The Last Lear - Notepad
The Last Lear
quick review:
Is it a play? Is it a movie? Whatever it is, it's a collage of brilliant performances. If only story had some clear direction!
This page has additional observations, other than the ones noted in the main review.
Plot Summary
Harish Mishra (Amitabh Bachchan), who likes to be called Harry by people he likes, is a stage artist. Siddharth (Arjun Rampal) convinces him to take up a role in a movie he's directing.
What Worked
- The way Harry treats the media - almost as if Amitabh is venting his anger against the media in real life.
- The fireworks symbolizing the internal chaos of the characters in their quiet environments.
- The fact that Harry is so particular about Shakespeare but couldn't care less about Akbar and Jehangir! I thought it was cute and added to his passion for Shakespeare.
- Harry switching to Bangla accent when he's drunk.
What did not
Note: This section simply lists the things that I did not like in this movie. This
is not the overall impression about this movie. Please read the
full review here
- During a shoot while a shot is being set up Harry shushes someone he's talking to, to hear a bird. And somehow the carpenters working behind him stop making the sawing noises though they are still working!
- People wiping tears while coming out of the door. What were they doing waiting to do that till they come out of the door for?!
The Last Lear - Movie Details
The Last Lear - All reviews summary
External Reviews
17 reviewers have given The Last Lear
an average rating of 2.5/5.0.
4 yays,
4 nays,
9 so-so.
See all external reviews »
Readers' Ratings
1 readers have given The Last Lear
an average rating of 3/5.0.
0 yays,
0 nays,
1 so-so.
See all reader reviews »
Comments (13)
the best movie of the year so far, guys go watch it...
!!! Spoilers in this comment !!!
I vehemently believe that you are being absurd in majority of the parts of your review for this movie. Your question, "what was it about?" is at the peak of utter absurdness. What was "Sholay" about? A widow who was falling in love? A woman who was a cart driver? A police officer who lost his hands? A dacoit who was defeated by two heroes? "A little bit of each, a whole lot of ultimately nothing."? How stupid your questions for The Last Lear sound is beyond any human to express. The movie is simply about how extreme passion can ultimately get to destroy oneself and the people related. Harry had to give up his life for the passion of "controlling" his scene himself, without any stunt man. Siddharth had to live on with a heavy guilt all his life due to his "perfect" climax. The three women were used as subplots. That is all. It was a perfectly sweet and beautiful film in the end.
PS: Your notes like for this movie were really interesting and magnificent. But your review really disappoints. Reflection suggested.
Rajat, when you put it that way, it makes sense. But, none of this came across to me while watching the movie. The focus of Sholay was crystal clear. That the cart driver, the widow were clearly sub-plots in 'Sholay'. The women in "The Last Lear" had much more substantial roles.
"Reflection suggested."
Suggestion accepted. Thanks!
The film represents a major miscalculation in its adaptation of what must be a fairly static play and its use of Bachchan as an aging Shakespearian actor.
But it is still a pleasure to watch Mr. Bachchan declaiming lines from “ Lear” and rendering wisdom in his rich, stentorian voice. Honestly speaking,the script is extremely melodramatic, which is unexpected from a Ghosh's film.
Hey, this is a cool blog..just stopped here!!
Its a one-stop blog for any movie review.
I have a suggestion Meetu. Since the main blog now contains all sorts of articles - reviews, to-each-his-owns, pre-reviews, happy birthday etc, can we please have a link to "reviews by date posted" under the "Reviews Index" menu on the left hand side? This will only contain links to all the reviews, sorted by date, most recent on top. That will be really helpful and improve navigability on the website.
Thanks, Sara!
Thanks for the suggestion, Sanket. The scrolling of posts has been annoying me too. Currently working on a complete site-rehaul. Much much more user-friendliness is promised. Meanwhile, I'll try to see if the review category can be set-up in the navigation bar itself or like the way you said.
Guess....those who have seen Utpal Dutt ...doing a shakespearean play.....can only..recommend AB take his ....theatre..lessons...from the late Utpal Dutt.........
the best movie of the year so far, guys go watch it…
!!! Spoilers in this comment !!! I vehemently believe that you are being absurd in majority of the parts of your review for this movie. Your question, “what was it about?” is at the peak of utter absurdness. What was “Sholay” about? A widow who was falling in love? A woman who was a cart driver? A police officer who lost his hands? A dacoit who was defeated by two heroes? “A little bit of each, a whole lot of ultimately nothing.”? How stupid your questions for The Last Lear sound is beyond any human to express. The movie is simply about how extreme passion can ultimately get to destroy oneself and the people related. Harry had to give up his life for the passion of “controlling” his scene himself, without any stunt man. Siddharth had to live on with a heavy guilt all his life due to his “perfect” climax. The three women were used as subplots. That is all. It was a perfectly sweet and beautiful film in the end. PS: Your notes like for this movie were really interesting and magnificent. But your review really disappoints. Reflection suggested.
Rajat, when you put it that way, it makes sense. But, none of this came across to me while watching the movie. The focus of Sholay was crystal clear. That the cart driver, the widow were clearly sub-plots in ‘Sholay’. The women in “The Last Lear” had much more substantial roles. “Reflection suggested.” Suggestion accepted. Thanks!
The film represents a major miscalculation in its adaptation of what must be a fairly static play and its use of Bachchan as an aging Shakespearian actor. But it is still a pleasure to watch Mr. Bachchan declaiming lines from “ Lear” and rendering wisdom in his rich, stentorian voice. Honestly speaking,the script is extremely melodramatic, which is unexpected from a Ghosh’s film.
Guess….those who have seen Utpal Dutt …doing a shakespearean play…..can only..recommend AB take his ….theatre..lessons…from the late Utpal Dutt………
Leave a new comment