Barfi! stands out. A little shorter than usual (2h30), time passes very quickly and I'll explain why.
Set in 1970s Darjeeling, India, this is the story of three kids who learn that love is the only way to transcend the invisible barriers of society. His name is Murphy, but everyone calls him Barfi. He is a quick-witted guy who always has a new joke under his cap - and to think he is deaf and dumb! His bittersweet relationships with two girls Shruti (Ileana D'cruz) and Jhilmil (Priyanka Chopra, former Miss World) set in motion a chain of events that will turn his life upside down.
An old man gets up from his hospital bed and sets up a tripod camera to take a picture of himself. The camera goes off while he is combing his hair, the man stands up to the camera and collapses. A woman, Shruti, then begins to narrate the story of this man. She regretted not having any satisfactory photo of him but he had promised her that before he died he would take one for her, that she could frame it and Barfi always kept his promises.
Based on an original screenplay that he wrote, Anurag Basu directs a film full of poetry, humor, and inventiveness. At the crossroads of universes like Tim Burton, Wes Anderson or Jean-Pierre Jeunet, he develops a very personal world. Unique and at the same time universal, that of Barfi, a character of absolute freedom, driven by joy and an inextinguishable thirst for life. It is his story that Shruti, Barfi's first love, will tell, with tenderness and nostalgia.
Deaf and mute from birth, raised alone by his father, Barfi is resolutely optimistic. His imagination and his natural emancipation from codes and conventions earn him regular pursuit by Sudhanshu Dutta, the local police officer, for minor nuisances, damages or thefts. Despite the troubles he causes, Barfi is loved by all, he looks at the world around him with an unprejudiced, positive and open-minded view, insensitive to judgment.
Anurag Basu, through the adventures of his hero, draws the viewer into a prolific world, without artificial settings, where the characters are the heart of the story. What makes the story so endearing, besides the atypical love story between Barfi (Ranbir Kapoor) and Jhilmil, a young autistic woman superbly played by Priyanka Chopra, is this bohemian, creative spirit, free from the gaze of others.
This Chaplin-like, Keaton-like spirit, to which Anurag Basu pays homage, this natural optimism, this attention to others without calculation, this wind of freedom and poetry without rebellion, this innate emancipation without provocation.
The story starts with a very good idea and works over time. Three stories, three characters who will meet, lose sight of each other, fall in love, etc. Romance in short but for once very well staged. Some shots are masterful and surprising for an Indian film. I'm thinking, for example, of the use of the blur in reverse shot of the filmed characters which probably reinforces their feelings.
Or of its musicians that we see throughout the film and who play its theme and of the sometimes surprising transitions like with a typewriter whose tapping plays the music of the film, not without recalling Cloud Atlas. Mixing drama and comedy, and even sometimes burlesque reminiscent of the great Charlie Chaplin films (visible at one point in a photo, coincidence?), the film transports us from one thing to another in terms of feeling in all fluidity and gentleness.
Many symbols are also used such as the rain and the umbrella which are present in most of the emotional scenes with Barfi (unless it is a coincidence?). In addition, the twist at the end is rather interesting.
Like it or not, this film will probably make you shed at least a tear. He is deaf and mute, she is autistic. In their difficulties, they represent the quintessential Bollywood: love as the ultimate and supreme goal. The dialogues are few and sometimes even superfluous: it is the silent scenes that give value to the film, making it intense and touching.
In the film, Darjeeling is also masterfully represented, and is made as a dreamscape, full of color and teeming with life. The costume designers manage to capture the most traditional aspect of the Bengali city, and the soundtrack has also been highly praised by critics.
Some critics have called it excessively long - a common flaw in many Bollywood films and two and a half hours, in fact, is a lot. But the rich soundtrack and a cast that gave their all (Kapoor improves as the film progresses) made this film one of the most viewed of 2012. A film worth seeing if only for the locations and photography.
The screenplay is really complex (for being essentially a romantic comedy) with the authors who allow themselves various virtuosities, such as repeated flashbacks, interrupted sequences and then restarted, but everything seems to work like clockwork.
Watching Barfi! can bring to mind films such as Cops and Robbers and some Chaplin films to testify to the variety of registers used, which go from silent film comedy, to the whodunit thriller, up to the use of digital effects. However, what works are the characters in the film, also thanks to the actors who play them.
There is also talk of diversity, in a very light way, and the moral of Barfi! is that to live happily you have to be generous and ready for the impossible like the protagonists of the films.
Soundtrack:
The music of the film strangely recalls the fabulous destiny of Amélie Poulain in particular thanks to the use of the accordion. This comparison already allows us to imagine the atmosphere that the film conveys. The soundtrack gives us the impression of evolving in a tale or rather an almost fantastic story that is told to us in the manner of a tale.
As for the songs, don't worry, here, no untimely dances or endless duets but rather pleasant and gentle songs to listen to. We can't say that Barfi! is a musical because the actors never sing and the songs only serve as background sound. This is very surprising, once again, for a bollywood film.
Photography:
To finish, I conclude on the sets which are magnificent. A simple forest bursts the screen with its colors, its rays of sun, etc... Of course, the director has a lot to do with it and the small town depicted in the film, full of life, has the air of a postcard; a favorable setting for a romance. The characters are also highlighted by grandiose shots. The two female characters have a lot of charm and Barfi constantly arouses our sympathy.
As you will have understood, Barfi! is more than a success. I can only recommend it and I even allow myself to classify it at the same level as a Forest Gump for the subject treated, in another way certainly. Inspired by great films of all kinds, the film nevertheless has an identity of its own and which dazzles us.
Barfi is a very beautiful film, tender, moving, positive with characters carried away by the communicative grace of its hero. A film in the image of barfee (milk-based pastry, voluntary homonymy?), which leaves the pupils with a light and deep sweetness that lasts well after the last image.
A very good film to see and see again!
Release Year: 2012, Genre: Romantic Comedy, Duration: 154 min, Director: Anurag Basu, Soundtrack: Pritam Chakraborty, Cinematography: Ravi Varman, Editing: Akiv Ali, Screenplay: Anurag Basu and Tani Basu
Actors: Ranbir Kapoor, Priyanka Chopra, Ileana, Roopali Ganguly, Arun Bali, Haradhan Bannerjee, Sumona Chakravarti, Ileana D'Cruz
