Shariq Ansari
5. Heaven (1998)
‘Heaven’ is a underrated little gem from New Zealand and features a then relatively unpopular Martin Donovan and Karl Urban. It’s probably as strange on reel, as it is on paper. Though having 90’s tropes with lots of characters and messy plot, it probably has the most interesting plot devices. The movie revolves around a transgender who has visions of the future, and to make things even more complicated ‘Heaven’ has a non-linear narrative that would put ‘Pulp Fiction’ to shame any day, over its complexity.
4. Nikita (1990)
“Critics should be looking towards the future, but in France, all they want to talk about is the past.” – Luc Besson. Nikita probably did not start the French New Wave or Cinema du look (which it was a part of), it surely presented a gateway for other upcoming French directors to induce tropes from Hollywood while retaining the style Europe was famous for. Nikita is one of the earliest films to feature a female assassin, and the remakes and TV shows are a proof of the impact it had on elevating the status of the “femme fatale”. It’s depiction of violence is what you would usually find in a Tarantino film, not to disturb, but to stir your adrenaline.
3. Insomnia (1997)
Stellan Skarsgard is no stranger to psychological crisis, and before he was enslaved by Loki, he played the cop Al Pacino became famous for playing in Nolan’s remake of the Norwegian thriller, ‘Insomnia’. Probably the most interesting aspect of the movie is how it deals with fear rather than guilt after death. When Skarsgard’s character mistakenly kills his partner policeman, every decision of his places him at crossroads. The perplexity of opting to protect a murderer to save his own skin, shoves him in a dark room where sleep is as abundant as the light present there.
2. A Simple Plan (1998)
You’d expect something violent or vigorous from a Sam Raimi thriller after having directed the ‘Evil Dead’ Trilogy and ‘Darkman’, but surprisingly that takes the third place. Raimi places his characters at the top, while slowly building the tragic gothic tale underneath them. The premise is typical of dark comedies, an honest and hardworking man, his socially challenged brother and the brother’s hillbilly friend, find $4 million in the middle of a natural reserve. Now, Raimi could have easily built this the ‘Fargo’ way, but he never mocks the mayhem, but makes the audience face it. Its rather slow compared to a modern thriller as the moral implications of the characters’ actions are explored through their growing differences towards each others.
1. Miller’s Crossing (1990)
‘Miller’s Crossing’ is a movie only The Coens can create. There are many who would call ‘No Country For Old Men’, a magnum opus for the duo but the only flaw about that movie is, there’s nothing Coen about it. Miller’s Crossing on the other hand has the abrupt and unexplained premise. The stage is set, the props are in, the actors are in, and now the Coens are going to design an “8” shaped domino. The movie begins with mobster waging a war against a rival leader over an unfaithful love interest, and evolves into a complex saga about power and loyalties in the crime syndicate. Miller’s Crossing also interestingly, is somewhere along the lines of an experimental neo-noir. Though it sticks faithfully to its film noir world, it never hesitates to break conventions, but ones which are different from most neo-noirs as well.
