Jodhaa Akbar

Hrithik Roshan and Aishwarya Rai-Bachchan in Jodhaa Akbar (UTV Motion Pictures)

The Museum of Photographic Arts kicks off an Indian Film Series on May 3 that's designed to complement its new exhibit Humanitas: Images of India by Fredric Roberts. For the kick off event, MoPA will be partnering with Goldspirit Films, the sole exhibitor of contemporary Indian language films in San Diego, to present a free encore screening of the epic Jodhaa Akbar. The screening begins at 6:00 pm at the Joan and Irwin Jacobs Theater. If you have ever wanted to sample a contemporary Indian film this is the perfect opportunity since the event is free and the film is a lush romantic and historical opus. MoPA will also be partnering with the San Diego Museum of Art for additional films in the series. SDMA is currently running its own Indian-themed exhibit Rhythms of India: The Art of Nandalal Bose. The first film of the MoPA/SDMA collaboration will be Satyajit Ray's Two Daughters (1961) screening Tuesday May 6. Ray's gift for nuanced comedy is superbly demonstrated in this exquisite adaptation of a pair of short stories by Indian literary giant Rabindranath Tagore. So if you want to spend a wonderful day and evening in Balboa Park enjoying all things Indian, come early and take a tour of both museum exhibits and then settle in for an evening of grand cinematic entertainment. 

Now to Jodhaa Akbar. This lush $10 million dollar historical romance favors legend over facts as it chronicles the sixteenth century love story between the famous Mughal Emperor Akbar and the Rajput Princess Jodhaa that he marries. Directed by Ashutosh Gowariker (an Academy Award nominee for his cricket epic Lagaan), Jodhaa Akbar stars hunky Hrithik Roshan as the emperor and the lovely Aishwarya Rai-Bachchan as his Hindu wife. Politically, Emperor Akbar is revealed as a savvy ruler, extending his empire as far east as Afghanistan and as far west as the Bay of Bengal, and from the Himalayas to the Godhavari River. As emperor, he displays tolerance and generosity backed by strength and military force. Akbar marries Jodhaa in order to strengthen his relations with the Rajputs. But Jodhaa is not about to be some mere political pawn. So she places two demands on Akbar before she will agree to marry: She will not be forced to convert to his Islamic faith and she will be allowed a small shrine to Krishna in her private quarters. Akbar agrees. But on their wedding night, he's turned away from her bed. Until he wins her heart, Jodhaa refuses to consummate their marriage. So in between battles, Akbar focuses on the domestic challenge of winning his wife's love and trust. He embarks on a courtship that leads to true love - despite court intrigues and prejudices that threaten to pull them apart.

Stop-Loss

Channing Tatum, Abbie Cornish and Ryan Phillippe in Stop-Loss (Paramount)

Kimberly Peirce garnered praise and attention for her feature film debut Boys Don't Cry, directing Hilary Swank to a Best Actress Oscar. But it's been almost ten years since that film. The delay in delivering a sophomore feature seems to lie in the fact that her second project went through a few transformations on the way to the big screen. Peirce became interested in telling a story about people who sign up for military service in a time of war. Initially her interest was in making a documentary but what she has finally made is the narrative film Stop-Loss (opening March 28 throughout San Diego). Peirce says she wanted to make a film exploring the questions: "Why are they signing up, what’s their experience in combat and what’s it like coming home?" And the documentary footage she gathered will now become bonus material when the film comes out on DVD.

Fighting for Life

Terry Sanders' Fighting for Life (Truly Indy)

This week two very different films deal with the Iraq War. Kimberly Peirce will serve up a Hollywood feature called Stop-Loss, and at the other end of the financial spectrum is Terry Sander's documentary Fighting for Life (opening March 28 at Landmark's Hillcrest Cinemas). Sanders won a 1955 Oscar for a short film he made with his brother Denis and a 1995 Oscar for producing the documentary Maya Lin: A Strong Clear Vision for his wife and fellow documentary filmmaker Frieda Lee Mock. [CORRECTION: I mistakenly said Sanders would be at the Ken Cinema on Friday to present his film and take questions from the audience, he will be at the Hillcrest Cinemas. The breakdancers will be at the Ken Cinema for Planet B-Boy. Sorry about the confusion.]

Taxi to the Dark Side

Alex Gibney's documentary Taxi to the Dark Side (THINKFilm)

You have to wait until the very end of Taxi to the Dark Side (opening February 8 for one week only at Landmark's Ken Cinema) to discover a very personal reason why Alex Gibney was so driven to make this documentary exploration of how far the Bush Administration has been willing to go in its prosecution of the “War on Terror.” Gibney’s father Frank was a journalist, author, and a former Naval interrogator in World War II. Just weeks before Frank Gibney died, he asked his son to videotape him so he could comment on the subject of American soldiers accused of torturing prisoners in Afghanistan, Iraq, Guantanamo and elsewhere.  Frank Gibney’s anger was directed at the top officials in the Bush Administration, starting with George W. and including Dick Cheney, Donald Rumsfeld, and Alberto Gonzales (who rationalized the new policy of “coercive interrogation techniques” as the only way to combat the threat posed by terrorist enemies so evil that they could turn commercial airliners into suicide planes). The outrage Frank Gibney expresses fuels his son’s documentary.

