The DSIR, Autumn '14

Cover & Design: Abhayraj Jain

From the Editor’s Desk

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Dear Readers, Over the years, the DSIR, as a publication, has grown exponentially, and with great comfort I can say, it has grown beyond the reach of other publications.

The expectations that have tied itself to this prestigious publication intimidate each Editor-in-Chief who dares to surpass his predecessor. The mesmerizing covers, the quality articles and of course, the fabulous editorials have always been a regular feature of the DSIR. But what makes one issue different from the other?

The theme. For those readers who don’t know: the DSIR concentrates on a specific theme with each issue. When one is given the liberty of choosing a theme, you wish you had infinite issues to cover the ideas flowing through your mind. Unfortunately, there’s only so much that you can do. For the second issue of the year, we have reviewed and paid tribute to a few of the plethora of outstanding works from the 80s and 90s. (I sincerely apologize if your favourite did not make it to our issue.) As you may notice, most of the articles are reviewing gamechangers and things that gave birth to cults. Again, that’s why we consider these subjects to be the swan amongst the geese. The scope is massive, ranging from the animated world of the Simpsons and Pokemon, to the epic space world of Star Wars. This issue, we also look at interesting features on industrial metal music and a phenomenon called the PlayStation.

Working for the DSIR has been an honour, and I would like to thank this year’s editorial board as it truly has been a pleasure to work with them. As I pass on the baton to the next Editor-in-Chief, I would urge the upcoming Editorial Boards to keep raising the bar. I hope this DSIR is equally well received as the previous issue, if not better. The intention will hopefully be served: stress busting reading that you are in need of after those thankless hours spent reading textbooks.

Although during these holidays, most of us will be lost in the world of our books preparing for our board examinations, it remains the DSIR’s job to give you a very tempting alternative to a more enjoyable vacation.

Impressive cover, check. Quality articles, check. Good editorial? Well if you’ve reached the end, it’s good enough!

Signing off,

Armaan Imam

Contents Pg 4

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Features

Entertainment - circa 1985

Ms Stuti Kuthiala writes on entertainment before the technological era.

Pg 6

How to Succeed

The Gaming Revolution

Pg 5

Pocket Monsters

Pg 8

Dhruv Johri pays tribute to the lives and remembers the deaths that affected the world in the 80s and 90s.

Mr Shrey Nagalia explains the difficulties encountered while staging a musical.

Pg 9

The Ones the World Lost

Shlok Jain reviews a franchise that has lent a new universe to children of all ages.

Vireshwar Sidhu writes about the unsung roots of the console that redefined gaming.

Literature Pg 11

A Perfect Spy

Pg 10

Amadeus

Pg 12

Anvay Grover reviews one of John Le Carré’s best works.

Jonathan Livingston Seagull

Chaitanya Kediyal writes on Richard Bach’s metaphorical journey as a contrarian seagull.

Pulkit Agarwal reviews Peter Shaffer’s account of the life of the legendary composer Mozart.

Pg 13

The Simpsons

Armaan Imam writes on the dysfunctional American family that is so close to our hearts.

Movies

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Star Wars

Pg 14

Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels

Pg 17

Bram Stoker’s Dracula

Pg 19

Thriller

Pg 21

The Number of The Beast

Pg 23

Mr Debasish Chakrabarty writes on George Lucas’ galactic world.

Pg 16

Fight Club

Aditya Bhardwaj talks about David Fincher’s cult classic.

Pg 18

Zayaan Khodaiji gives his take on Guy Ritchie’ s thriller comedy.

Saving Private Ryan

Devesh Sahai writes on Steven Spielberg’s epic war film set during World War II.

Abhayraj Jain reviews Francis Ford Coppola’s adaptation of Bram Stoker’s classic.

Music Pg 20

After All, You’re My Wonderwall

Aditya Bhattacharya reviews the band that breathed new life into English rock.

Pg 22

Requiem for a Dying World

Yash Dhandhania comments on the King of Pop’s thrilling career.

Dr Peter McLaughlin recalls the music genre that smashed its way through Europe.

Zayaan Khodaiji shares his opinion on the album that made Iron Maiden what it is.

Entertainment -Mscirca 1985 Stuti Kuthiala

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Growing up in the 80s was really quite special. But then I presume everyone is bound to have fond memories of the decade they experience their teens in, come of age, and develop into young adults. However, what made that decade so different from this one, in which most of the young readers of this article are going to discover themselves, was the complete absence of personal gadgets such as mobile phones, laptops and gaming consoles. Back then, we had to get more resourceful when it came to wanting exposure to culture, entertainment, music and leisure activities.

Reading books was the very first option since it could be done on a modest budget. Bargain book stores and student-friendly book bazaars in labyrinthine lanes near universities were popular haunts. And no, the concept of swanky book cafes had not as yet emerged! One borrowed books from the private libraries of friends and relatives, treating them like the treasures that they were. Travel outside the country was not common and the best way to transport one’s self to different worlds and cultures was via the printed page.

Terrestrial and extra-terrestrial characters inhabited our thoughts and our conversations. We felt the magic of Marquez, Murakami and Rushdie; were thrilled by Stephen King, Umbert Eco, le Carre, and Ludlum alike; travelled through space with Carl Sagan, Douglas Adams and Asimov; were stunned by Vonnegut, Updike, Heller and Kerouac; heard the powerful female voices of Atwood, Lessing and Anais Nin; devoured Messrs.

James Clavell and Michener, and waited impatiently for more Kundera, Julian Barnes and Martin Amis, to name just a few personal favourites.

Before you roll your eyes and declare all of us belonging to that generation to be bookish bores – we did other things, too! I was lucky to be in Delhi for college those days. Even now, the Capital is a centre (pun intended) for theatrical, dance and musical shows. All cultural roads seemed to lead to the Mandi House area where besides the NSD (National School of Drama), there were several other venues available to the performing arts. It was considered de rigueur to attend performances at Bharatiya Kala Kendra, Kamani Auditorium, India International Centre, Max Mueller Bhavan, the Shri Ram Centre, Siri Fort Auditorium, etc. You were termed quite the ‘loser’ if you were not able to add your two anna bit to the post show discussions in the college canteen the morning after. I am taking a wild guess that the term ‘culture vulture’ originated around that time! Theatre groups, dance troupes, poets and qawaals, singers and musicians, philharmonic orchestras and ballet companies from India and abroad were providing us with world class shows. Another much- anticipated kind of show was the newly founded ‘fashion show’ and I can recall one absolutely breathtaking one which was organized in the beautifully lit Purana Qila by Rohit Khosla, an Old Boy of the School, who is considered to be the pioneer of the Indian fashion industry.

Even attending the various annual college festivals was a treat not to be missed. Each year these events would become bigger (Image Source: Desh Bangla Academy) and more impressive. There was great excitement in crossing over to the North or the South campus, as the case may be, and also in ‘legally’ entering otherwise forbidden all girls’ or all boys’ colleges. Debates, quizzes, original plays, rock shows, literary symposiums, dance, fine arts competitions, sporting events and nukkad nataks were some of the main creative activities. All reputed colleges had societies and clubs catering to these pursuits round the year and one could be as involved as one wished to be. As cash-strapped youngsters, another ‘done thing’ in the yearly calendar was to volunteer as assistants at stalls and kiosks at the many trade fairs that were organized in Pragati Maidan. It not only provided one with a little extra pocket money but also made one feel very grown up.

Watching movies in single screen halls and not multiplexes was yet another different experience. Haldi- yellow popcorn and unbranded potato chips in greasy plastic packets accompanied by a cola completed the outing.

Television was not much of a distraction as only a few programmes on air catered for the youth.

You may well ask when did we study/work as college goers and young professionals should? Well, I guess, we did it all because the world was not moving at the pace it is now. There was ample time to work hard and enjoy the finer things in life, unimpeded by excessive technology. We were ‘charging’, ‘downloading’, ‘filing’ and ‘saving’ in a different manner.

Issue 2 ‘14

The Ones the World Lost

5

Dhruv Johri

As a budding musician, I often ask myself the poignant question, ‘How does my music leave a mark in the world that I live in?’ Not many individuals have been available to leave a legacy that is worthy of acclaim long after their exit from the mainstream society, and with this piece of writing I will try to cover some of the most popular faces of the music industry. I will be covering various genres varying from Pop to Heavy metal, and from Rap to Jazz. The focus will be placed on the time frame of the 1980s and 1990s, when many artists lost their lives to narcotics, homicide or accidents.

From personal experience I know that some of the most energetic music to be performed is Reggae. Not many people were aware of this genre of music before the great Bob Marley took the world by storm. His presence signalled the bursting of Rastafarian music on the world stage and has remained there ever since.

His struggle with cancer symbolized the popular phrase ‘The show must go on,’ with him continuing his performances to the point when his illness prevented him from doing so.

Another man who the world lost due to illness was Queen’s vocalist Freddie Mercury. Mercury’s brilliant vocal skills have set the bar extremely high and very few men have been able to come close to imitating his skill. His death increased Queen’s Popularity in light of the somewhat cynical ‘Death Phase,’ which triggered a much awaited resurgence post the 1980s.

