RRR

When a movie explodes out of nowhere* and takes the world by storm, it’s usually for a damn good reason. In RRR’s case that’s because it shows the world what a certain style of cinema can do. Telugu cinema, which is not Bollywood, has suddenly exploded into the world’s awareness with RRR, which is a historical biopic, a bromance, a romance, a call to arms, a musical, children in peril rescue drama, and a love letter to Ukraine all at the same time. (Ukraine? Yes. The major musical number/dance battle was filmed at the presidential palace in Ukraine a few months before the war started.) It’s almost impossible to imagine a Western film attempting so many things all at once, not least because it wouldn’t really succeed at any of them. A Marvel Cinematic Universe musical? You’re having a laugh, old son. But what RRR does, it does with the full use of the modern arsenal, which is to say, CGI forest animals killing the shit out of English villains at a garden party, as two REAL LIFE historical figures join forces to drive the British out of India. 

You really should just see it for yourself; there is so much going on a brief online review, even by a critic as talented as myself, couldn’t possibly do it sufficient justice. However I will indulge myself by making two brief comments on the two white women in the film. The main villain is Catherine, the British governor’s wife, who kicks the plot into gear by kidnapping a child, and she is played by Alison Doody, an actual Bond girl who was also the Aryan archaeologist in Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade. There are dissertations to be written about this casting choice.  Suffice to say that Catherine’s extreme villainy is a giant political point and also a very interesting cinematic choice, especially since there is no attempt by either Doody or the plot to give Catherine any redeeming qualities whatsoever. Anyone who carries around a nail-studded bullwhip hasn’t got any, and this black-and-white attitude to evil can be, especially in this setting, really quite refreshing. By contrast, one of the heroines is her niece, Jenny, played straight by newcomer Olivia Morris, whose next choice now the whole world has seen this movie will be of great interest. And that’s not least because Morris only got the role because Daisy Edgar-Jones had to drop out due to conflicts with Normal People. 

The mind reels, in the best possible way.

*Nowhere, in this case, meaning that the cinema of India is one of my major blind spots, to my shame, and unfortunately I don’t think I’m alone in the West in not properly appreciating what movies made in India are capable of. I also had to consult Dr Wikipedia to learn that both main roles in the movie are actual historical revolutionaries, and the movie came about because the director asked himself, “What if they were friends?” 

I would now like to beg the movie directors reading this to pull the names of any two vaguely overlapping real life historical figures from a hat and see if you can top RRR. You probably can’t, but we will have a hell of a lot of fun watching you try.