'Head To Head' (2023) Review: Hyper-Stylized Saudi Comedy … – Film Fugitives
It’s mentioned that to take pleasure in some motion pictures, one has to depart their mind at house. This occurs to be a typical phrase that’s usually used to be able to defend many Bollywood potboilers, that are headlined by fifty-something, steroid-bodied superstars. The storyline of Netflix’s new comedy-thriller Head To Head, from Saudi Arabia, is 100 instances extra ludicrous than all these Bollywood motion pictures. But you completely take pleasure in it along with your mind completely connected to your physique, because it’s purported to be.
5 years in the past, I wouldn’t have imagined watching a Saudi film, not to mention reviewing it for work. However with the rise of Netflix, each form of film from each nook of the world has turn out to be accessible to us. Certain, with the streaming big taking the reins of manufacturing, plenty of the films are being introduced to us with a specific Netflix filter on them. It doesn’t matter what the nation, language, or style, all of them mainly look the identical. And there’s a extreme lack of high quality as effectively. However even then, generally a film manages to rise above the barrier and are available off as one thing that’s genuinely participating, very enthralling, and, most significantly, doesn’t have the Netflix filter on it. Head To Head occurs to be one such marvel, a film that will make the likes of Man Ritchie really feel extraordinarily proud.
I’ve all the time been a believer within the craft in relation to motion pictures. For me, it’s by no means actually about what the story is; quite, it’s all the time about how it’s being instructed to the viewers. Take Head To Head for example right here. A non-public automobile firm driver mistakenly picks up the fallacious passenger as a substitute of the daddy of the proprietor of the corporate he works for. In the identical firm, the erratic proprietor all of the sudden appoints an equally erratic upkeep particular person because the CEO. The wrongly picked passenger occurs to be a infamous ganglord from the outdated days and the daddy of an equally harmful bonehead, who goes by a reputation like “Jack Of Diamond.” Because the newly appointed CEO, the upkeep staff’ first order of enterprise seems to be fixing this whole mess. Clearly, this may observe a string of mishaps and insanity, which needs to be acquainted to you when you have ever been a follower of the form of cinema Priyadarshan or Anees Bazmee used to make within the early 2000s. The place the director intentionally used to create chaotic conditions with the assistance of a bunch of foolish characters, solely to deliver all of them collectively on the similar place for the explosively humorous climax. Films like Welcome (2007) and Bhagam Bhag (2010) needs to be thought of testaments in favor of this format.
However right here is the factor: Head To Head doesn’t simply choose up one explicit fashion and construct a whole movie on it. It takes inspiration from many locations as a substitute. I by no means imagined a Saudi Arabian film adapting a type of Spaghetti Western. This film not solely does that, it seems so easy and blends into the narrative so effectively. From its opening sequence to the climax, plenty of the film is designed in a manner that makes you’re feeling such as you’re experiencing a real Western. Nonetheless, regardless of adapting the Western fashion, Head To Head intentionally makes the character endearingly goofy. Even the unhealthy ones will not be totally evil right here. A minor character actually tries to blast two different characters by tying them up with explosives. However a minute later, he offers up on that concept because of being subdued by the film’s solely feminine character. And some moments later, all these characters get collectively and go to the villain’s HQ to be able to rescue the opposite characters.
Talking of feminine characters, for a very long time, I assumed the film had made the stereotypical selection of sidelining the feminine characters to cater to the male viewers. There was just one, anyway, whose contribution was restricted to being one of many foremost characters’ romantic curiosity. However then the film determined to vary the notion by making its solely feminine character a very powerful one. The mere girlfriend of the hero morphs into this badass girl who mainly decides the destiny of everybody throughout the grand climax, which in my guide, is a superb triumph. The film’s de facto hero, the motive force, additionally comes of age all through the course of it. From being launched as this pissed off at-work man to turning right into a gun-slinging savior, the harmless-looking man goes a good distance.
Coming again to the various kinds of Head To Head, as that’s actually the primary deal of this film, together with the Spaghetti Western tone and the caper comedy fashion, it additionally creates a vibrant, virtually apocalyptic Saudi Arabia. This isn’t how you’d think about the nation; in reality, plenty of it truly reminds you of the creative fashion of Dibakar Banerjee’s Detective Byomkesh Bakshi. Nonetheless, the cinematography of Head To Head closely borrows from the work of legendary cinematographer Christopher Doyle, particularly in Wong Kar-Wai motion pictures. All these very completely different cinematic parts go into the blender, and we get one thing exquisitely authentic. Simply supported by a scintillating soundtrack, it unfolds like an uber-cool graphic novel.
If we take into consideration cinema’s main agenda in a basic sense, then that needs to be entertaining the viewers. Head To Head passes that check with flying colours. It doesn’t declare to be the form of cinema that performs in movie festivals or is mentioned by individuals who declare to be cinephiles. In some ways, I might evaluate this with a greasy, deep-fried snack that doesn’t do your well being any good however satisfies your cravings to the utmost extent. It’s the form of film that needs to be performed throughout film nights, the place a bunch of mates ought to take pleasure in a little bit of out of the field enjoyment and expertise it with all of the popcorn, nachos, and whatnot. However with all that mentioned, the craft of Head To Head continues to be very a lot superior in comparison with many motion pictures, and it needs to be lauded for that.
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