The name Miles Davis isn’t a name that is often heard among the youth today, however this shows and some may disagree with me, how sadly the appreciation of Jazz is gradually fading. Miles Davis was one of the greatest Trumpeters of all time, because of his ability to adapt to the changing styles of music and to fuse his own Jazz styles with Rock and even popular music. He is remembered for his virtuosic Trumpet solos and is one of the greatest faces of Jazz music.

Homicide is an issue that has deprived the world of many musical greats. John Lennon, the co-founder and lead vocalist of The Beatles was one such individual. His fame was largely due to his great lyrical ability, both in solo and band performances. Over thirty years have passed since his death, however songs like Imagine are still essentials in various collections. Personally I was made aware of this when I came across a little music box playing Lennon’s music in a small corner shop in Spain. This shows the very extent of his popularity. His death inspired various bands such as Coldplay and the Arctic Monkeys. Another life to be claimed by homicide was that of the Rap artist, Tupac Shakur. Tupac’s story has been a source of inspiration for many rap artists, considering he emerged from East Harlem Manhattan amidst poverty and burst onto the world stage. He showed the world the art of expression through rap music.

(Image Source: Growlandia.com)

Narcotics and alcohol abuse have been long-running problems in the music industry. John Bonham, the original drummer for Led Zeppelin was one such individual who suffered at the hands of this problem. He has often been rated as one of the greatest drummers of all time, and his death inspired various drummers like Joey Krammer of Aerosmith and Peter Criss of Kiss. One of the greatest alternative rock musicians, Kurt Cobain, committed suicide also probably under the influence of drugs. He wrote in his suicide note that he had “not felt the excitement of listening to as well as creating music, along with really writing . . . for too many years now”. His death resulted in the rise of alternative rock groups such as Florence and the Machines and Paramore.

The music from the 1980s has never truly been emulated perfectly. After all, as a gentleman rightly pointed out, music is played to express and not to impress. Popular music today fails to have the same lasting effect that the music from the 1980s and 1990s did. The sudden burst of electronic music has only aggravated the situation, and the songs, which were once hit singles, are now forgotten.

Issue 2 ‘14

How to Succeed

6

Mr Shrey Nagalia

One might think that after the success of How To Succeed in Business Without Really Trying, School should attempt another musical, one that is even bigger and better. Rocky perhaps? Students (Finch in particular) and their parents have been coming to PCH and me, asking us to do another musical. Our combined answer – NO! The reason? Well that’s where this review comes in. Maybe once the readers know what went on in the making of H2S they might understand our hesitation in picking up another musical so quickly.

I will try and write this review in such a way that along with explaining the processes that went into the making of H2S, I am also able to shed some light on the mechanics of the genre that Musical Theatre is.

Essentially, like any Musical, H2S had multiple components that needed to come together – Actors, dancers, orchestra, choir, AV – lights and sound and Stage Committee. Due to the size and the quality that we desired to achieve, each component became that much more complex. But I seem to have jumped the gun. I forgot to mention that the first thing required to do a Musical is the Copyright. You see, Copyright laws protect every play, song, Musical etc., and one has to pay royalty every time one want to use any of the protected material. That is exactly what we did for q. We bought the copyright from a company in New York, and even paid extra-money in order to have all the musical scores and librettos well in advance. That is how every Musical works.

That done, casting seemed to be the obvious next step. Now in professional theatre there are often a series of auditions in which aspiring actors showcase their skills of acting, dancing and of course, singing.

In School, keeping in mind our limited pool of actors and performers, I chose to go with my gut feeling, casting the student I thought best fitted a particular role. I was prepared to drill them later in order to make them suitably adept at the things required of them. Thankfully, as I can now say in hindsight, the decision turned out to be a rather good one. After casting, the real work began in the form of multiple rehearsals.

(Image Source: The Doon School)

Rehearsals for an actor in a musical are much more demanding. He/she has to act, dance and sing, all as part of one performance. And the most difficult element is that of timing and stage positioning. In a Musical there is no recorded music. Everything is played live by the orchestra, which puts a lot of pressure on both the orchestra as well as the performers. The orchestra has to constantly adjust itself according to the performer and the performer has to be extremely mindful of the musical cues and tempo. And since both the performers and the orchestral music cannot perform in exactly the same way in every performance, there is an element of unpredictability and adaptability in each performance. This is not the only the soul of Musical Theatre but also its biggest challenge, one that, thanks to the work done by PCH and the hard work of the students, we managed to overcome and capitalize on in H2S.

While the orchestra has the added responsibility of not only producing beautiful music but also doing so keeping in mind the limitations of the performers, the performers, for their part, not only have to sing and act, but also need to be at exactly the right place at the right time. Otherwise, every time the dancers come on and the performers have to join in the dance sequence, the steps will not be coordinated. And not only will the performers and the rest of the dancers be out of sync, even the music and the dancers will be out of sync as a result. Thus, the dynamics among the dancers, performers and orchestra become extremely delicate. While rehearsing for H2S, actors had to be very careful about their stage positioning.

Moreover, since the show was being performed in the Rosebowl, which has its own distinct shape and size, everything had to be choreographed and directed keeping these factors in mind. Once the music starts, and if the performers and dancers are not in the right position, then getting the fluidity of performance becomes very difficult.

Now, in a two hour musical, with multiple scene changes, life for the Stage Committee is a bit difficult. In professional theatre, the backstage managers and stage managers have to be extremely qualified people Issue 2 ‘14

7 who not only have to figure out which prop goes where, but also how it will get there. They also have to deal with elaborate scene changes, many of which are carried out with the help of sophisticated stage settings that are controlled by electronic panels. Now in the Rosebowl, all we have are juniors who scurry around the Rosebowl with great efficiency and speed and who put the props and set the stage within seconds, and that too during blackouts. However, in order to achieve this, they have to sit through hours and hours of rehearsals, jotting down every bit of detail when it comes to putting which prop where and when, how long the black-outs will be there for, how many stage committee people are to be in which wing etc. Not just the props, when there are heavy stage changes involved, the stage committee needs to know exactly how to set the stage, at what angle, depth, how many people will be required to carry which table and, yet again, in how much time.

However, apart from the musicians, I feel the most high-pressure job is that of the people who are handling the lights and sounds. No matter how good the performance is, it will amount to nothing if it can’t be seen.

Similarly, no matter how amazing the music might be, it will all go to waste if it can’t be heard. A major chunk of the H2S budget was spent on procuring and hiring AV equipment. From expensive Sennheiser mikes for the performers to two 32-bit mixers, from baby spots to M-10s to dimmers, we had everything.

Now again, in a Broadway musical, all the light changes and sound effects and levels are fed into a computer that then automatically makes all the changes and adjusts the levels. In School, we have the boys. In H2S, we had around 50 lights that were used for multiple light changes and effects. And I can tell you with great sincerity that these light changes were not simple. They were often a mixture of three different lighting combinations! All the reds and the ambers and the blues that one saw, along with the perfect spots on actors and at the exact moment when they had to come on were a result of hours of observation, jotting down notes and then practicing. And that’s just the lighting bit. The sound part was even more complicated. Each actor was wearing an extremely sensitive mike, and there was an entire science behind the working of these mikes. Similarly, each musical instrument had to be plugged into the mixers and their levels had to be constantly adjusted for each song. Manually! If it had not been for the expertise of PCH and the hard work of the AV boys, the sounds with which the Rose Bowl came alive during every performance would not have been so clear. One of the things that the audience had to say about the show was that they could hear everything absolutely clearly. That was no ordinary feat. With eight or nine actors wearing mikes at any given point in the production and about thirteen instruments plugged in, not to forget the fifteen-member strong choir, the AV did a fantastic job indeed.

I hope I have been able to shed some light on the various aspects of H2S, and, by extension, Musical Theatre.

As mentioned earlier, these individual components were extremely complicated, and to bring them all together to put up one, seamless show required months of practice. In many ways, I don’t think I have been ale to do justice to this review, simply because I didn’t even make an attempt to explain the complexity of music that you heard and the months of practice and figuring out that went into the production of such music. But I am no musician and if there is one person who can do complete justice to the explanation of that hard work and the difficulty of technicality that was involved, that’s PCH, not me. However, what I might have been able to achieve is to give a glimpse of what went on into the making of H2S, how much fun it was, and also how challenging it was.

So am I ready to take on another Musical? No. Musicals cannot be done every year, neither should they be done every year. They should only be done when one comes across the perfect musical, when the yearning to do that musical is so strong that every barrier seems surmountable. More importantly, just like every thing is enjoyed in small doses, same is the case with Musicals. As far as I am concerned, I would rather let people remember H2S a little while longer, let them remember its songs and scenes, and let them say it was one great Musical. A little while longer.

Issue 2 ‘14

Pocket Monsters

8

Shlok Jain

Pocket Monsters, popularly known by their more adorable (and less violent) acronym, Pokémon are probably the most loved of all fictional characters to have ever been created. The anime series as created by Satoshi Tariji in 1996, has taken the world by storm. The largest television anime franchise and second largest video-game in the world, after the Mario Bros., has been the talk of every youth generation of for the last 18 years. With over 17 seasons of enthralling adventures and a plethora of monsters (718 of them, to be precise) of varying capabilities and sizes, Pokémon has had an impact on children and adults, alike, which is second to none.

Over the last 18 years, these pocket monsters have formed the crux of discussion of every school-going child. Be it sitting in the bus trading cards, or playing the game on the Nintendo or watching the daily 5 pm show on Cartoon Network without fail, Pokémon has managed to seep into the life of the last few youth generations: with the hero, beloved childhood fictional character Ash Ketchum.

