Friday, August 31, 2012

Directors you ought to know: Guy Ritchie


British filmmakers have always had a special place in Hollywood. From Nolan's intellect to Boyle's narrative, each Brit filmmaker has had a unique way of making a mark for UK on the screen. In the same league I would like to write about one of my favorites - goes by the name Guy Ritchie.

Ritchie started off with a bang. "Lock, stock and 2 smoking barrels" and "Snatch." Ritchie's movies are known for their fast-paced, action packed rollercoaster rides. Having a central focus on crime capers, Ritchie makes deft use of character-central shots (how the camera is never off-set from the character but is central to the viewer), his indulgence on flash cuts and tight controlled zooms. There have been some vague similarities between his and Tarantino's style - His apparent indulgence to weave out the story with quirky pacy editing have enthralled movie goers both the regular viewer and critic alike. Movies with the legendary dry and witty Brit humor - essentially in a sense that is NOT too loud but not subtle either, but very appealing to the movie-watcher, like a connoisseur able to enjoy a sip of centuries old wine every time he looks at the scene. 


If L2SB was about four friends having to pay off half a million pounds to avoid facing a mob boss's wrath, Snatch follows two parallel plots -that of a huge diamond - the subject of a heist and the other one following a upcoming boxing promoter trying to stamp his ground in unlicensed boxing. Both these movies have well defined characters of depth, with interweaving storylines combined with Ritchie's whiplash kind of storytelling. Whilst L2SB had a relatively unknown cast (Jason Statham was a newcomer in late 90s), Snatch had an ensemble cast and did most of its part right, essentially hitting the right notes, albeit drawing a heavy influence from the former. Both the movies have well etched gangsters with struggling protagonists alongwith a right proportion of dull-witted criminals adding to the humor.

If there is one essential thing that is a huge characteristic of Ritchie movies - it has to be the unique camera and editing. STYLE has to be Ritchie's middle name. All characters in his movies have sufficient style and substance, and Ritchie relies on his kinky sense of narrative to seamlessly blend in different parallel plots together with the help of concocting stylized editing.

I would like to bring forth how effectively he has used music and editing to bring out an analogy. For instance, in a scene from the blockbuster 'Snatch' , a couple of goons chase a man whom they catch eventually, while in another parallel sequence a rabbit is seen escaping the clutches of 2 rabid dogs - all this quite enjoyably constructed making it for a fine viewing experience. Whilst many such sequences have their own saucy appeal, the beauty of Ritchie's movies lie in their originality, like a blast of fresh British panache reminiscent of quirky unconventional cinema.

So why do you have to watch Guy Ritchie's movies ?  Let me get this straight. Ritchie's movies are far from serious. It is not just another crime drama and far far away from the Michael Mann types. Sure, you may never see say - Al Pacino or DeNiro in a Ritchie movie, but if you are looking for something far away from the usual, say have a simple 
plot but mix it up with a slew of characters having style-induced depth to them alongwith saucy editing, cockeneyed slang and sarcastic Brit humor, then you will definitely NOT be disappointed.

The last 2 Sherlock series have a bit of commercialization, in a sense when you have a big studio to back you up, you get talented actors like Downey Jr. and Jude Law you better deliver the goods. Ritchie's movies have moved away from the sense of direction redolent of his first two, and it is as good if not better. Ritchie's reliance on editing as well as giving huge importance to well-defined one-on-ones between the 2 central characters have their own charm with Downey effectively carrying out witty conversations with his own characteristic sense of nonchalant humor. Ritchie's sense of direction have combined well with Downey's acting and Sherlock has turned out into an enjoyable viewing experience, something I doubt any other director would have brought out so effectively, given that the conventional comic book Sherlock Holmes was a detective par excellence and the sense of mystery has been brought out wonderfully in the movies, which I am sure any Holmes fan would agree with me.


On a finishing note, Guy Ritchie is a director a serious cinema lover ought to know about, and L2SB and Snatch are right up there followed by RocknRolla and now the Sherlock Series. In short, his movies are worth every single Mb on your HDD.

                                                                                                                                   - Prash

Prash's musings can be found on "Distorted Pandemonium" @ prashslash.wordpress.com

Guest Blogging!

Well behold a new "Got Groove"!......in my attempt to make this page go absolutely viral and pull in more enthusiast's to the healthy debate on movies and music that this page is essentially prevalent for, a Facebook page by the same name has been born; and so is the new-look Got Groove! In a nifty collage I pay a solemn tribute to the amazing directors of yore who have brought forward cinematic masterpieces over the time in ways mere moviegoers have not fathomed to be possible. The list is never ending, yet I tried to encompass a decent breadth of an enumeration while I'm at it. Updates shall be thrown in timely and so has been a simple Indian twist which you'll find on close observation! Apart from this, there's a new feature that might put this page truly on the mainstream. Guest Blogging! In a series called "Directors you ought to know", let me introduce my dear friend and avid movie aficionado, Prashant Rajan a.k.a Lee a.k.a Prash, as he goes gaga over Guy Ritchie's work! That shall be the next post on GotGroove. Hope you'll like it as I shall bring forth more from him and several such bloggers abound. Enjoy the reads and bookmark this page for more!