There is no one film that has inspired me. There are several. It keeps changing with time, the world I live in, and my own growth and emotional status. Since watching movies is an organic experience for me, what impacts my work happens at a subconscious level and often, I am not even aware of it. So these days, I am inspired or re-inspired after watching the digitally remastered uncut version of Sergio Leone masterpiece Once Upon a Time in America.
Even after watching it many times, this masterpiece keeps getting better and better as time keeps cooking it.
It gets delicious with every second that lapses.
This 4 hours 11 minute-enigmatic gangster epic never lets me breathe and my heart keeps skipping beats.
Brilliantly crafted with a deeply moving plot and subplots, Once Upon a Time in America is a film school in itself. And a granddad who annihilates all the f***ing film theories. This Sergio Leone film destroys stupid commercial notions of formula-for-a-successful movie existing in the world!
By Pan Nalin
Award-winning director and a popular face in the international film circuit, Pan Nalin started his career with the TV show Wagle ki Duniya that aired on Doordarshan from 1988-1990. His debut film Samsara was a massive critical and commercial success. It won over 30 awards internationally. Nalin’s subsequent films Ayurveda: Art of Being, Valley of Flowers (co-writer Anurag Kashyap) too developed cult following over the years. Early this year, he regaled us with a brave, little ‘female buddy film’ Angry Indian Goddesses. It was his first Indian release.
