Court (film)

Court

International poster for the film
Directed by Chaitanya Tamhane
Produced by Vivek Gomber
Written by Chaitanya Tamhane
Starring Vira Sathidar
Vivek Gomber
Geetanjali Kulkarni
Pradeep Joshi
Usha Bane
Shirish Pawar
Music by Sambhaji Bhagat
Cinematography Mrinal Desai
Edited by Rikhav Desai
Production
company
Zoo Entertainment Pvt Ltd
Distributed by Artscope - Memento Films
Release dates
  • September 4, 2014 (2014-09-04) (Venice Film Festival)
Running time
 116 minutes
Country India
Language Marathi
Hindi
Gujarati
English

Court is a 2014 Indian independent legal drama film, written and directed by Chaitanya Tamhane in his directorial debut. Featuring a cast of newcomers, the film examines the Indian legal system through the trial of an ageing folk singer at a Sessions Court in Mumbai.

Court premiered at the 71st Venice International Film Festival on 4 September 2014,[1] where it won the Best Film in the Horizons category and the Luigi De Laurentiis (Lion Of The Future) award for Tamhane.[2] Jay Weissberg of Variety described the film as "an impressive debut that flays alive India’s judicial system thanks to an intelligent, superbly understated script."[3] The film went on to win 18 other awards at film festivals, including honours at the Mumbai, Vienna, Antalya, and Singapore film festivals.[4] In 2015, the film won the Best Feature Film award at the 62nd National Film Awards, which honoured films released in 2014.[5][6]

Court theatrically released in India on 17 April 2015.[7] The film was selected as India's official submission for the 88th Annual Academy Awards in the Best Foreign Language Film category but it was not nominated.[8][9]

Cast

Development and production

The idea for the film occurred to Tamhane in 2011, after he had just finished travelling to festivals with his debut short film, Six Strands. He thought about the idea of a realistic courtroom drama in an Indian setting and at the insistence of his friend Vivek Gomber, an actor he had previously worked with, he set about writing the script.

In an interview with ScreenDaily, he said, "I never imagined I would tackle a courtroom drama, as I’m not a big fan of genre films. But when I came across the idea of a realistic trial unfolding in a lower court of Mumbai, it made me curious. It felt like the complete opposite of what I, as an audience, would expect from a courtroom film; the lawyers were not good orators, the documents were misplaced, the arguments were technical and redundant. I was amused by this setting, and decided to probe further."[10]

He started researching and interviewing people, a process that went on for a year, utilising notes, free-association essays, video, and picture references. Pre-production involved six months of script research, six months of casting, and eight months of location recce. The crew was largely made up of people working on their first fictional feature film. The cast largely included non-professional actors, including bank employees, government employees, and teachers.[11]

In an interview to Bikas Mishra of Indian indie film website DearCinema.com, Tamhane said, "Everybody in the crew was involved in intensive pre-production which included watching documentaries like Jai Bhim Comrade, touching base with activists and political groups, going to their houses and clicking pictures of the props in their houses, attending events with them etc. We created a database of colours, props, costumes and faces which made it easy for us to be closer to the essence of the subject, not necessarily the reality."[12]

The film then took three years to make and was produced by Gomber, who also plays the defence lawyer Vinay Vora in the film, with assistance from the Hubert Bals Fund of International Film Festival Rotterdam.[13]

Reception

Critical response

International

Court has received largely positive reviews in the international film festival circuit. In his Venice review, Variety's Weissberg further wrote: "Outdated, elephantine courts are an easy target, yet it’s the way Tamhane coolly exposes the flaws that renders the film so powerful, making clear that the problem isn’t simply with what’s on the books, but also with the people pedantically interpreting them."[14] Neil Young of The Hollywood Reporter reviewed the film at Antalya, stating: "Mumbai's Chaitanya Tamhane emerges as one of the world's most accomplished and promising film-makers under 30 with his quietly steely legal drama Court, a bluntly-titled chronicle of politically-motivated injustice."[15] In French publication Le Monde, Jacques Mandelbaum called Court "a major movie on the worrying state of freedom of speech in the Indian democracy" and lauded the "intelligence and sensitivity" of Tamhane's direction.[16] Review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes reports that 100% of 25 critics have given the film a positive review, with a score average of 8.1/10.