Pokémon isn’t simply a television show; it’s a global movement, a phenomenon which is unparalleled and unprecedented. Just like football unites the masses, the smaller children were united with Pokémon as a common front. The adventures of the 10 year old Ash Ketchum from the sleepy Pallet Town has enthralled every young adult of today’s age, and continues to engross a plethora of children everyday. The initial five seasons follow Ash’s adventures from becoming a naive and inexperienced Pokémon trainer, to a respectable one through the regions of Kanto and Johto. The games on Nintendo which released simultaneously also started to gain momentum, with Pokémon Red and Green becoming the first video games ever to sell over a million copies throughout the world.

Although the character of Ash ages slowly, this provides the element of continuity in the story. As he discovers and explores new regions such as Hoenn, Sinnoh and Unova, he is introduced to new Pokémons, with different capabilities and forms. These regions are all inspired by real-life geographical locations, for instance Hoenn was inspired by a northern Island in Japan, whereas Sinnoh is based on Manhattan, in New York. Along Ash’s journey in the Kanto region, after he beats the first two gym leaders and receives their badges, the gym leaders Brock and Misty accompany him in his travels to explore the world.

These friends are central to his emotional development and help him progress as a Pokémon trainer in his world.

Though many would compare Ash Ketchum to Red, the protagonist of the video-game series, Ash may not have as many accomplishments, he has done a lot more then Red could ever do for the Pokémon community. Also, all the friends that have accompanied Ash in his travels have always benefitted from his company. They were either discontented (Image Source: G.cz) gym leaders, or were languishing in uselessness before Ash gave them a purpose by providing them an opportunity to explore the Pokémon world. When they leave Ash, they leave with an inculcated sense of ambition and an innate need to explore. When they do return, they return with having achieved much more than they could ever achieve while sitting in their gym.

Ash has also saved the Pokémon world on numerous occasions. May it be the simple defeat of the recurring Team Rocket or Team Magma characters or from the wrath of Mewtwo in the first Pokémon anime movie, Ash has always kept his interests below those of his friends and the Pokémon community. One of his most reputed accomplishments, though, is the fact that he got the opportunity to become the world’s youngest Battle Frontier, though he refused to do so to continue his interest to develop himself further as a Pokémon trainer.

Pokémon, as an anime series might come across as a specifically violent and mature anime show, but it still is one of those rare shows who inculcate a sense of fraternity and passion, though subliminally. It has developed as the premier television anime series which has continued for and shaped the lives of over ten million children around the world. Pokémon, be it video-games, or the anime or the movies, has changed the lens through which anime has been inspected throughout the world.

Issue 2 ‘14

The Gaming Revolution

9

Vireshwar Sidhu

It has been two full decades since the original PlayStation console hit the market. When Sony released the PlayStation, it was the new kid on the block looking to make a name for himself. What Sony ended up doing however, was make a groundbreaking entry into the gaming kingdom and in the process, created one of the most popular gaming consoles in the history of entertainment systems.

With most video games being cartridge based up until this point, the 32-bit PlayStation offered greater potential with its relatively new CD-ROM based games. This made the PlayStation a firm favourite among game developers, for the CD-ROM offered simultaneous movement of characters interlaced with powerful audio and video motion and its development cost a fraction of the price of developing cartridges. Most significantly, the quality of the 3D graphics of the PlayStation was impressive for its time, although they don’t stand close to the type of graphics we have come to know and love greatly these days. Some of the popular PlayStation titles included Crash Bandicoot and Gran Turismo. The PlayStation was also capable of Audio and Video playback. All this and much more made it a complete ‘Entertainment System’. However, had it not been for a contractual disagreement between Sony and Nintendo, there may not have been a PlayStation altogether.

In the wake of the video game market crash in the 80s, Nintendo quickly became the force to be reckoned with, for it rebuilt the industry with the Nintendo Entertainment System (NES). In 1988, while Nintendo was busy developing the Super Nintendo (SNES), officials at Sony were revamping the CD-ROM to develop a disk which would allow simultaneous access of different data. Word got to Nintendo, and it soon reached an agreement with Sony to provide it with a CD-ROM extension to the Super Nintendo. Sony was to provide the tech; Nintendo was to release the console. However, a dispute on the sharing of profits between the two companies resulted in the deal being called off. Nintendo then made contact with Philips for the provision of the CD-ROM, but that deal didn’t materialise either. On the other hand, Sony continued to work on the CD-ROM and the head engineer of the project, Ken Kutaragi, decided for the company to create its own gaming console so as to rival Nintendo.

One small step for mankind.

Another reason to be antisocial.

The road wasn’t all smooth however. Nintendo filed a lawsuit against Sony and its project to develop a gaming console.

Fortunately for Sony, the case went in its favour. Another problem Sony encountered was that unlike other gaming giants such as Sega and Atari, it didn’t have an in-house gaming development studio. Without an influx of compatible games in the market, the Sony PlayStation would be as good (Image Source: Wikimedia Commons) as useless. However, given the major benefits and capabilities of a disk based gaming system as powerful as the PlayStation, developers had already formed a long line to produce games for Sony. With the problem solved, the PlayStation hit Japanese markets in 1994 and the United States a year later. The rest, as they say, is history.

The first gaming console to have sold over 100 million units, the original PlayStation officially ‘died’ in 2006 after a 12 year life span when Sony ceased its manufacturing. But what is left behind is a legacy that continues to live on for the PlayStation altered the course of video gaming forever and ever. From now on, every time you switch on your PS4 to play the latest version of FIFA, you know where it all began.

Issue 2 ‘14

A Perfect Spy - John le Carre

10

Anvay Grover

“You could be the perfect spy. All you need is a cause..”

In his international best seller A Perfect Spy, John le Carré draws a cleverly crafted masterpiece of international espionage, and in the process, of himself. Le Carré had already developed a reputational for spy novels before A Perfect Spy came out, with The Spy Who Came in from the Cold being his ace in the pack.

But A Perfect Spy still won more critical acclaim than any of le Carré’s previous works. So what makes this particular work so critically acclaimed and devastating to read? That is the question that I will attempt to answer in this review.

Le Carré’s previous novels had all been characterized by extensive usage of spy terminology and fastpaced plots. In A Perfect Spy however, all of the espionage jargon becomes secondary to the characters that le Carré builds. The narrative is about Magnus Pym, a debonair double agent who betrays his own nation England Depth of characters, and defects to the Czech Republic. From beginning the novel by showcasing Pym’s cool and confident manner, le Carré feelings of pity and moves the narrative deeper into Pym’s character. That depth devastation evoked. of characterization is the reason that A Perfect Spy manages to draw each and every reader in, and that is why the Pym’s losses in the novel hurt more than they usually do. Le Carré Can be tedious for young does not let the reader perfunctorily glance over someone’s readers to understand. death. At the same time, he also creates an equally complex (Image Source: Sophyan Empire) set of supporting characters. Mary Pym, Magnus’ wife is as well characterized as him, so is Rick, Magnus’ father.

Much of the later parts of the story are played out through letters that Pym writes to his son Tom. The narrative continuously, and without warning, shifts from the present to the past and from a first-person narration to a third person narration. This too allows for a more natural balance between the human and emotional side of a story, and the cold-blooded world of espionage. Shifting the position of the narrative is a technique that le Carré had made his specialty; however, it takes some amount of effort to track Magnus and his story. I would suggest reading this part slowly to avoid losing the plot.

As the narrative moves further, Magnus’ world reveals itself to be one without order, without a state to control the citizens of the many nations the action takes place in. Le Carré wrote this book in a time when everybody suspected everybody else; it was the time of the cold and mutual suspicion. This work reflects that, as it establishes uncertainty of authority, especially with the protagonist betraying his nation. Magnus does not himself know who he belongs to. He is just the prefect spy. The novel hence reflects the post-modern world of flux and uncertainty. The character of Pym is a part of the larger crisis of uncertainty in the world of the 80s, just before this uncertainty comes to an end with the USSR’s dissolution. The motives of Pym do not make him seem like a traitor to the reader, and so he reader too is drawn into the same web of uncertainty.

Leaving aside this issue now, what is interesting to note is the autobiographic nature of A Perfect Spy. Le Carré was himself a spy at MI6, and he too lost his mother at an early age, like Magnus. Le Carré’s father was also a con-man. He went to jail, and was involved with some of the most wanted criminals of London.

Magnus’ father bears such a close resemblance that it cannot be a coincidence. Le Carré thus relives his own life and faces his own ghosts, making him very nearly a perfect writer, and Magnus Pym the perfect spy.

Issue 2 ‘14

Jonathan Livingston Seagull - Richard Bach

11

Chaitanya Kediyal

“You will begin to touch heaven, Jonathan, in the moment that you touch perfect speed. And that isn’t flying a thousand miles an hour, or a million, or flying at the speed of light. Because any number is a limit, and perfection doesn’t have limits. Perfect speed, my son, is being there.”

There are very few books in this world, which I can say with a certain degree of certainty, shuld be read by everyone at least once in their life time, and Jonathan Livingston Seagull is definitely one such. Here, I attempt not to provide a snap of the content of this book, for anyone who has read it would know it does not exceed 100 pages. But what is more important, and what I want to highlight here is the allegorical meaning, significance and impact on society that this book had when it was first published in 1970. It is definitely the magnum opus of Richard Bach’s writing career, and is as widely read today as it was 40 years ago.

