Review of Dead of Winter (1987) by Kaustav — 29 Apr 2018

Dead Poets Society is absolute success in the portrayal of the truth of the individual, their individuality and the society that was formed on the back of it. The Western and every other First World Country is based in that idealism and through that achievement, pioneers and true champions have been born again and again.

The thing about DPS that I do appreciate is also want deeply haunts me that despite it's idealism, very rarely does anything slip by the realists - very much like reality. That truth is so debilitating messed up that it is almost akin to the realization that according to the stats and surveys produced, no matter what you have chosen to believe, most of us would have ended up as the accomplice to the oppression in the Holocaust than be the Hero whose list would be topic of an Oscar winning Biopic. I don't care that you think I may have overstretched my analogy because it is very much the truth in both counts. But getting back to the story, the realism wins out in those moments when Robert Sean Leonard's character chooses quicker incumbency of the inevitable grasp of death than rather face the futility and frustration of living his parents' dreams. This is also a recurrence when Robin William's (RIP, you brilliant and magnificent legend; I have no idea what you thought in the last moments of your days but if I could, I would tell you that every breath that you ever took was completely worth it and you left the world a better world than when you came into it and it was no so because it was inevitable but because you chose to make it better for those whose lives were touched by yours. So, thank you in addendum to anybody who ever made your life better and brought a smile to you) Keating is fired and students are left helpless to do anything about it till the last when they defy their necessary conformity to the school. But even then, the movie ends out an melancholic breezy high which could only be managed by the ambiguity of shot being cut then and there with a final display of approval. That is what is impressive about this movie that there is a definite parallel established in the story because of the world that exists and the world that should exist. It is beautiful in an haunting re-imposition of reality and its dread that we must fight everyday. It will also be close to my heart because of:

1) How close I feel to Neil Perry (RSL) because I could identify with the frustration he fought and lost. It makes me want to face the rough hands I have had in my life a little bit harder. I want to live and be happy in the way of Keating.

2) It contradicts on almost every story in Indian Film Industry that has been made on this topic (it might be slightly poetic that I am obsessed that I am so obsessed with pain, living in The City of Joy; Then again, Pain is a binary of Joy - Each the more building itself where the other chooses frequent). Indian movies are more emotional, more optimistic and dramatic in their flair that people will actually make the choices that Perry couldn't and people like the Perry parents and the Headmaster will actually take a chance on him and forgive him. This movie shows another very possible side of that scenario and I can appreciate that. Overall, I still do prefer movies with hopeful portrayals because if there is one thing we need some more almost everyday, it is hope. The hope that the unlikely, harder choice which may lead to a positive outcome after toil should still be fought for no matter how hard it is; which, I honestly know, easier said than done but I really wanted Perry to fight one more day even if it was and not have gone quietly into night - Rage, Rage against the dying light (I am paraphrasing Dylan Thomas's poem about this subject which was dedicated to his father). You will watch it. You need just someone to tell you that you will be alright. I will be that person and it is gonna be okay and I think you will find a more fervent desire to live life better and better yet as an definitive individual after you have watched it.