For philosopher Gilles Deleuze, « the affection-image is the close-up shot and the close-up shot is the face ». Indeed, close-up is not only a film technique to focus on an element, it actually creates […]
Category: Frames
The tree of life : Punnagai Mannan & Raavanan
When I saw Raavanan a few years ago, this image of Raagini (Aishwarya Rai), fallen on a tree, immediately reminded me of this iconic opening scene in Punnagai Mannan, where Sethu (Kamal Haasan) escapes death […]
No time for love in “Kadhalum Kadanthu Pogum”
Kathir (Vijay Sethupathy) is a semi-looser rowdy who dreams about owning a bar. Yazhini (Madonna Sebastian) is a graduated engineer searching for a job. At first glance, they have nothing in common other than being […]
The area as main character in Pa.Ranjith’s “Madras” & “Kaala”
In both “Madras” and “Kaala”, the heroes may be Kaali (Karthi) and Kaala (Rajinikanth) for the movies credits. But I tend to think that the main character is actually the area of the city that […]
Frame #8 : When stairs stare at you in “Anjali”
I love Anjali for many cinephile and personal reasons. One of them is the way Mani Ratnam depicts the life of a upper middle class neighborhood. Chitra (Revathi) and Shekar (Raghuvaran) move on in a […]
Frame(s) #7 : Aishwarya Rajesh framed within frames
In her young career, Aishwarya Rajesh has boldly played an interesting range of characters, often depicted on the screen with frames within frames. This visual technique is very meaningful as it shows little painting canvas, […]
Frame(s) #6 : Trees and humans in “Merku Thodarchi Malai”
Trees are important characters in Merku Thodarchi Malai. Firstly, they are used as benchmarks in the vast landscape to express the mountain people identities, to hang their flags. Thus, Rangu hangs his “kayli” at the […]
Frame(s) #5 : Love & train
Film : Thillana Mohanambal (1968) Director : AP Nagarajan Cinematography : KS Prasad Cast : Sivaji Ganesan, Padmini Film : Vaaranam Aayiram (2008) Director : Gautham Vasudev Menon Cinematography : R Rathnavelu Cast : Surya, […]
Frame #4 : Love struggles in “Minsara Kanavu”
Film : Minsara Kanavu Director : Rajiv Menon Cinematography : Ravi K.Chandran Cast : Prabhu Deva, Kajol, Aravind Swamy Deva (Prabhu Deva) and Priya (Kajol) have just fallen in love in the previous song sequence, […]
“Still the same” : thoughts about ’96 Ram
Ram : the loner “96” could have been named the Life of Ram, as the opening song is, in my view, the whole movie in a nutshell. Ram (Vijay Sethupathi) is the soul of “96”, […]
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