Central to the novel is a seagull by the name of Jonathan Livingston Seagull, or Jon Gull for short, whose ambition in life is to fly as high and fast as possible. While other gulls’ only ambitions are to eat as much as possible, and live as long as possible, Jonathan is a deviance from this normalcy. Jonathan questions the norms set by this society, while also flying faster than any gull had before, and also flying through the center of the flock while they were flying. Jonathan further builds on his passion of flying, discovering newer techniques to dive at high speeds and is even able to catch better fish by diving right into the water, which allows him to reach the fish that swim deeper.

Luckily enough, he soon finds a group of ‘advanced’ gulls that also fly for the sake of flying. They take him to a different ‘dimension,’ which is akin to a heaven for seagulls. This heaven though, is for only those gulls, which have realized that life is about perfection, and not only about feeding oneself. Jonathan also meets the wisest of gulls, who is known by the name of Chiang. The two of them develop a friendship, and Chiang begins to teach him how to travel through space and time instantaneously. When Chiang passes away, Jonathan takes up the post as the head teacher, while at the same time working on love, as Chiang had told him to. Jonathan learns that the greatest form of love is forgiveness, and hence returns to his old flock to teach them about this noble truth. The novel ends with Jonathan instructing his first student Fletcher Lynd Seagull to continue teaching these gulls, while he goes on to discover and teach any other gull that he can find.

This novel has been transformed as the symbol of modern-day spirituality. Bach compares humans to the original flock of Jonathan’s, who were narrow-minded and only wanted to survive. He talks about how our lives ought not to be materialistic, and instead be devoted to achieving perfection within ourselves. Furthermore, the novel inspires millions because within its simple structure, lies a profound meaning, which leaves each reader with a personal set of questions and understanding. The base of the story is, essentially, to understand that the two most important things in our lives are perfection and love. It has the ability to transform the reader’s perspective and make and make one understand that it is always necessary to question the dogmas of our society, for there is no greater virtue than that of iconoclasm.

Simple yet elegant diction.

Nothing.

(Image Source: Mike Hawkey Photography)

Issue 2 ‘14

Amadeus - Peter Shaffer

12

Pulkit Agarwal

Peter Shaffer’s Amadeus, in every possible way, is a truly remarkable and ingenious tale of one of the greatest classical composers ever: Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart and Antonio Salieri. The intricate visual and aural symbols that are intertwined closely with the plot lines, coupled with the God-hunting element which forms the essence of many of Shaffer’s works, elevate this play to a level which makes it one of the best works of literature that I have come across.

What makes Amadeus all the more special, is the fact that the protagonist of the play is not the musical genius Mozart, but his greatest nemesis, Antonio Salieri. By placing Salieri at the centre of the play, and exploring an alternate perspective to Mozart, Shaffer successfully captures a point of view that would have otherwise been unexplored. The central conflict is a timeless one, emanating from the encounter of mediocrity that has outgrown its prime, with gifted, exuberant brilliance that accomplishes its greatness almost effortlessly. It causes Salieri to despise Mozart so vehemently that he even refuses to recognize him as a human, repeatedly referring to him as ‘the Creature.’

Visual and aural symbolism.

Salieri.

(Image Source: Ilbe.com)

The play is set in Vienna, a cultural and musical Mecca, where Mozart is placed as an outsider struggling to find patronage and acceptance. Unfortunately for him, his work seems ahead of its time, and is not appreciated enough by the audiences, and certainly not by the Emperor who only adored music that “made no demands upon the royal brain.” While Mozart struggles to find his feet in the Viennese culture, Salieri is faced by his worst crisis, a paradox that is adroitly employed by Shaffer to highlight the protagonist’s increasingly pathetic state: the fact that despite being his greatest enemy, Salieri is Mozart’s biggest admirer. He has the ability to recognise his genius, but not that to reproduce or better it.

Shaffer also explores the troubled father-son relations between Amadeus and his father Leopold Mozart. This allows Salieri to endear himself to Mozart, such that he can become a father-like figure in his life, thus also allowing himself with a position from where he can command, and eventually destroy his career. It is only during his transformative opera, The Magic Flute that Mozart makes peace with his domineering father, as we see his father, “no more an accusing figure, but forgiving.” Through the play as Shaffer continues to explore this plot line, we see Salieri getting closer to Mozart, seizing the opportunity to deceive the troubled maestro.

We also get glimpses of Shaffer’s inspiration from Greek tragedy, as he elevates his tragic hero (Mozart) to a point from where his fall is more prominent. This is seen as he is described to have transformed Salieri’s March from The Marriage of Figaro in a manner that is “exhibitionistic—revealing to the audience the formidable virtuoso he is,” and later he is described to be in an equally impecunious state. This balance of sympathies is a trademark in the work, which resembles the classical balance of the times in which it is set.

Yes, the play is by no means a true depiction of the life of Amadeus. However, it is an adaptation that explores his genius from an alternative viewpoint. Chances are that he wasn’t at loggerheads with Salieri through his career, and that he wasn’t even killed by Salieri, but that is not the story that Shaffer is interested in telling. His portrayal of the two central characters in the play is far from what is believed to have been true; nevertheless, it fits in perfectly with the thrilling nature of the work.

Issue 2 ‘14

The Simpsons

13

Armaam Imam

No, it isn’t the regular soap opera that you follow day in and day out. It is not the show that you follow in a very specific chronological order, and neither is it the show which is full of either slapstick comedy or one that provides intellectual stimulation. Yes, it’s the Simpsons: a show full of intelligent humour and satirical picks, cherished by millions. In this review, I won’t tell you why much of the world simply adores this dysfunctional family, but I will tell you why this show is one that I have grown up with and one that will be a constant in each one of our lives.

To think that the idea of something as iconic as The Simpsons was created in the mere span of five minutes is truly remarkable. The Simpsons might not be watched by everyone, but the brand and the reach of the Simpsons has arguably fascinated them. Groening’s Simpsons was created when he was waiting in the lobby for a meeting with producer James L. Brookes. To be honest, Simpsons, as a concept, is nothing extraordinary. It’s just a stereotypical American family living in a stereotypical American society. This is why Groening and Brookes should be credited, because they have taken such an ordinary concept and made it something extraordinary.

The Simpsons was the first of its kind, an animated show for adults. Back in 1989, the concept of an animated show was not popular, as it was fairly expensive and taxing to make one. However this seemingly herculean task was overcome with ease by Groening and his team. A lot has been drawn from his personal experiences: for instance, the members of the Simpsons family have been named after his family members in reality (except for Bart, who replaces Groening himself and is an anagram for brat.) Besides that, the fictional town of Springfield has a lot in common with Portland, where Groening grew up. However, there is a very interesting fact behind the naming of this fictional setting. Springfield happens to be a very common name for a town in America, and hence Groening named his fictional setting as Springfield so that everyone considers it to be their own Springfield! Apart from the idea of the show, a lot of thought and effort has been put into the production of the show as well.

In my opinion, the most fascinating feature about the Simpsons is the opening sequence. The basic idea of the sequence is constant: the music, Bart writing on the chalkboard, Lisa playing a piece on her saxophone and the entire family eventually ending up on the iconic couch in front of the television. However, this sequence takes on the varying themes of each episode. Unlike other American shows, the Simpsons does not only deal with issues related to Americans, but also related to the wider international spectrum.

(The Indian character Apu may be stereotyped way beyond Everything. actuality, but it never fails to produce a smile.) The wide array of issues that the show deals with is unbelievable, be it corrupt politicians or environmental issues. Besides being a valuable What’s there not to like source of entertainment, the Simpsons is also a reasonable source of knowledge about the status quo. about the Simpsons?!

It has become the norm: once something or someone reaches a certain state of popularity, they are impersonated on the Simpsons. That’s the value accredited to this fine show. The Simpsons has even got a star in the Hollywood Walk of Fame!

Thus, The Simpsons, over the years has become much more than a show. And over the upcoming years, the Simpsons will be a constant. So if you haven’t already seen an episode of the Simpsons (which is highly unlikely), please get into the habit.

(Image Source: The Simpsons Wiki)

Issue 2 ‘14

Star Wars

14

Mr Debasish Chakrabarty

The 1970’s were pre-lapsarian years for our generation. We grew up in the wake of possibilities. The previous decade had seen Yuri Gagarin break the final frontier and Armstrong realize the “giant leap of mankind”. We were nursed on the hope sung to us by the Flower Children. When we learned to watch the black and white images in TVs with wooden cabinets, Gene Roddenberry (Star Trek) taught us to project ourselves in the 23rd century and aboard the USS Enterprise we set out to “discover strange worlds” with Capt. Kirk and Cdr. Spock. For our generation Star Wars was the epic we lived and breathed. It was the epic of our times.

So when the DSIR asked me, nay, dragooned me into writing about the Star Wars, I was loath to write a review. It would read like yet another Wiki entry. So I decided to take the young readership through a journey of our times and link the Star Wars to what it came to symbolize for our generation. I can fully understand the fighting with coloured “tube lights” will seem rather juvenile now, but one must remember that we are talking of Sci-Fi cinematography of the pre-Matrix era. In fact, the camera technology was at best post-Muybridgian Eastman colour. Silicon Graphics and digital solid-state animation was as much a science fiction as was Star Wars.

