Minority Report challenges Star Wars
By Harinda Vithanage
The month of July is going to see another mammoth cinematic project of Steven Spielberg unfold, one of the most successful directors in the history of Hollywood. Spielberg is recognized in the cinema world as the most diverse filmmaker. He shot to fame with the movie E.T. in 1980's, which was so popular among the children worldwide and a remake of the movie, was released a few months back.

A born filmmaker, Steven Spielberg began his craft at a very young age, shooting his first amateur film before he was even a teenager. Spielberg's earliest professional work consists mainly of television directing, but in 1975, with the big-screen release of Jaws, Spielberg established himself as a fresh new talent. Perhaps the most famous director of his time, Spielberg has definitely had his share of box office failure.

But his success has been unparalleled. In addition to Jaws, films such as Jurassic Park, Raiders of the Lost Ark and E.T. rank among the top moneymakers of all time. Spielberg has earned several Academy Award nominations, and has taken home the Oscar for 1993's Schindler's List and 1998's Saving Private Ryan. The titles itself plays evidence to why he is called a diverse producer, to be more exact diversity of genres.

'Minority Report' is more of a synergy of genres from action, science fiction and thriller. The main setting of the movie is In the future city of Washington D.C.; circa 2080 A.D. John Anderton (Tom Cruise) is the head of a police agency called Precrime. Using the powers of three helpless "precogs"(The method by which it is predicted is really shaky, it involves some sort of psychic person/device known as 'precog'), the agency is able to foresee when a murder occurs and arrest the murderer before the crime. The tactics have been successful, cutting down felonies by 99.8%.

During Anderton's tenure. Anderton finds that he has been accused of pre-murder and he must prove his innocence through the course of the story. He also must deal with the fact that a younger man, Ed Witwer (Colin Farrell) is after his job. His wife Lisa has her own motivations as well. The story is a roller coster ride through the realm of the impossible.

Intrigue and paranoia are common states of mind for John Anderton as he tries to figure out who are his allies and enemies as well as the truth behind the accusation.

Minority Report, the short story by Philip K. Dick was first published in 1956 in the magazine Fantastic Universe. Two production studios had undertaken the producing of the movie with an estimated budget exceeding 80 million US$, DreamWorks and 20th Century Fox. The movie is filled with breathtaking special effects; with DreamWorks on the Job more can be expected. Tom Cruise has been delighted to work with Spielberg and even has challenged George Lucas's Star Wars episode- 2, which was released last month by saying "Lucas watch out"

Another interesting fact is the title of the movie. In this projected future world where technology-aided psychics make judgments, panels of three make the decisions, where the feelings of 2 judges outweigh the third (hence, the minority). So, if the correct verdict comes from that one judge, it's a "minority report", one should look out for the setting of the city of Washington D.C. We've certainly seen plenty of futuristic films set in Los Angeles, San Francisco, and New York City, but this is the first Hollywood film to feature what the USA capitol city might look like in 80 years. Spielberg had assigned three futurist scientists to design a city for him 9 months before the shooting of the movie.

The others in the cast include award winning actress Meryl Streep, Samantha Morton

Max Von Sydow. Thus Minority Report will be another treat to movie fans who, enjoyed a wide variety of big budget movies this year and this is the first ever Cruise - Spielberg tie up and the movie fans are definitely in for a treat.

'Puja': Story of murder, mystery
By Susitha R. Fernando

'Puja' is the story of an educated girl turned a circus player. The film provides murder and mystery to keep the audience riveted to their seats.

In the lead roles of 'Puja' are Rex Kodippili, Wijeratne Warakagoda, Muditha Kirambage, Kanthi Gunathunga, Kusum Renu and Prageeth Ratnayake.

Sadeepa is a graduate. Her parents had to undergo numerous difficulties to realize the dream of giving a good education to their daughter. They had to mortgage their only property - a small plot of farming land - to a Mudalali in the village. Some very tough conditions were attached to the mortgage. Parents began to realize that they would lose their land to Martin Mudalali. Failing all attempts to find a job Sadeepa joins a circus team and trains to be a circus performer.

Soon Sadeepa becomes adept in her chosen field. One day she tells her colleagues, Disna, Priyantha and Ruwan about the sad plight of her father who desperately is in need of money to redeem the plot of land. They assure that they would find the money for her to get the land back.

One day a thug called Siripala, hired by businessman Ananda threatens the circus team owner, Brando. He demands that some money taken from Ananda to open the circus be returned soon. It was at this time that the mysterious murder of rich widow, Mrs. Dalpadadu takes place.

Nimal, another member of the circus team had seen a man going towards Mrs. Dalpadadu's residence on the night of the murder. But Nimal who was a trapeze artiste, before he could tell anyone of what he had seen, falls to his death from a swing during a practice session at circus. But it is revealed that Nimal's death had been planned.

