Sindhanai Selvar Dr.Kamal HaasaR - favourite movies,scenes 2

If you concentrate on one thing all the time even a genius person will look like mentally retarded and that is what happens to Kamal in Guna.

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Originally Posted by Jaiganes

Guna is someone who does not have a grip on reality. Even mentally challenged (congenitally) have an idea of what 'reality' is

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Yes, but a couple of nitpicks here:
Most of his cognitive functions are in place and he is not our street signal "madman" and in that sense, he is in tune with reality. It is in the delusional sense that you explain (he does not want this reality and constantly seeks the other) that he is in another world.
Secondly, after medication, there is a slight change in behavior where he is prone to depressive behavior (Kannu kutti scene)
I mean to say, i don't see this merely as a convenient cinematic explanation like "he has been a wimp all his life so something within him gives way and he becomes Anniyan" or "he is bored with his uneventful life that he invents his fantasy unconsciously and lives it" etc..

The cause may be due to chemical imbalances or some trauma or maybe from birth itself. Whatever it may be, as you pointed out, it is the 'symmetry' between a "disturbed" individual who believes in and is in search of an alternate reality (the only reality which matters to him) and the actually mad cruel world stuck in its reality.
I think it is a statement on how the world perceives, understands and tolerates 'insanity'

And the trick was in not making it like a preachy, educational, feel good film

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Originally Posted by Bala (Karthik)

And the trick was in not making it like a preachy, educational, feel good film

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To be frank, the life of Roshini is the real tragedy in the movie. Guna was always standing on one leg atop a building....

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Originally Posted by Bala (Karthik)

The cause may be due to chemical imbalances or some trauma or maybe from birth itself. Whatever it may be, as you pointed out, it is the 'symmetry' between a "disturbed" individual who believes in and is in search of an alternate reality (the only reality which matters to him) and the actually mad cruel world stuck in its reality.I think it is a statement on how the world perceives, understands and tolerates 'insanity'

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I would say less self-induced than we would like to believe. The inhibitions are external. The physical appearance by birth, the fatherless child brought up in the brothel, led on by many others since then, by Chithappa, inmate, or what have you. The traumas emerge from 'outside' than one's own self. The 'determining' (or 'fate' as one might want to call it) is world's. So the absence of 'free will' is huge crevice through which the film operates.

Thereby, the world ironically perceives, understands or tolerates its own making, or its own 'failing'.

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Originally Posted by Bala (Karthik)

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Originally Posted by Movie Cop

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Originally Posted by Bala (Karthik)

I've said this before. From the movies i have seen, IMHO Guna is easily the best performance by any actor ever. Frame by frame.

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Agree. In my real life, I've seen/met mentally retarded people(pardon me if the term is politically/socially incorrect). In fact, enga relatives side-liye oruthar irrukar :( Anaal oru mentally disturbed person-uhh en life-le paarthadhille.
Mentally disturbed person-aaga oruthar irundha, eppadi irrukum enbadhai en kann munnal kondu vandhu niruthiya Kamal-in abaara nadippukku oru salute, bow! :notworthy:
Even putting it rather mildy, Kamal's acting was simply brilliant . :clap:

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I haven't seen schizophrenia captured on screen like this before (forget the Hitchcockian MPD nonsense which has a cult following and is omnipresent in the film world, unfortunately).
I know a schizophrenia patient. There are many types of schizophrenia with varying symptoms and this person did not usually exhibit the delusional symptoms that Guna perpetually seems to have. However, from time to time, this person becomes dull and withdrawn as a result of hallucinations caused due to the disease itself and also if the medication or the dosage goes wrong and the way he speaks, the way his eyes look at that time, can be related to Guna. I am convinced that this is one performance like no other. IMO, its not just a question of observing someone and merely mimicking the actions. Even that in itself is no mean task!

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Exactly! Only an actor of Kamal's calibre/genius can do these kind of roles with aplomb.
Kamal-ukku tough roles ellaam nalla mattum varale... Remba easy ya-vum varudhu. That pretty much sums up the difference betweem him and the rest of the actors. :D

A great discussion here, folks, and some excellent points by Bala. I agree that this is a truly marvelous performance. Some say it's over-the-top, but honestly, I think it's really to do with a sense of 'denial' with respect to how far an actor can go. Otherwise I think this is really a very finely nuanced performance in every sense.

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Originally Posted by Bala (Karthik)

(forget the Hitchcockian MPD nonsense which has a cult following and is omnipresent in the film world, unfortunately)

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:twisted: The MPD nonsense you're referring to (a la Donald Kaufman) has nothing to do with Hitchcock, I say!

:lol:

I am one among cult followers of Hitchcock's split-personality disorder (in Psycho). I don't really think he made too many "MPD" films. He brought out various psychological disorders. Traumas from childhood or specific incidents/accidents in their lives that it creates the guilt and disassociation of their own personality through amnesia and PTSD etc. I believe Hitch was fully aware of what he is doing. The problem might be the extreme inspirations that followed. The pinnacle of extremity is in De Palma's "Dressed to kill" (which I thoroughly liked).

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Originally Posted by jaiganes

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Originally Posted by Bala (Karthik)

And the trick was in not making it like a preachy, educational, feel good film

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To be frank, the life of Roshini is the real tragedy in the movie. Guna was always standing on one leg atop a building....

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Perhaps but remember, apart from being rich, she didn't have much going for her either(*)

(*)idhellam summa cinema talk, vaazhkainnu vandhutta if somebody is rich, a LOT is going for him/her :twisted:

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Originally Posted by kid-glove

:lol:

I am one among cult followers of Hitchcock's split-personality disorder (in Psycho). I don't really think he made too many "MPD" films.

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True, but the one in Spellbound is what the Brits would call, "Balderdash" :evil: Of course, we all know that the best representation of MPD on screen was accomplished by Sanggar & Vikram few years back :P