Elegy

Lets get the important bit out first - all the guys are going to love this movie :)
Curious why ? Well, its got Penelope Cruz having a relationship with a much older man (Ben Kingsley) – and well, the director doesn’t leave ‘anything’ to imagination :D

OK, before the females get all up-in-arms – I am just kidding, there is much more to the movie than just ogling at Penelope Cruz. Infact, its one of the very few movies that are slow, brooding, gray … yet touch you deep inside.

Elegy is a tale of a cynical old man who is so set in his philandering ways, that he cant embrace true love even when it comes to his door knocking. A man of books, David Kapesh (Ben Kingsley) is a rock-star professor, making appearances on tv and critiquing books on radio. He is also a compulsive womanizer – and doesn’t mind seducing his own students. All the same, he is clever enough not to do anything till they clear his subject. But inspite of all his ‘conquests’, he is commitment phobic and has only two people in the whole world to fall back upon - his best friend George Hearn and his long time sex-partner Carolyn. Both relationships are depicted very warmly – especially with George. Their conversations over breakfast and games of squash are a delight – and their interaction, especially in the later half of the movie is heartwarming.

But this existence of his is shattered by the arrival of Consuela Castillo (Penelope Cruz) – a Cuban student whose beautiful face he cant keep his eyes off. He woos her with the help of arts and successfully sweeps her off her feet - but cant help himself falling for her charms and unquestioning love. As the relationship progresses, he is forced to confront himself with – his beliefs, his relationship with his estranged son and the world changing around him. However things aren’t always so simple – it suffices to say that there are a couple of surprises in the later half.

Coming to performances, Ben Kingsley is a terrific performer and all his skills are on show here. Finely balancing an old man’s age with his young-at-heart desires, Kingsley does a great job. But Penelope Cruz is just as good as well. Body display notwithstanding, she looks beautiful and enigmatic – David Kapesh superbly describes her as a ‘beautiful woman who knows she is beautiful, but hasn’t decided what to do with her beauty’. She plays the part of the confident yet lost-in-love woman to the T. Penelope Cruz hasn’t been known much for her acting skills, but after this movie I have changed my opinion about her.

If you are think that the movie sounds interesting, but aren’t sure about the slow and brooding pace, take the chance and watch it. It’s a touching, heartwarming and slightly erotic story about love beyond stereotypes.