However police investigator, Jayantha who probes the murder of Mrs. Dalpadadu finds that someone had cut the lines of the swing causing Nimal to fall off it. The deaths do not stop with the cases of Mrs. Dalpadadu and Nimal. Then occurs Siripala's death. The latest murder makes the investigations of Inspector Jayantha more baffling. But he finds that there is a connection between the murders of Mrs. Dalpadadu and Siripala. Both the murders were committed using the same knife.

During this time Priyantha and Ruwan manage to find the funds to settle the loan taken by Sadeepa's father but were unable to get the land back. One of the two friends Priyantha is interested in Sadeepa but he never mentions this to the girl.

One day Inspector Jayantha comes to see a circus performance. One of the scenes show Sadeepa being cut with a knife. The act was done by Ruwan and the inspector identifies that the knife used for the two killings was similar to the one used by Ruwan at the circus. Who killed Mrs. Dalpadadu, Nimal and Siripala and why?

Could it be someone in the circus team? How did Priyantha and Ruwan get the money to settle the loan of Sadeepa's family? The inspector Jayantha will be able to find answers for all these.

The technical crew in 'Puja' are Bandula Coorey handling the camera and Bathiya B. Dunusinghe as the editor and music score is from Edward Jayakody. Screen play written and directed by Roland A. Perera.

Sinhala TV documentaries on waste management
The Sri Lankan Environmental Television Project (SLETP) has just launched two new Sinhala documentaries looking at innovative ways of managing garbage or solid waste.

Kasala Godin Yasa Isuru (Rags to Riches, 30 mins) profiles Development Alternatives, a non-governmental organisation that uses sustainable technologies and provides thousands of jobs in India. Headed by Dr. Ashok Khosala, a Harvard trained nuclear scientist, the organisation has developed new processes for producing building materials, paper and other items in ways that uses waste and natural materials.

Kasala Jana Balawegaya (Waste to Wages, 30 mins) visits the garbage mountains of Manila where waste-pickers have organised themselves to generate jobs and money through reusing and recycling. Their inspiration came from Cairo, the Egyptian capital, whose waste problems have been addressed by community-based solutions working in tandem with local government. In both cities, tonnes of waste generated daily by over 10 million are sorted and disposed of, thanks to the efforts of the waste pickers who are the real heroes.

The first programme looks at a citizen initiative in India that recycles and reuses resources, making money and jobs out of waste. The second programme travels to Manila and Cairo discovering how two mega-cities have involved communities to solve garbage problems. The programmes are available on VHS tape at Rs. 500 for both, from the SLETP Office at 24, First Lane, Koswatte Road, Nawala, Rajagiriya. Phone: 877 808.

These programmes are part of an award-winning international television series called People Count that the SLETP intends introducing to Sri Lanka. People Count was produced by Turner Broadcasting System in the United States and filmed in locations all over the world. The series inspires and entertains viewers with remarkable success stories of individuals and organisations that have worked against the odds to generate income and jobs, clean the environment and create a better society.

"Although Sri Lanka's waste management problems have not yet reached the levels found in India or the Philippines, we certainly need to address the very real garbage situation in our country," says Nalaka Gunawardene, Executive Director of SLETP. "We felt that studying innovative solutions that have worked in other developing countries would help us emulate some of those approaches."

The programmes are produced and presented by film maker and photographer Barbara Pyle. The SLETP voice-dubbed these documentataries into Sinhala as part of an on-going process to introduce outstanding environment and development films to Sri Lankan audiences. The script was translated by Manouri Wimalasekera, and the dubbing was coordinated by Sampath Walpola. The versioning was financially supported by the International Television Trust for the Environment (TVE) under the Truth Talking Project.

Both Sinhala and English versions of these programmes - along with many others - are available from the SLETP office. Plans are underway to voice dub the entire People Count series into Sinhala in the coming months.

Book on sex in cinema
"Sexual Chapter in Sri Lankan Cinema" (Sri Lankeeka Cinamawe Srungara Kalapaya) a Sinhala book on the use of the subject sex in the Lankan cinema is presented by Asian Film Centre.

The book written by veteran journalists Gamini Wijethunge and Dharshana Liyanage is a study of a film culture that came up in the recent past.

The chapters in this book have been devoted to different yet related themes such as Sex cinema and female body, historical background of sex in cinema, sexuality in cinema and presentation of sexuality in Sinhala cinema and also includes a survey done on so called sex cinema in Sri Lanka.

The book conveys that it is time to open a discussion on certain films released after 1980s rather than merely putting them aside as representing the sex waves in Sri Lankan cinema.

Gamini Wijetunge was the editor of magazines 'Desathiya' and 'Sinesith'. This was the final book written by Mr. Wijetunge before his untimely demise.

Dharshana Liyanage is a lecturer in Sinhala language at Ruhunu University.
The book is available at the Asian Film Centre, 2B, Abeyratne Mawatha, Boralesgamuwa.

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