Let me begin by saying that Star Wars was a mythology that had sent out roots of superstition into our beings. Many of us growing Indian children believed (and still believe) that had Luke Skywalker not defeated Darth Vader (in Star Wars III: Return of the Jedi released in May 25, 1983) by awakening the ‘father’ in him, India would not have won the Prudential World Cup in July 1983. Scientists in some remote universities figured out theories like “butterfly effect” and “chaos Mathematics” to prove such connection in the 1990’s, but oh, we knew it way back then that Team Kapil Dev won because “the force was with us”, flutterby effects notwithstanding! Yet this does not really explain the cult following that the Star Wars spawned. Let me put down some pointers to why, in hindsight, it seems so logical.

It is not unusual, historically speaking, for Science to tread where Literature had been before. From the Nautilus of Jules Verne to Frankenstein’s creature like organ transplants, we have always seen human praxis follow human imagination. So it was not really a surprise that Star Wars gave eyes of hope in Eastman colour, to an entire generation that was yet quailing under the mushroom-shaped spectre of Armageddon spawned by ‘Fat Man’ and ‘Little Boy’ in 1945. 1970’s was at a peculiar cusp: the previous generation had been phoenix like, they had seen decimation and had risen from the ashes of war and independence movements to realise freedom. The 70’s children were among the first to take freedom for granted. Old world germs, the colonial prejudices that the previous (Image Source: Still from the movie : Star Wars Episode VI - Return of the Jedi) generation had given up their lives fighting against, like class, gender, race, religious discriminations had crept right back. So much so that master craftsmen of literature sought to project the world drowning in an anarchic gyration of Artaudian violence or warped in celebration of absurdity in a rather Pinter-esque or Beckett-esque manner. A young hero, who would blend the wisdom of the older generation and the anger, grit & technology of the times was the hero our generation sought. Of course the context and the landscape of this hero could not be the socialist reality of our times. It had to be remote enough to be distant and identifiable enough for it to be plausible. A human settlement in future would do just fine.

Voila! Enter Obi-Wan Kenobi, Han Solo, Princess Leia and Luke Skywalker. A galaxy of heroes fighting to save the galaxy from galactic villains—the Sith. In short this was our apotheosis into the super-hero of the 70’s and 80’s. So far we have acquainted ourselves with the context of the narrative and the hero. So what of the conflict? The cause & effect ping-pong the plot has to play?

It had to be related to redemption, redemption of our identity and being, albeit with requisite sacrifice.

The conflict had to be rooted in the mistakes of our fathers. Well can anyone beat the “mistakes” of the Great Wars? The ambition of autocracy that rears its ugly head to consume minor principalities, or the dark ego of man that seeks to assert control over all others, we were the inheritors of all these mistakes. From Issue 2 ‘14

Alexander, Julius Caesar and Nero to Hitler and Mussolini, History did not lack archetypes for 15 the Sith emperor Palpatine or his apprentice Darth Vader. Yet a rehash of the battle of evil versus good would not suffice. After all we were new-age heroes. So the plot had to blend in something new—the realization that the war was not really out there, but within. The enemy was not a physical entity to be destroyed, but a psychological aspect that was within us, in fact, the enemy was “us”.

The realisation was that this enemy, the demon within us, could not be defeated, but only be subdued.

For this complicated world order the monotheistic, Judaic religion had to give way to an older pantheistic world order. While the evil of Darth Vader was comparable to the fallen angel Lucifer, the good of Luke or the Jedi could not be simplistically an equivalent of Jesus, who is too white and too clean for comfort. One needed a more complex grey belief system, a mix of yin and yang; a belief in the universe being the force; a Romantic, near transcendentalist return to nature a la Thoreau; and a teacher, like the Buddha, who could harvest the light in all of us. The Jedi was the child of the West’s acknowledgement of Eastern mysticism and spirituality. While George Harrison learned Sitar from Pt. Ravi Shankar, Yoko Ono practised yoga with Mahesh Yogi and the whole world hallucinated on marijuana (read ganja), Luke Skywalker discovered Yoda, the guru. Now you can well see why we Indians of the 70’s had a healthy purchase into the Star Wars phenomena, quite as much as the angry young man, Amitabh Bachchan.

Nature proves superior to machines and the Hero has to go through ‘labours’ to achieve the ultimate goal.

Romantic literature, the impressionist movement, and epic literature prepares us for this on all counts.

Yet, the complication had to be unlike any other epic. The hero could not be another Hercules or Achilles.

It had to be us, the children of the 70’s. The hero, therefore, had to have a unique crisis, the hero had to nearly lose himself to the dark side. So by the third part, we realise that Darth Vader is Luke’s father. After all, we were the children of the generation born in the 40’s whose mistakes saw the war. Darth Vader was a humanoid remnant of that holocaust. In getting a humanoid arm replacement after Luke’s own father (Vader) chops off his arm, Luke becomes a humanoid too, very close to losing his being, to become just like his father. In contextual reality, let us not forget that we too spawned hatred through Cold War and the US and USSR had started the resultant “Star Wars” programme. Yet, we could not lose ourselves, could we? So we allowed imagination to again lead and leave praxis behind. We had Luke give up his rational judgement and blind sight the cacophony of democratic advice in the last moment and just rest his faith on the wisdom of the past, Yoda’s training of his mind and spirit. In Luke’s victory and the destruction of the Death Star, we redeemed our world.

In the process of the saving the world, the Star Wars franchise gave a booster dose to Sci-Fi movies for the next two decades—whether it be the battle between body and the projected image (Matric Trilogy), the triumph of Nature (Avatar), the annihilation by a dark extraterrestrial force (Species & MiB series) or having faith to make the last chance count (Independence Day, Armageddon). Yet George Lucas and Star Wars could not stay away from the 21st century. After all, we of the 70’s were about to debut our abilities at the policy level at the turn of the century. So the past was not all that was to be. Could we live with our past? This and the succeeding changes in the world order would see the Star Wars Prequels that would document the journey of Anakin Skywalker, Luke’s Dad. We would see the spectre of drone wars, hearkening back to US war on terror post 9/11 and a rather proleptic and prophetic end with Anakin being reduced to a morsel of flesh to be manipulated by Sith. A reminder that if we walked down the roads of hatred that terrorism and counter-terrorism was spawning, we might as well end up as humanoids and lose or identity as human beings. This story was said with CGI, the action looked real though the metaphors were old. After all, we had embraced the triple principles of postmodernism—parody, pastiche and pop-art (courtesy Frederic Jameson), and the picturization said it all. The plot too embraced trade (read Economics) as the premise of war. Was it not reminiscent of the petroleum wars spawned by the US and its NATO allies? The world had come full circle and so had Star Wars.

2015 is all set to introduce your generation, the generation omega, to the mythology of the generation 70’s. Next year we will walk with you and talk to you when Star Wars and the Walt Disney pictures release the 7th episode. What will Luke do in future? What will be? As present parents and teachers, I can only reiterate the wisdom of our father’s captured so well by Joan Baez: “I hope to find a way with you And sometimes spend a day with you I’ll catch you as you fly Or if I’m worth a mother’s salt I’ll wave as you go by.”

“May the Force be with you.”

Issue 2 ‘14

Fight Club

16

Aditya Bhardwaj

“We’re designed to be hunters, but we’re in a society of shopping. There’s nothing to kill anymore, there’s nothing to fight, nothing to overcome, nothing to explore. In that societal emasculation, this everyman is created.”

-David Fincher At a time when the world was eagerly awaiting Y2K, the internet was about to take off and the The Sopranos made its first appearance on TV, David Fincher released a movie adaptation of a twisted bildungsroman that aimed to reflect the ‘crisis of masculinity’ that had engulfed the modern world. ‘The first rule of Fight Club is you don’t talk about Fight Club.’ I hereby break this rule by reviewing the cult classic Fight Club, a movie that has since been labelled, amongst other things, antisocial, fascist, anarchist, nihilistic and even Marxist; fascinating and interesting, to say the least.

The plot revolves around a 30 year-old office worker Edward Norton, who remains unnamed throughout in an attempt to help the audience identify with him, as he narrates his story as a projection of his own psyche — his Thematically goes into desires, his fears and his frustrations . He is, in many ways, uncharted territory. the ‘everyman’- the embodiment of capitalism, believing that he can find meaning in the consumption of goods. He has a regular 9-to-5, a high-rise condominium, class-appropriate Descends into partial dressing and everything else that one would expect a white chaos in the second half. collar criminal to have in modern America. However, his life turns upside down when he meets Tyler Durden (Brad Pitt) - slick-talking soap salesman by day, freewheeling anarchist by night. Charming, mysterious, witty and spontaneous; Tyler is everything that the narrator wants to be, and it is this mutual infatuation that drives the plot forward, as they give rise to the concept of the ‘Fight Club’- a place where you fight, not as a form of violence, but as a release from your pathetic everyday existence.

Although it was bashed by many mainstream critics as a socially irresponsible work due to its anti-establishment views and depiction of violence, Fight Club was equally praised for its brave interpretation of the issues facing the West today.

