sir William Ibbotson. Both men worked so hard, day and night following this animal, which according to the documents, killed 125 people. Corbett was a 50 year old bachelor, very much in control, a tall (just over 6 feet)seasoned hunter and sporting his trademark mustache during this period, while Ibbotson was short (about 5'6"), clean-shaven and married to Jean.
In the film, the BBC twisted the story so far from reality and painted Corbett as a young arrogant foulmouthed punk, assaulting Ibbotson and developing a romantic interest with Jean Ibbotson. In reality, Corbett spent his nights chasing the leopard and never had any affair with Jean. In the film he is in bed with Jean Ibbotson, neglecting the leopard hunt. It also shows the pundit (played by veteran actor Roshan Seth) was killed by the leopard. Here the BBC made a plastic dummy of the Pundit, and it sure looked like a cheap plastic dummy painted with red stripes. In reality the Pundit was never killed by the leopard. Also in the film Corbett was portrayed as very edgy, bad tempered, foulmouthed and points his rifle to nearly everyone. It was not at all like that in reality. The film is riddled with horrible mistakes after mistakes. One viewer said that instead of tying up a goat as a bait to attract the leopard, they should have tied up the writer, director and producer to save the story.
In my opinion, it is the most awful 45 minute film ever produced by BBC and they had the guts to label it as a true story while their film is nothing but a fictitious account of incidents that never took place.
It is evident that this film was made with a very low budget with inexperienced producer, director and writer - none of them appears to have read the original account, the book titled The Man eating Leopard of Rudraprayag by Jim Corbett.
Below the Sahara (1953)
African Wildlife~ Documentary
Excellent photography in brilliant color featuring Armand and wife Michella on Safari in various parts of Africa, starting with their arrival in Nairobi. Their friendship with two tamed cheetahs and a crested crane added humor and excitement to their camp life. Photographing elephants with large tusks was an added bonus for this feature, as elephants with huge tusks no longer exists in Africa, it is a thing of the past, as poachers killed them all for ivory, except a handful now exist in the whole continent.
The film is historically important, as it shows vast herds of impalas, kudus, elephants and other game once flourished in Africa. Their numbers have been drastically reduced today. The only animals still abundant in East and South Africa are the wildbeast, zebra and Cape buffalo.
Overall an excellent documentary from the great film maker.
White Witch Doctor (1953)
A Beautiful Film with wonderful cast
I voted for the magnificent scenery, as the entire movie was filmed on location in Africa with Robert Mitchum and Susan Hayward. The film script was based on facts; witch doctors and leopard men are still functioning in various parts of Africa. According to some experts and anthropologists, the witch doctors in Kenya and Tanzania have a profound effect on locals and they can cast spells and even cause death to other people.
This Superbly photographed film was directed by the veteran director Henry Hathaway. This is one of the last films by Susan Hayward before she died of cancer. Robert Mitchum shines as an animal trapper and hunter (better than his role in RAMPAGE). It is worth watching if it ever appear on DVD format.