Black

Black is beautiful. I don't really know what else to say about it. It's a little emotionally manipulative, a little heavy on the attempt to inspire, the characters a little broad and shallow, but I very much enjoyed watching it. Not so much the story but the performances and the visuals. I loved the not-quite-defined time period, the Indo-Euro mishmash house that was more like a gallery than a home, the storybook village that was really only safe if you knew where you were. Rani and Amitabh handled their unoriginal parts with grace, energy, and just the right amount of humor. Although I haven't seen The Miracle Worker, there so many other familiar threads here - misfit grizzly type with one last chance to save himself, angry young person softened when she can reach out to others, jealous-but-loving family member - that the whole package was familiar. But it didn't matter. Certain story devices and themes are reused so often because they work, and these worked sufficiently on me. I can't say I was moved, but I can say I was happy to have spent a few hours in this little world. It was the familiar made touching, intriguing, and beautiful. Many a movie does far less than that.

Aside to costume designer: from a knitter's point of view, this was intoxicating. Rani's never-ending parade of sweaters, hats, and scarves was absolutely gorgeous. Please publish patterns.