In crude terms, what it wants to say is an inescapable truth – the capitalist society is a deathly bore, and that the American Dream is long dead. Thus, it follows to say that it must be (Image Source: Yahoo Image Bank) replaced by a new vision – it is an extremely liberal and nihilistic vision that is proposed by Fight Club as its replacement. However, what many critics did not realize was that Fight Club wasn’t really the first work of art to propagate this view. From the Rolling Stones’ search for their ‘Satisfaction’ in the 70s to Lana Del Rey’s haunting melodies on long-dead Americana today, this truly is the age of the ‘IKEA nesting instinct’, and Fight Club, just as so many works both before and after it, was only attempting to depict this notion of the aforementioned ‘crisis of masculinity’.

Funny, shocking and charismatic in equal parts, Fight Club is made brilliant by the masterful performances of both Brad Pitt and Edward Norton, along with Helena Bonham Carter as the eccentric, yet irrepressible Marla Singer. Whether you consider it an apology for fascism or a postmodernist pastiche, fight club will draw you in, shake your preconceptions and possible misconceptions, and rock your world. In the words of Peter Travers of The Rolling Stone magazine, it truly is an uncompromising American classic.

Issue 2 ‘14

Lock, Stock, and Two Smoking Barrels

17

Zayaan Khodaiji

Dramatic, witty, hyper stylized, visual, and above all, unique. Released in 1998, Lock Stock and Two Smoking Barrels was unlike any movie made at the time. Unique, maybe because this was writer-director Guy Ritchie’s debut film, who has proved with this and subsequent releases that he has a quirky style. The actors closest to being called heroes are four lads desperate to make it big – Eddy (Nick Moran), Bacon (Jason Statham), Soap (Dexter Fletcher) and Tom (Jason Flemyng), all of whom were fairly new to the British cinema.

Eddy is a card sharp: he is able to manipulate card games. The other three bankroll him with 25000 quid (pounds) each so that he can enter a phenomenally high stakes game of poker with porn king ‘Hatchet’ Harry (P.H. Moriarty). However, the game is rigged, and they quartet not only end up losing their life savings, but also end up owing half a million quid to Hatchet Harry, who has his eyes set on Eddy’s father J.D’s bar, a perfect pretence to take it into his possession. Harry is known for conning and doesn’t like late settlements of his debt, which is illustrated by explicit instances. As Bacon says, “Hatchet Harry is a man who you pay if you owe.”

This forms the main plot of the movie. To get the money back, the four begin formulating plans. After some eavesdropping, they make a plan to rob a gang of robbers who rob drug dealers. This involves them with drug lord Rory Breaker (Vans Blackwood), another notorious villain with a reputation for having his way. In another subplot, Harry sends two nimble headed thugs to rob antique guns from a bankrupt millionaire.

They rob the guns but only manage to create more confusion.

This confusion subtly and dramatically intertwines all the subplots. Eddy and co. manage to procure the money to pay off their debt, only to have it robbed again. The movie ends in a bloodbath, most of the characters killing each other. The climax will have the viewer in splits. It is phenomenal how Ritchie winds such a complicated plot into such a dramatic ending.

A perfect blend of drama and comedy Very fast paced plot, makes it confusing (Image Source: YIFY)

With a cast of almost 20 supporting actors with heavy Cockney accents, having a considerably significant part to play, viewers will need to concentrate on each one’s role. The movie will only be thoroughly enjoyed by those who decipher the plot, which may not be easy. During the lightning paced plot there are moments when viewers would have to pause and make sense of the larger picture.

However, no one can deny that Ritchie has created a perfect blend of drama, action and comedy. On the lines of a relatively serious plot, the witty dialogue along with the Cockney slang keep the mood light. Characters such as Big Chris (Vinnie Jones) and J.D (Sting) are not part of the main action, yet their presence fits in perfectly, filling in the empty voids. With no love story or nail biting suspense, the movie relies on its out-of-the-box dialogues and quick plot twists to keep the viewers’ attention.

A brilliant aspect of the movie is its cinematography. The random speed shifts, close-ups and freeze frames make every scene feel fresh. The soundtracks (there are almost 30) are an integral part of every Guy Ritchie movie. They perfectly blend in and somehow also manage to amplify the action. For Lock Stock, one view may not suffice in most cases. I myself have watched it about four times. Even though critics have spotted influences of Tarantino, especially of his debut film Reservoir Dogs, in my opinion you can’t link this movie to any other of its time. It would not make it into my list of classics, but is a must watch if you are a fan of 90’s movies.

Issue 2 ‘14

Saving Private Ryan

18

Devesh Sahai

I wasn’t even a year old when it released. Not so surprisingly then, it was not really a movie that forced our generation to flock to the cinemas. Nonetheless, more than a decade after its release, Saving Private Ryan continues to feature in various lists of must-watch movies. For over three hours, my eyes remained glued to the television screen, almost static till they shed a tear or two in the film’s dying minutes. I had just witnessed one of those very few marvels that could stir all kinds of emotions. It might have been another century altogether, but Saving Private Ryan is truly evergreen.

Set during the Invasion of Normandy in the Second World War, the film follows Captain John H. Miller (Tom Hanks), as he leads a team to locate Private James Ryan (Matt Damon), one of the four Ryan brothers serving in the army, but the only one still alive. However, James Ryan is not aware of his brothers’ deaths, precisely why Captain Miller is tracing his whereabouts. This film, directed by Steven Spielberg, comes to life and how!

With Tom Hanks spearheading the cast, the acting is most definitely one of the film’s greatest strengths.

At this point, I would be surprised to find a role that Tom Hanks would have difficulties in understanding and delivering. As it turns out, the scenario was not very different sixteen years ago, as Tom Hanks delivers a performance with the same ease that translated into his acting in movies like Forrest Gump and Manhattan. Moreover, Tom Hanks. when you have Matt Damon ‘supporting’ him, the acting prowess is only augmented. And then you have the likes of Three hours fell short.

Vin Diesel, Nathan Fillion and Edward Burns in the movie too.

It is safe to say that a film’s cast does not get much stronger (Image Source: Internet Movie Database) than this.

A film of this magnitude needs to be directed to precision, and for that, nobody fits the bill as perfectly as Steven Spielberg.

Every scene is well thought-out, perfectly visualized and ultimately, seamlessly executed. It is tough to pick between the acting and the direction, but let’s just agree that the two complement each other beautifully, and that is probably why the movie stands out.

There are quite a few poignant moments in the movies, as lives are lost and the losses are felt. A bond forms between the six men led by Captain Miller, and we too feel the camaraderie portrayed on screen. There are twists and turns in the film, in the form of obstacles big enough to force the strongest of men to give up, but this lot of men remain determined and headstrong, never mind the context. Ultimately, success is achieved at a very high cost, and you are left weighing the two every time you revisit the movie. Saving Private Ryan is clearly one of those few films that demands the audience’s involvement.

The movie is a sequence of brilliant scenes, each of which evoke different emotions. One might say that at its 170 minute running time, it drains you out. Moreover, you are compelled to pay attention to the minutest of details as the film runs its course. How can it not take a toll on you? But I believe that a good movie must take a toll on its viewer, leaving a permanent mark behind. And Saving Private Ryan is not just a good movie. For me, it’s one of the best there is.

Issue 2 ‘14

Bram Stoker’s Dracula

19

Abhayraj Jain

“I am the monster breathing men would kill. I am Dracula.” This is perhaps the most iconic line from Francis Ford Coppola’s masterpiece film, which follows the plot of the novel by Bram Stoker. It tells the story of Count Vlad Dracula (Gary Oldman) of Transylvania, who lost his one true love after a gruesome war in 1462.

He vows to avenge her death, and to reject mortality. Centuries later, in 1897, young solicitor Jonathan Harker (Keanu Reeves) arrives at Dracula’s castle to assist him with real estate acquisition in London.

Jonathan is engaged to the beautiful Mina (Winona Ryder), who looks strikingly similar to Dracula’s lost love. Dracula leaves Jonathan at the castle in Transylvania to find Mina in London, and claim her as his own.

The first impression of Dracula is extremely eerie. After Harker completes what is probably the strangest journey of his life from the train station to Castle Dracula, he is greeted by the Count himself, pale as a ghost, so to speak. Strange echoes accompany the Count’s accented voice, and though the tone is soft, it is instantly apparent that one must be wary of him. Shadowy figures, creaking doors that open automatically, echoing voices and the grey atmosphere in the castle quickly become the norm. The most apt tag for the entire setting would be sinister; there is a sense of impending doom at every corner, and even the most quotidian moments had an intense quality to them.

The superb direction was complimented by stellar performances by Gary Oldman(Count Dracula) and Anthony Hopkins (Prof. Abraham van Helsing), but there were some inconsistencies. Harker doesn’t seem perturbed enough by some of the most chilling sights; he seems not to display much fear until the three brides of Dracula attack him. Perhaps the expectation of strange sights in a foreign land steeled Harker, either way, Reeves’ somewhat wooden acting is a slight let-down when compared to Oldman’s performance.

The film uses the power of suggestion to the fullest. Many veiled references are made to Dracula’s vampirism that mean nothing to Harker, but at the same time remind the audience of his true nature. During their first meal after Harker’s arrival, Dracula comments, “You really must excuse me that I do not join you, but I have already dined. And, I never drink… wine.” Dracula proceeds through the evening unperturbed, but when he sets eyes on Harker’s picture of Mina, his calm demeanour gets shaken, for Mina bears a striking resemblance to Elisabeta. Harker goes on with the conversation, while Dracula himself stands stock-still. Meanwhile, Dracula’s shadow turns and begins to try to choke Harker, displaying the true emotions behind his stony Emperor Palpatine-esque white façade.

