Back when I had a ton of credit at the local CD/DVD store I went through their foreign DVD section and made a list of movies that looked interesting. This one has been on my "want to investigate" list every since, and last weekend I ran across it again, still there in the store and I decided what the hell.
Most movies are made to tell a story, but some do it as a piece of art. Like "Cinema Paradiso," like "The Great Beauty," like "Malena," like "La Dolce Vita" this is a movie that goes way beyond storytelling into the realm of a sensual feast.
The plot is this: a retired professor of Hindi literature begins showing signs of dementia. As an intelligent, educated man he recognizes the signs, and it scares the dickens out of him. His family is supportive, and sacrifices their own lives and careers to help him maintain as normal a life as possible, to preserve this very dignified man's dignity as long as possible, but as his dementia progresses it gets harder and harder. In the end his daughter goes to extraordinary lengths to try to "cure" him (or at least mitigate the worst of his delusions).
The cinematography is stunning. Much of the backstory is told in poignant images that need no explanation. The acting is great, and the story is heartbreaking. One rather odd thing about the movie is that the dialogue keeps veering between Hindi and English frequently, oftentimes even within a single sentence. It is disconcerting. Maybe they really speak that way in Mumbai, I don't know.
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