San Diego Jewish Film Festival

The coming of age tale Sixty-Six is the opening night film of the SDJFF (Universal)

The San Diego Jewish Film Festival kicks off its 18th season on February 7 with a British charmer called Sixty Six. The eleven-day festival will play at five local venues and showcase more than three dozen films and assorted panel discussions. Listen to my radio preview of the festival or read on for more in-depth details.

The title of the opening night film, Sixty-Six, refers to the year 1966 when Bernie Reubens (Greg Sulkin) is in the midst of elaborate plans for his bar mitzvah. Proclaiming itself a "tru-ish story," the film offers a delightful portrait of a young boy trying to make an impression on his own family. But it's difficult to get attention when you’re competing with the World Cup, especially when England happens to be hosting the World Cup. To make matters worse, Bernie has to contend with the final match between Blighty and West Germany landing on the exact same day as his much-anticipated rite of passage.

Nanking

Nanking, a new documentary about "the rape of Nanking" (THINKFilm)

In the summer of 1937, Japan began a full-scale invasion of China. The Japanese army attacked Shanghai and launched a massive air raid campaign on the then Chinese capital of Nanking. Within a few months, Shanghai had fallen. By December, the Japanese invaded Nanking. The once bustling, cosmopolitan city was looted and burned, prisoners of war were executed, and the city's citizens were subjected to horrific violence at the hands of the invading Japanese soldiers. The events, eventually referred to as the Nanking Massacre or the Rape of Nanking, lasted some six agonizing  weeks. The new documentary Nanking (opening February 1 at Landmark's Ken Cinema) looks to the events immediately prior to the invasion and the weeks of brutality that followed.

The Water Horse

Alex Etel in The Water Horse: Legend of the Deep (Columbia)

Dick King-Smith was a farmer for twenty years and turned to writing fairly late in life. He writes what he refers to as "farmyard fantasy," hence such children's books as Babe: The Gallant Pig, The Golden Goose, Harriet's Hare, Martin's Mouse and A Mouse Called Wolf. Babe was successfully made into a movie in the 90s, and now a film adaptation of King-Smith's The Water Horse (opening Christmas Day throughout San Diego) hits the screen. But The Water Horse is more than a mere farmyard animal and the story represents a shift to a much larger scale fantasy for King-Smith.

Rescue Dawn

Christian Bale as Dieter Dengler in Rescue Dawn (MGM)

No One Will Play with Me. Precautions Against Fanatics. Werner Herzog Eats His Shoe. Just the titles of the films Werner Herzog has been associated with entice you with an inkling of what this German filmmaker is like. His latest film, Rescue Dawn (opening July 20 at Landmark's Hillcrest Cinemas) is based on his 1997 documentary Little Dieter Needs to Fly. But it could also be called Werner Herzog Returns to the Jungle.

Frank Miller’s 300

Frank Miller's 300 arrives on the big screen. (Warner Brothers)

Graphic novelist Frank Miller had long been a hold out from Hollywood. But then a maverick filmmaker from Austin coaxed him into adapting his Sin City books to the big screen. Now he has allowed his 1998 graphic novel retelling of the famous Battle of Thermopylae,300 (opening March 9 throughout San Diego), to be filmed by Warner Brothers, and his fans should be pleased once again.

300 is based on Frank Miller's graphic novel about the pivotal ancient Greek Battle of Thermopylae that took place in 480 B.C. But don't let the ancient setting put you off. The events are taken from historical fact but the story is told with such audacious innovation that you'll be riveted to your seat. The story involves the Spartan King Leonidas (Gerard Butler) and 300 of his fiercest soldiers who fight to the death against Xerxes (Rodrigo Santoro) and his massive Persian army. Facing certain death, these Spartans fought with such valor and sense of sacrifice that they inspired the rest of Greece to rise up against the invading army and make a stand for freedom.

Pan’s Labyrinth

Ofelia ventures into a nether world in Pan's Labyrinth

This awards season Guillermo Del Toro is one of three Mexican directors stirring Oscar buzz. Del Toro delivered the Hollywood hit Hellboy in 2004. But this year his film Pan's Labyrinth (opening January 12 at Landmark's Hillcrest Cinemas) is Mexico's official submission for the Best Foreign Film Oscar.

Guillermo Del Toro represents a new breed of Mexican filmmaker, one who straddles multiple cultures and works globally. Take his new film. Pan's Labyrinth is a co-production of Mexico, Spain and the United States. It's set after the Spanish Civil War, but Del Toro says it was inspired by the political climate in the U.S.