(Image Source: Still from the movie)

Soon, Dracula arrives in London, in search of Mina. He finds her, and recruits her free-spirited friend, Lucy Westenra as a willing servant. When she falls victim to vampyric symptoms, Professor van Helsing is brought in after ordinary doctors fail to diagnose her. He states flamboyantly that she is now the devil’s concubine, and the film progresses toward scenes of increasing monstrosity. At this point, it is apparent that Coppola prefers spectacle to story-telling, for although there is a chronology to the events, there is a lack of coherence, and many narrative confusions exist. For example, why would a cautious woman like Mina fall in love with a stranger in a matter of weeks?

An important aspect of the movie is Dracula’s existential crisis - his outsider status and the manner in which he is persecuted evokes the viewer’s sympathy, especially in his redemptive death; Mina putting Dracula out of his misery is a powerful scene. The hero in the film is certainly Dracula, and not the quirky Anthony Hopkins playing Van Helsing. The film is rich in the use of colour and sound, and in sexually bold scenes, perhaps as a way of offsetting the prudish Victorian morality. This is not Dracula merely as the romantic hero of previous Dracula films: Coppola’s Dracula is much larger, more multifaceted, and perhaps therefore has an ambiguous impact on the viewer. We see Dracula more clearly as a true lover, the anti-Christ, an existential hero, the hunted, and more; he is a reminder that we human viewers carry all of his faces/facets in us, as it is we who have kept alive this powerful cinematic myth. Perhaps in the end it’s all about the quest for love and immortality; and they often go together - and we find them wrapped in one in the persona of Dracula. As the Count himself put it, “There is much to be learned from beasts.”

Issue 2 ‘14

After All, You’re My Wonderwall

20

Aditya Bhattacharya

The 90s played host to a whole lot of bands reaching a considerable amount of success. But when one usually thinks of the 90s, mostly American bands such as Nirvana, Pearl Jam, Green Day and Limp Bizkit come to mind. However, there were quite a few British bands that also achieved mainstream success, and foremost amongst them was Oasis. Famous not only for its pioneering music but also for the sibling rivalry of Noel and Liam Gallagher, Oasis defined the Brit-rock genre for a decade, and influenced a range of bands such as Coldplay, The Killers, Arctic Monkeys, Kasabian and Maroon 5.

The band was formed in 1991 when Liam Gallagher joined as lead vocalist of a band called The Rain and renamed it Oasis, after the Oasis Leisure Centre in Swindon. The Rain comprised Paul Arthurs on guitar, Paul McGuigan on bass, Tony McCarroll on drums along with Gallagher. Noel Gallagher, Liam’s elder brother, joined the band as chief songwriter, lead guitarist and backing vocalist soon after, and Oasis was complete.

The band would record seven studio albums within the next decade and a half, although the first two were the most successful and most popular. In 1994, Oasis produced Definitely Maybe, which reached No. 1 on the UK charts upon its release and at that time was the fastest-selling debut album of all time. It featured singles like Supersonic and Live Forever, and reached No. 58 on the Billboard. The album was characterized by its Simplistic yet brilliant simplicity, with the guitarists playing mostly bass notes and power chords, with Noel Gallagher compensating for it by songwriting. increasing the distortion on the guitars. The lyrics of the band weren’t what one would call artistic or thought-provoking, Plagiarized feel. and, in fact, the single Shakermaker was later revealed to be (Image Source: The Huffington Post) plagiarized. It was one of three Oasis songs proven to be plagiarized, the other two being Step Out and Whatever. In 1997, they released their third album, Be Here Now, which featured You Know What I Mean?, UK’s 12th biggest selling single of the year. The album gained popularity initially, but the hype surrounding the album soon died down, and commercially it was relatively less successful than its predecessors.

The first word that comes to anyone’s mind when they hear about the band is the song Wonderwall. Well, if one were to examine the chord progressions or the rhythm of the song, they wouldn’t find anything spectacular. A capo on the second fret and the use of add9 chords is what lends Wonderwall its famous, instantly recognizable sound. In fact, one could play the entire song by moving only two of their fingers across the fret board! The lyrics, typical of Noel Gallagher’s style, are repetitive, and the same could be said of the entire song. Yet what makes this one of the most unforgettable songs of this generation is the style of mixing that was employed. Such is the case with the songs Live Forever, Don’t Look Back in Anger, Champagne Supernova and Some Might Say. The rhythm guitar was first recorded clean, then with an overdub of distortion or overdrive. The lead guitar was also overdubbed, and the master track also underwent a layering process that gave the record a rough, rusty kind of feel.

Ultimately, each listener takes away different feelings and relates differently to the music he or she hears.

When I listen to Oasis, I am transported to those days when there was minimal post-production editing, when the most effects you had were limited to the analog FX pedal you could afford, and when there was no YouTube or SoundCloud but only airplay on the radio. All this from records that were made before I had even been taught how to walk, but that’s how original Oasis feels, plagiarized work aside. Will their work stand the test of time? Definitely Maybe.

Issue 2 ‘14

Thriller Yash Dhandhania

21

The same year emoticons were created, Michael Jackson released Thriller, the album that secured his position as an international pop culture icon and earned him much of the acclaim that he is accredited with today. All but two of the songs in the album were released as singles with all of them making their way to the top 10 songs chart. It’s no wonder that within a year, Michael Jackson’s Thriller became, and in fact still is, the best-selling album of all time. And it wasn’t only the fans that welcomed the album but many of those who’d in the past criticized Michael Jackson’s works. In fact he went on to win eight Grammys for the album in 1984.

The Girl is Mine, the first song released from the album, received a lot of flak from some of Jackson’s fans as it was taken as a sign of him bowing to a ‘white’ audience. The song featuring Paul McCartney with slow, calm beats and rhythms is perhaps the most soulful song of the album and even considered a ballad. The slightly humorous lyrics relay a conversation between McCartney and Jackson in which both claim the girl in question as their own. The hype which accompanied the release of the first song was dispelled with The Girl is Mine but Revolutionized pop came right back with Billie Jean, taking Thriller to the top of the culture by combining chart almost instantly. With its funky beat and catchy lyrics, previously popular styles.

Billie Jean was the first song which critics appreciated. One previously skeptical critic even said that the song signified maturity in MJ’s works with his dropping of the falsetto Set a platform for MJ’s rise and, as a result, more wholesome voice emerging. There and fall. was enormous controversy surrounding the video released along with the song as MTV, a not too well known channel then, refused to play it because Michael Jackson was (to quote) ‘black’ and the music apparently wasn’t rock enough.

Eventually, the deal came through though, leading not only to MTV becoming what it is today but also to a popularization of African-American music videos.

Beat It and the title track of the album Thriller both too were accompanied by music videos and made their way to the number one positions as well. Critics feel that the video of Thriller tainted the, till then clean, image of Michael Jackson, with his jerky moves and his zombie like get-up; though the risk certainly left MJ no worse for the wear with him bagging a Grammy for the same. Beat It may easily be the peppiest song ever released by Michael Jackson. His hiccups and ingenious sequence of beats left audiences craving for more and more did they get in the form of Wanna be Startin’ Somethin’. A lively song that is reminiscent of the disco beats prevalent in his (Image Source: Still from the music video : Thriller) previous album Off the Wall, the lyrics address the issue of rumour mongers and the harms they’ve caused him. Although Human Nature was probably the most out of place song in the entire album, it too found its way to the number seven position in the Billboard’s Top Hundred Songs.

‘Thriller’ is often regarded as an upgraded version of MJ’s previous album, Off the Wall. The latter did create a significant fan base for the artist but hadn’t made it big and Michael Jackson used his experience of it to develop better songs including refined versions of songs from all the genres he’d previously worked with.

In my opinion he was one of the first few artists to popularize soulful R&B music which was somewhat in its infancy back then. In many ways not only did Thriller make Michael Jackson the legend that he is, but it also helped African-American artists struggling at the time by surpassing all racial barriers and also paving a new path for future artists.

Issue 2 ‘14

Requiem for a Dying World

22

Dr Peter McLaughlin

The reorientation of the world order established in the twentieth century after the Second World War accelerated dramatically in the 1980s and 1990s. As an economic and military historian,I had lectured at university and taught at school level about the rise of the industrialized world, a process which started in Britain, rapidly emerged in Europe and then crossed the Atlantic to the United States. That revolution, based on heavy industry in its first two centuries, was being rapidly hollowed out by the beginnings and then full flow of globalization in the last two decades of the twentieth century. The coal and iron ore mines, the steel furnaces, the railway and rolling stock factories and the shipyards of Europe began closing down; steelmaking, shipbuilding and heavy engineering were “off-shored” east to Japan and increasingly South Korea, while the silicon-chip based electronics industry was shifting its axis, particularly assembly of components into computers and other gadgets, to Japan, Taiwan and Hong Kong. The computer-based “Big Bang” in London’s “The City”, the financial heart of the world, ushered in a period when it seemed that the Western world would provide the services, especially financial services, to the global consumer economy, while the East would produce the goods. Much of the industrial heart of Europe was ripped out, leaving entire towns and cities de-industrialized. The proud industrialized working classes of Europe and the United States that had built the developed world found themselves staring at derelict cities such as Detroit and many others across Europe. The implosion of the Soviet Empire revealed a rusting, leaking, decaying economic infrastructure across Eastern Europe and Russia that compared badly in productivity, price, quality and output with the shiny new steelworks, chemical industries and shipyards of the Far East.

