MovieChat Forums > Khuda Kay Liye (2007) Discussion > is it technically dumb???

is it technically dumb???

posted 16 years ago by grepkapil
11 replies | jump to latest

Before saying anything I must say that I loved this movie..

But I also found problems with the editing and the screenplay. KKL lacks a rhythm and editing is not that crisp. The reason is simple, the narrative travels from one different space to an another space quite frequently. I recently watched "Namesake" where the Mira Nair handled it beautifully and that was her agenda to merge two different spaces as it comes from the text.

Now coming back ot KKL, for sure technically KKL could have been much better...but I dont think.. the director was even worried about it(smooth editing or whatever)...that does'nt seem his agenda!!

But why do we become technicians while reviewing (such) movies....when the intention is quite clear in this case i.e. not to make a commercial high budget movie or a technically sound movie...!!

I got quite upset when I read such threads targeting KKL on its weaker areas..

There are many such great movies, are not technically strong..for ex: Kiarostami's Close Up, jafar panahi's The Circle, Jeffrey jeturian's Kubrador etc. But one thing is quite clear in these movies that is their intention!!

Infact I will say...our so called "Technically Sound Bollywood" directors should learn to make such movies..

-KM-

[–] indic 16 years ago

Yeah right.

[–] Chris-18-2 16 years ago

Hmmm, a movie doesn't have to be a "commercial high budget movie" to be technically sound. A good story and editing have nothing to do with the budget. Most of the problems you mentioned are there; I noticed the same thing while watching it. Most of it has to do with his lack of experience/talent as a film director not the budget. Have you ever seen Satyajit Ray's Pather Panchali? The film was probably made in worst circumstances (financially) and is over 50 years old, but is much better than this.

The editing and narrative problem is very real. Some of the scenes are so lacking in purpose and direction it comes off as a semi professional student film. The dialouge isn't great, characters psychology isn't explored properly, some of the characters are just very poor caricatures( the guy who comes in the shop and starts moralizing......wtf?). It's not like the films message is any more profound. It's a pretty pathetic bourgeosie view of the entire thing; one critic in Pakistan called the films moralizing "local liberal dribble" and I couldn't agree more.

[–] coolshah 16 years ago

Its amazing how pompous twits like you disregard someone's hardwork so easily.
The direction of the film is quite good and the dialogues are just superb.
You find scenes which have no meaning, actually if you have seen shoaib's previous works, you'll find that his work always gives you a sense of realism and naturalness. You feel as if its close to your life, your surroundings, and thats exactly what you see in the scene of the guy coming in the cafe and start cursing the father of mary. It shows what people of the Pakistani soceity, culture think.
There are other scenes aswell which you may find dragged, but actually there is a meaning behind them. If you think otherwise then state the scene here and may be i'll open your eyes.

And laslty do not, I repeat do not compare this movie with movies of cinemas that have been developed for decades. KKL is a Pakistani movie, which is quite well made, it reflects the Pakistani soceity, its people, a food for thought.

[–] Chris-18-2 16 years ago

Sorry for having a differing opinion. If you think this film has good direction and dialouges than your criterion for assessing it must be pretty low.

It's true some of the scenes do have meaning, however superficial they might be, but they aren't communicated properly. The purpose of a good film isn't just to communicate, pontificate. A good film must communicate with subtlety and without atracting notice to itself; KKL failed miserably at this.

Lastly I'm not comparing this to "cinemas that have developed for decades", if I was I'd be talking about the average photography and production design which I'm not. I compared this to Pather Panchali not Jurrasic Park.

[–] coolshah 16 years ago

Well I do not know how or rather what scrutiny does a movie under goe in ur analysis.
Do you see on what topics does KKL talk about, topics which are a big controversy in the Pakistani society, i dn't think a movie on such topic has been made ever before, it talks about 7 things, Taliban influence, Music & islam, blunders made by parents settling abroad, women rights in Pakistan, American racial profiling and prejudices, most importantly suming up a true picture of islam at the end, a picture which the molvies have made very gloomy and finally presenting in a very ingenious indirect way, the difference between the western and eastern societies.
I think when talking about such issues one should be open and explicit. And do you know why KKL attracted notice to itself why it created a hype?
Its because it was for the 1st time anything like this was created in Pakistan.
Its not a commercial movie, nor an art.

[–] fabsab 16 years ago

chris-

the film is watchable and enjoyable, its pretty poor technically but that isnt the main point. the reason this film was succesful and was embraced by pakistanis was because its our own film, in our own pakistani style and focusing on our own issues. personally i thought the idea of the singer and going to the US was a little far fetched and too eager to please, but the scenes set in pakistan were pretty good.

this film is no where near the quality of films produced in korea, iran, china etc but for pakistanis its a decent start considering we have a barely functioning film industry.

[–] rohonnag 15 years ago

PLEASE dont say we didnt have big budget to make a technically sound film,

no lights, no money for good sound fine, I can see that

no money to edit it properly, BULL S CRAP!!!

editing and post production is all about talent, I can personally edit this entire film on the PC i am writing this, its dual core with 4 gbs of ram and 1 TB HDD, its not a very high end config either!!!

many many old films have 100% better editing! see citizen kane, mind blowing editing, and they did that with scissors!!!!!!!

I am not saying KKL was a bad film or the makers didnt work hard enough, it was a decent film, but editing can be done better, if you know how to

P.S I am an editor so i know what i am talking about in Post, I made a sci fi thriller with budget of Rs. 3000 thats like 55$ !!!! search for" the Void " on you tube, I am not saying its the best edit ever, but if that can be done for so less....

Why...So..Serious? Let's put a smile on that face of yours!

[–] sonysasankan 15 years ago

I couldn't agree more. I loved the movie, but technically it was crap. I'm from a film school background and could help notice the film student like style the movie had. And I've seen plenty of student films. Some of the good ones have beautiful ideas and potential... but all that is lost in translation because they haven't mastered the medium. I'm sure the movie might have had a wonderful script, and probably did not give much concern to storyboarding and improvising on location (like most students do :)

The editing was bad i agree... but we can never know for sure if that's the editor's doing or the director's ignorance during the shoot. I find it quite hard to judge an edit without seeing the unedited footage.

[–] zain_hasan40 13 years ago

It may not be easier for a non-Pakistani to appreciate the fine details of the film.

As a person who has spent a lot of time in Pakistan, I found the dialogues very natural, and perfectly relevant. Characters may come across as caricatures, but the sad reality is that the mindset shown is so common, that there is little depth to explore in these characters. Both the extremists, and the so-called moderates are absorbed so much in their respected philosophies, that they all seem like some programmed robots.

It was useless from a director's point of view to explore depths into the characters, especially when his aim was to deliver a powerful message through his film.

Maybe if you spent some time in Pakistan, you'll start relating with every single trait of all the characters.

[–] colour-me-kubrick 15 years ago

"Infact I will say...our so called "Technically Sound Bollywood" directors should learn to make such movies"

It was an average rate film even by bollywood standards. I was expecting a lot, considering all the hype around it. But that says a lot abut the Pakistani film industry.

Last seen:-
The fly (Rewatch) (10/10)
The wrestler (Rewatch)(8/10)
Star Trek (6/10)

[–] Prince_Adam 15 years ago

Technique ceases to matter to the young generation as long as the movie has a contemporary feel to it and it doesn't "drag" on. The young breed doesn't care much about symbolisms and metaphors. All they want is a good solid story with good acting. The genNext has changed cinema compeltely.