It also received five-star reviews from London-based indie film site Dog And Wolf[17] and Spanish film site El antepenúltimo mohicano;[18] and four-star reviews from British blogs Cine-Vue and CultureFly.[19][20]

In India

Court has an 8.5 Positive rating on ReviewMonk, an Indian movie review aggregation site (similar to MetaCritic).[21]

Court premiered in India at the 16th Mumbai Film Festival in October 2014, winning Best Film and Best Director as well as a special mention from the jury for its cast. Reviews from the festival have universally praised the film. Nandini Ramnath of Scroll.in called it a "remarkably assured, engrossing study of the power of the law and order machinery to crush protest through delays, deferred hearings and demands for further evidence." [22] Mayank Shekhar, owner of pop culture website TheW14.com, wrote in Open Magazine about the film, calling it "a deeply humanistic account" and his favourite Indian film of the year.[23] FirstPost's Deepanjana Pal called it "ludicrous, hilarious, and heartbreaking."[24] Meenakshi Shedde reviewed the film in Mid-Day, concluding her piece with: "Here’s hoping these — and similar — films find distribution in India soon."[25] Suprateek Chatterjee included it in his list of the top five films at the festival in a piece for IBNLive, writing, "Tamhane is Indian cinema's next big thing and Court is destined to be a classic."[26]

In light of the film's critical success, Forbes Magazine's Indian edition profiled Tamhane in its annual '30 Under 30' list, calling him "Indian cinema's new voice of subversion."[27]

Distribution and release

Court was acquired by Artscope Films of French producer-distributor-sales agent Memento Films in late August 2014, just ahead of its Venice premiere.[28] As of December 2014, they had sold the film in four territories: Canada, Greece, the Middle East, and Hong Kong.[10] On 3 February 2015, American independent film distributor Zeitgeist Films announced that they had acquired the film for exhibition in the United States,[29] and the film had its US premiere at the 44th edition of New York's New Directors/New Films Festival on 18 March 2015.[30][31]

Awards

71st Venice International Film Festival (Orizzonti)[2]

16th Mumbai Film Festival (International competition)[32]

51st International Antalya Golden Orange Film Festival (International competition)[33]

Vienna International Film Festival[34]

Hong Kong Asian Film Festival[35]

Minsk Film Festival Listapad (Youth on the March competition)[35]

Auteur Film Festival (International Competition)(Serbia)[36]

Molodist Kyiv International Film Festival (International competition)[35]

Singapore International Film Festival[37]

2morrow Festival (Moscow)[38]

FICUNAM (Unam International Film Festival) (Mexico)[39]

62nd National Film Awards (India)[5]