The social and economic history of that period had not only a professional interest for me – I studied the German munitions and chemicals industries in the German war effort in the Great War of 1914-18 (Image Source: Stage Photography.com) during my post-doctoral research fellowship at the London School of Economics in the early 1980s – but also because my father had been an electrical engineer in the 1940s and 1950s at Harland & Wolff in Belfast, Northern Ireland, one of the greatest shipyards in the world from the 1890s onwards.

A century on, my father had no longer worked there for many years, but this epic expression of the industrial revolution was on its knees financially and nearly closed.

Music reflects and shapes the zeitgeist (“spirit of the age”) of whole societies and their economies. In the 1980s and 1990s, I began to hear music that was essentially, in my view, the death rattle of heavy industry in Europe. The lyrical music of the 1960s and 1970s had given way to a much harsher tone; the gentle, incense-perfumed, hippy love-in exemplified by The Beatles and George Harrison’s sitar-laced ballads emerging from his trips to Rishikesh gave way to the guttural ranting of Sid Vicious, Johnny Rotten, Punk, Goth and heavy metal. I became fascinated by the spin-off in Europe. In 1989, on the bicentennial of the French Revolution, the celebratory parade down the Champs Elysees in Paris included men dramatically drumming with pick-axe handles on metal barrels of the type used to ship oil and petrol: 225 litre (44-gallon) steel drums that give us the unit of measuring oil production, “barrels of oil”. They were Tambours du Bronx (“Drums of the Bronx”), a group of young Frenchmen from an industrial working class suburb in Nevers in France; it was called “ the Bronx” after the similarly working class suburb of New York known for its tough people and crime in the 1980s. Most of the members of the group of about 20 and their families worked in the heavy industries that made rolling stock for the French railways.

Initially started as a joke in 1987 – young men stripped to their waists beating the life out of steel oil barrels – the percussion band seemed to catch the spirit of the times. Theirs was a kind of rallying cry, a call to battle to save the last remnants of French industry from closure and off-shoring. The overwhelmingly loud, masculine rhythm of the drumming, interspersed with battle cries and the ringing of metal tubes and lengths of steel railway line, seemed to me to be a defiant expression of that proud working class that had created the industrialized France that in the previous century had built a colonial empire, survived Issue 2 ‘14

23 two world wars and made France one of the richest countries in the world. Very quickly the band gained national and international fame, and their dynamic percussion style and destructive antics onstage – the 120 musicians who passed through the group have reportedly pulverized 16,000 barrels and smashed 110,000 drumsticks since 1987 - produced many imitators.

Meanwhile, across the border in Germany, a similar “industrial metal” musical genre emerged, exemplified

by Rammstein, a group that named itself after the catastrophic disaster at an air show at the US airbase at Ramstein in Germany in 1988. It erupted on to the German and then world stage under the leadership of Richard Z. Kruspe, who founded the band in 1994, and Till Lindemann, the lead vocalist. At the time, Germany was going through a painful reunification process and there was a rise of the Far Right and neo-Nazism in the former East Germany, whose once vibrant industrial heartland had been hollowed out by decades of Soviet occupation and Communist corruption and incompetence. The Berlin Wall had come down in 1989, but the economic problems of East Germany put huge pressure on the whole German economy, which was massively dependent on heavy industry and manufacturing, and again also facing the chill winds of globalization. Rammstein created a heavy industrial ethos and fascist style in its stage settings, with flame-throwers, mock steel doors and factory piping, as well as its pounding baseline, asynchronous and sometimes discordant keyboard music and Till Lindemann’s guttural, drill sergeant voice. This powerful combination thrilled millions in Germany, Russia and across the developed world. Rammstein’s live concerts reminded me, and still do as they continue to tour the world, of Hitler’s Nuremburg rallies; the lighting effects and dramatic tension are rooted in films such as Leni Riefenstahl’s Triumph of the Will and her quasi-religious event management of Hitler’s rallies. The compelling drama of Rammstein’s music and their stage settings in arenas is based on exactly the same psychology the Nazis used; the response of the fans at Rammstein’s concerts is psychologically indistinguishable from those of Hitler’s supporters at political rallies in the 1930s, as is the case with many pop concerts: hysterical outbursts of adulation, arm waving and saluting in reverence for a remote, God-like figure lit by a spotlight and offering salvation. Their music is - to quote from another context the late Hunter S. Thompson – “like the eerie trumpet blasts from some lost battlefield”. Not surprisingly, Rammstein and their music are seen as the prime movers of the musical movement known as Neue Deustsche Härte (New German Hardness).

They also became notorious when Eric Harris and Dylan Kleibold, allegedly inspired by Rammstein’s music, amongst other bands, massacred 12 of their schoolmates at Columbine High in the United States. Since Nazism emerged from the agony of the German industrial economy in the Great Depression of the 1930s – unemployment rose to 32% of the working population as factories ground to a halt - the parallels are both uncanny and ominous.

Is this a requiem, the funeral music of a dying industrial order in Europe? Or is it the temporary expression of a passing phase as the developed world readjusts to new global economic realities? It is too early to say, but I can guarantee that future social and economic historians will examine the popularity of this “industrial metal” phenomenon and other genres, such as heavy metal, to discern the spirit of the age of transition in Europe.

(Image Source: Getty Images)

Issue 2 ‘14

The Number of the Beast

24

Zayaan Khodaiji

Making a standout heavy metal album in the 80’s was not an easy job, with bands such as Judas Priest and Metallica hogging the limelight. However, in this period there was the emergence of an irrepressible band with simple riffs and guitar solos that give you goose bumps – Iron Maiden, founded by Steve Harris (bassist) and Dave Murray (lead guitarist). Maiden acquired a fair share of critical acclaim with their first two studio albums – Iron Maiden and Killers, but their third release was something special.

Recorded and released in 1982, The Number of the Beast was Iron Maiden’s third studio album, comprising 8 songs. For this album, the band replaced their vocalist Paul Di’Anno with Bruce Dickinson, considered a highly risky move at the time, leading to predictions of the end of Maiden. However, this was not the case. Dickinson, who has become one of the greatest metal vocalists ever, gelled in perfectly with the instrumentation and added a fantastic operatic range to each song. The album consists four of Maidens greatest hits, but none of the other tracks are a let-down, each one contributing to making this album a classic.

As the title suggests, few of the tracks are laced with occult-oriented subjects, especially the title track.

Harris is a phenomenally gifted songwriter and adds a different theme to virtually every track on this album, managing to create fantastic lyrical imagery. Children of the Damned is the first standout track which is not as quick paced as a typical Maiden song, with a blend of dark lyrics and explicit imagery to add to Dickinson’s catchy vocals. The title track- The Number of the Beast (my personal favourite) serves as yet another example for Harris’ brilliant and diverse song writing skills, and is a Maiden classic. The controversial lyrics brought about questions of the band being satanic, but Harris admits to have written this song after suffering a nightmare from watching The Omen II. This song in many ways encapsulates the album in a nutshell: every line and beat seems to be meaningfully placed and doesn’t feel redundant in any way. The instrumental section around the 3 minute mark showcased the chemistry of the band members, specially the guitarists – Harris, Murray and Adrian Smith, which is a pleasure to the ear, to say the least.

(Image Source: Getty Images)

Run to the Hills, the fifth track has turned into a metal anthem.

I feel the song is amongst Maidens greatest: a blast of energy due to its groovy riffs, the trademark ‘galloping’ drums and bass and Dickinson’s energetic vocals screaming ‘Run to the hills/Run for your lives. Last is Hallowed Be Thy Name, the most integral part of this album. This is the albums and the bands masterpiece both lyrically and musically. It talks about the journey of a man who is awaiting his death while being sent to the gallows. Its bone chilling lyrics are complimented by Harris’ wailing pitch and effortless changes in rhythm making it a great progressive metal track.

Every member of the band is indispensable to this album, each having contributed more than his fair share.

Harris proves to be the backbone of the band, contributing most of the lyrics and adding to each song a unique and vital bass line. Murray and Smith’s twin guitar harmonies complement each other at every point, adding to the depth and producing some of the most spectacular guitar work I have come across.

The guitar solos from the title track and Hallowed Be Thy Name stand out as classics till today. Dickinson added a new dimension to Maiden’s music. The album was documented on Vh1’s Classic Albums, and served as a springboard for Maiden, initiating a streak of chart topping albums including Powerslave and Fear of the Dark.

Issue 2 ‘14

Editorial Board Editor-in-Chief Armaan Imam Chief of Production Vireshwar Sidhu Editor Zayaan Khodaiji Senior Editors Aditya Bhattacharya Gaurav Kothari Pulkit Agarwal Associate Editors Abhayraj Jain Aditya Bhardwaj Anvay Grover Shlok Jain Yash Dhandhania Senior Correspondants Chaitanya Kediyal Dhruv Johri Faculty Advisor Ms Anamika Ghose