Secret Society Of Lies YIFY !!TOP!!

"Secretos del Corazón", is a sensitive, delicate, touching film made by one of the most talented Spanish filmmakers, the Basque Montxo Armendáriz. Perhaps the most impressive thing about it is how shrewdly Armendáriz captures the web of guilt, fear and repression of 1960s Spain, when the omnipresence of ponderous Catholic rituals and rigid moral codes translated the oppression of Franco's dictatorship to perfection.We follow 9-year-old Javi (Andoni Erburu), an intelligent, naive, over-protected, sensitive kid learning to deal with the harsh process of growing up and overcoming his many fears (of crossing a stream, of an old empty house, of ghosts, of big bullies in school, of the dark, of school punishment, of losing his mother's love), discovering "shocking" family secrets and the raw truths of life (sex, death, violence, lies), facing the bewilderment of asking something to adults and not having honest answers back, or not being able to understand them. If you've been raised in a Latin Catholic country, you can relate even more closely to "Secretos del Corazón": a sort of education that -- as Javi's wise grandfather says -- never teaches children anything about the really important facts of life.Everything in "Secreto" is skilfully accomplished: the cast is uniformly inspired, with Charo López as the liberal-minded aunt Maria and Joan Vallés as the stern grandfather especially fine. The costumes and set design take you right back to 1960s Spain, the plot unravels quietly and harmoniously so that when the big "revelation" comes it doesn't seem contrived. But above all, the triumph belongs to director Armendáriz's enormous sensibility and his extraordinary child actor Andoni Erburu, with his sad Pierrot face (somewhat reminiscent of Isabelle Adjani's), his toothy shyness, big curious eyes and emotional transparency that covers a large spectrum, but is never "cute" or maudlin -- it's a wonderful, natural, unforgettable performance, with a kind of innocence that's so hard to find today it drives you right back to another era (Erburu is from a rural Basque background), and can only be compared to Ana Torrent's fabulous performances in the 1970s for Saura and Erice. He deservedly won a collection of awards with this role, including the Goya and the Spanish Acting Guild Award for Best Newcomer.I liked this film so much I asked a friend to buy the DVD in Spain (unfortunately no one could find it in New York - hello DVD stores! - this was an Academy Award nominee for best foreign film!), so I can watch it again from time to time. If you like a well-told story sensitively directed and acted, and aren't frightened by moderato pace, you'll find "Secretos del Corazón" richly rewarding. It makes, with Carlos Saura's haunting "Cría Cuervos" and Victor Erice's spell-binding "El Espíritu de la Colmena", an incomparable triptych of studies on childhood, loss of innocence, sexual repression and moral/religious/political oppression under Franco's Spain. Don't miss it.

Secret Society of Lies YIFY

I won't comment on the performing (very good), this commentary is focused on the story itself (beware, the full plot is disclosed)"Secrets of the heart" ("Secretos del Corazon") is a film about a little boy, Javi, who has the misfortune of being born in an awful family who are all tormented or frustrated people. On his mother's side he has two aunts. One is an alcoholic who finally manages to flee with a lover, bringing therefore disgrace to her family, given the moral standards of most occidental societies at the moment. His other aunt is a spinster, bitter and puritan. His uncle (his father's only brother) and his widowed mother live in the same house with the grandfather and are secret lovers. They are eventually forced to get married when she gets pregnant. His deceased father, who supposedly died by accident while cleaning a fire weapon, actually fired himself when he discovered the adultery of his wife with his own brother. We later learn that Javi was in fact the result of this adultery.And the last adult member of such a troubled family is the grandfather, who seems the only well balanced member of it, if it hadn't been for his daughter-in-law bringing pain and death to his home. He is bitter about this, but tries to keep silence as he is no longer the head of family.The rest of this film's universe is not much happier. Javi's best fried for example, loses his mother, an unhappy event in itself, but in addition to this it's a suicide (a rather common way to die in this film). As if this was not enough, the reason for her suicide is her alcoholic husband constantly beating her and her children. We are also introduced to various local customs, Some of which are a bit shocking. Like when adults and children start making very hard noise with hands and/or objects at church (I'm sure that music would have much better softened these people's hearts) or when children are encouraged by adults to lapidate a human size doll hung from a tree by the neck. The doll is made with straw and dressed as a man. When the children finish throwing stones (that rip the doll's clothes and let the straw to be seen through) an adult sets fire to the doll. Everybody, children and adults, watch this sort of popular lynching with joy. Quite disturbing.In this environment we witness this little boy progressively lose not only his innocence but also his principles. When Javy discovered that his uncle went each night to his mother's bed, Javy lost his appetite. At the film's end, when he discovers that his true father is actually his uncle, he seems quite happy. Looking at a photo of his parents, he addresses the man he has grown loving as his father as "uncle Antonio", while he smiles. Along the film, Javy learns to lie and deceive in a cold and calculated way, for his own purposes (getting his brother a part in the school play at the expense of another boy), as in his young mind there are no longer moral limits. He seems to feel reassured by overhearing his mother admiratively talking about him to her lover: "This child is like you : he gets whatever he wants", which is surely the least that could be said about his uncle's stealing his brother's wife. The lack of remorse for the high price payed for it (the life loss, orphanhood and family shame) has a parallel in Javi's absolute lack of remorse when deceiving by the end of the film.One wonders how would things have been had this child grown up in a less tortuous family. But I don't agree that the film points out religious repression or politics as the source of all this unhappiness. The biggest of all these "secrets" so bitterly kept in these people hearts is undoubtedly the true reason for Javy's father death. And Javy's father didn't commit suicide because law, society or religion condemn adultery, but because he discovered that his wife and his only brother had both betrayed him. The pain of realizing this could be even harder if he sincerely loved them both. Love and betrayal are universal and eternal, and have very little to do with religion, and certainly nothing to do at all with politics. As a note, it's a common mistake to say that Armendariz is Basque while he is actually from Navarra, another Spanish province near one of the Basque provinces. Probably the reason for this error is that his films are frequently about Basque topics.