See also

References

  1. ↑ La Biennale Di Venezia . Court got a green signal in Oscar in late September 2015. Retrieved on 15 February 2015.
  2. 1 2 Bhaskaran, Gautaman. Hindustan Times. Published 7 September 2014. Retrieved on 15 February 2015.
  3. ↑ Weissberg, Jay. Variety. Published 6 September 2014. Retrieved on 16 February 2015.
  4. ↑ Nandgaonkar, Satish. The Hindu. Published 7 February 2015. Retrieved on 15 February 2015.
  5. 1 2 Chatterjee, Suprateek. "'Queen', 'Haider', And 'Court' Amongst Winners At 62nd National Film Awards" Published 24 March 2015. Retrieved on 24 March 2015.
  6. ↑ "62nd National Film Awards for 2014 (Press Release)" (PDF). Directorate of Film Festivals. 24 February 2015. Retrieved 2015-03-25.
  7. ↑ Chatterjee, Suprateek. "Critically Acclaimed Marathi Film Court To Release Across India In April" Published 13 March 2015. Retrieved 24 March 2015.
  8. ↑ "Court is India's official entry for Oscars". Indian Express. 23 September 2015. Retrieved 23 September 2015.
  9. ↑ Bhushan, Nyay (24 September 2015). "Oscars: India Selects 'Court' For Foreign-Language Category". The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved 24 September 2015.
  10. 1 2 Shackleton, Liz. ScreenDaily. Published 11 December 2014. Retrieved on 16 February 2015
  11. ↑ IFFR Brave Talk with Chaitanya Tamhane (Court) by Geoff Andrew. Retrieved on 17 February 2015.
  12. ↑ Mishra, Bikas. DearCinema Published 6 September 2015. Retrieved on 16 February 2015.
  13. ↑ Hubert Bals Fund - Fall 2012 Hubert Bals Fund selects 25 winners in Fall 2012 Round Retrieved on 16 February 2015
  14. ↑ Court Review: Chaitanya Tamhane's outstanding debut.
  15. ↑ Young, Neil. Court: Antalya review - The Hollywood Reporter. Published 24 October 2014. Retrieved on 17 February 2015.
  16. ↑ Mandelbaum, Jacques. Le Monde - World Published 29 November 2014. Retrieved on 17 February 2015.
  17. ↑ Dalby, Alexa. London Film Festival: Court review. Published 12 October 2014. Retrieved on 17 February 2015.
  18. ↑ Moseguí, Carlota. Kafka in the courts of India - El antepenúltimo mohicano. Published 5 December 2014. Retrieved on 17 February 2015.
  19. ↑ Bleasdale, John. Venice 2014: Court review - Cine-Vue Published September 2014. Retrieved on 17 February 2015.
  20. ↑ Mayne, Stephen. Court review - BFI London Film Festival Special - CultureFly Published 10 October 2014. Retrieved on 17 February 2015.
  21. ↑ "Court Review Aggregate". ReviewMonk.
  22. ↑ Ramnath, Nandini. Meet the 27-year-old director whose debut swept the Mumbai Film Festival - Scroll.in Published 22 October 2014. Retrieved on 17 February 2015.
  23. ↑ Shekhar, Mayank. Court Chalu Aahe | OPEN Magazine. Published 9 January 2015. Retrieved on 17 February 2015.
  24. ↑ Pal, Deepanjana. Court review: Venice Film Fest's favourite shows how Mumbai's lower courts are a black comedy - FirstPost. Published 27 October 2014. Retrieved on 17 February 2015.
  25. ↑ Shedde, Meenakshi. Justice -- A luxury for the rich - MiD DAY Published 23 November 2014. Retrieved on 17 February 2015.
  26. ↑ Chatterjee, Suprateek. The 5 Best Films from Mumbai Film Festival 2014 - IBNLive Published 23 October 2014. Retrieved on 17 February 2015.
  27. ↑ Mitter, Sohini. Forbes India Magazine - Chaitanya Tamhane: Indian cinema's new voice of subversion. Published 13 February 2015. Retrieved on 17 February 2015.
  28. ↑ Hopewell, John. Variety. Published 28 August 2014. Retrieved on 16, 2 February- 15.
  29. ↑ Canfield, David. Indiewire. Published 3 February 2015. Retrieved on 16 February 2015.
  30. ↑ Cox, Gordon. Four Sundance Titles slated for New York's New Directors/New Films festival - Variety Published 21 January 2015. Retrieved on 17 February 2015.
  31. ↑ https://www.moma.org/visit/calendar/films/1556
  32. ↑ Bhushan, Nyay. India's Court wins at Mumbai Film Festival. Published 21 October 2014. Retrieved on 17 February 2015.
  33. ↑ Chaitanya Tamhane's Court wins award at Antalya Film Festival DearCinema.com. Published 20 October 2014. Retrieved on 17 February 2015.
  34. ↑ Court wins FIPRESCI prize at Viennale DearCinema.com. Published 7 November 2014. Retrieved on 17 February 2015.
  35. 1 2 3 Court continues its winning streak with three more awards. DearCinema.com. Published 15 November 2014. Retrieved on 17 February 2015.
  36. ↑ Indian film 'Court' wins Grand Prix award Tanjug. Published 4 December 2014. Retrieved on 17 February 2015.
  37. ↑ Frater, Patrick. India's Court rules at Singapore Festival Awards | Variety Published 14 December 2014. Retrieved on 17 February 2015.
  38. ↑ EA, Abhishek. Court wins at 2morrow Fest and makes it to the international competition at UNAM Film Fest - Sadda Haq Published 27 January 2015. Retrieved on 17 February 2015.
  39. ↑ Fulara, Arun. "Chaitanya Tamhane's 'Court' Wins Another Award, This Time In Mexico" Published 7 March 2015. Retrieved on 12 March 2015.

External links

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