The ubiquitous Bollywood cop role. Salman Khan showed how to make a blockbuster playing one in Dabangg, which spearheaded his series of hit after hit from the year 2010, before others such as Abhishek Bachchan, John Abraham, Ajay Devgn all jumped on the bandwagon playing no-nonsense cops in that khaki-brown uniform. Having been absent from the big screen for close to two years now since Mumbai Diaries, it's been years since he last played a cop, and Mr Perfectionist himself Aamir Khan now returns to playing a law enforcer sporting a handsomely thick mustache, and you can be just about sure the choice of his project has that uniqueness, that you're in for quite the spectacle.Talaash boasts the involvement of Anurag Kashyap and Farhan Akhtar writing its dialogues, from a story written by sister Zoya Akhtar and Reema Kagti, the latter taking up directing duties as well. It's a story that deals with pain and reconciliation, wrapped around a police investigations surrounding the mysterious car accident of a famed Bollywood actor, which opened up a Pandora's Box of blackmail, secret rendezvous, femme fatales and cheap prostitutes, and as Aamir himself puts it, is more of a suspense than a thriller.The film opens to a jazzy opening credits tune Muskaanein Jhooti Hai, before we bear witness to the aforementioned car accident and death of a famous actor, which is mysterious in circumstances as we bear witness to the car's travelling late at night in the city's seedier side, before an inexplicable swerve, followed by an accelerated plunge into the sea. A high profile investigation begin, headed by Inspector Surjan Shekhawat (Aamir Khan), with clues being set up very quickly for the audience, but yes, we know these little teases in principle characters are nothing more than to prep us for what lies beneath with more than meets the eye.But the irony is that even this investigations is nothing more than a front for the more dramatic story that Reema Kagti and Zoya Akhtar want to tell. Surjan and his wife Roshhni are very much estranged, no thanks to the tragic death of their son in a boating accident that can very much be attributed to the negligence of both parents. Both of them take responsibility and deal with their loss in the most personal of terms, one in immersing himself in his job, while the other relies of psychiatric help and modern medicine, before turning to the spiritual in order to find inner peace, much to the chagrin of Surjan. It's been some time since we last saw Aamir pair up with Rani Mukherjee, and their scenes together evoke much of the emotions filling up Talaash, making it fabulously gloomy with an air of sadness all round as they grapple with their emotions. The Jee Le Zaraa by Vishal Dadlani perfectly encapsulates this, and unequivocally my favourite song from the film.Then there's the other pairing with Aamir Khan and his 3 Idiots co-star Kareena Kapoor, who plays the prostitute Rosie, whom Surjan finds solace in, and their relationship bordering on the will-he-or-wouldn't-he, especially since they grow closer, and the cop starting to confide a lot more personal feelings with her. She's someone who can provide clues and leads in his investigations, but this professional relationship becomes quite compromised, and having Kapoor play the seductress who tempts, allows for temperatures to be raised especially since the visuals just seem to love capturing her at her best angles. While Kareena may have turned up the va-va-voom factor by many notches, my vote goes to Rani Mukherjee for her very daring plain jane getup, sans makeup for the most parts, in order to play a mother in mourning, and for that inability to reconnect with her husband.Reema Kagti's film provided a balance with romanticized moments and hard hitting reality in its visuals, capturing the underbelly of society that Surjan has to delve into for leads, and introducing us to those who will seize opportunities to break out of their rut. There's a subplot involving a suspect's personal runner which highlights how desperation drives those who have not, to try and get the better of those who have, with great risks involved. And Talaash has that mesh of genres put together in pure Bollywood fashion, making it appeal at least in parts to a broad spectrum of audiences, with suspense, the supernatural, investigative drama and relationships taking turns to put their imprint on the narrative.I've developed that trust and leap of faith with Aamir Khan and his choice of productions to work in, and Talaash is that perfect welcome to return in a leading role, ably supported by Kareena Kapoor and almost being upstaged by Rani Mukherjee in her stereotype-busting turn. A strong emotional core to the story also helped to lift this beyond the many mediocre productions of late, and goes to show that when Bollywood gets its act together, it's a force to be reckoned with, and a delight for any audience anywhere to experience. Highly recommended! 041b061a72