The plot is very simple - "Hundreds of people chasing to tame the bull that went amok". But at the end, there is an unanswered question - Who is wild here? Man (or) the animal? Like his earlier movie 'Angamalay Diaries', Lijo Jose has captured the life style of the village town wonderfully. Special mention to the night photography and sound effects team. Though the movie makes you wonder at times - 'Where this movie is heading to?', it is a worthy watch and an unique film.
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sriramthestranger15 November 2019
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saikatsamanta29 November 2020A little village where eating beef is a daily priority, one morning the buffalo which was to be butchered ran away and what follows is 90 minutes of awe-inducing pandemonium. From the visionary director Lijo Jose Pellissery comes a technical masterpiece which has a strong message about the animalistic traits of us humans & also the herd mentality & devolution of human beings. This film is not plot driven, instead it deals with events & an army of characters constanty moving from one place to another. The sound design & cinematography is on another level. Only cons are the acting of some characters & the last scene which is basically a spoonfeeding of the message. It deserves to be our Oscar Entry, hopefully it can campaign well enough to have a chance.
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YemTeeJay30 December 2019Typical of what we would like Lijo Jose Pallisery to direct. Dont watch it if u have a weak heart...lol
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jithinr-831542 December 2020There are so many symbolisms and metophors and inner meaning in this film! The butcher's name is Kalan Varky, In Malayalam, "Kalan" mean's Yamaraj (He is the lord of death and justice, Buffalo is his vehicle), So basically, the people running behind the buffalo symbolises, the men running towards death. In most of the first half (Daylight is prominent through out the scenes), the buffalo tramples things like fire, vegetation, wheeled cart, bank, and even interfere the politics created by humans, in all these we can see the unity of the people. All these sequences can be a reference to man's Evolution as a Social being The Second half (mostly shows night time) represents the spiralling down of man's unity and his path towards his real inner being that is "beast" with all his selfish interests, lust, pride, toxic masculinity, machismo, cheating, fighting (mainly shown by the character called Antony), Even law and orders become useless. All these scenes depicts that, man's basic behaviors haven't changed a bit since the olden times, remember that our ancestors were Hunter gatherers, the males of the tribe would do anything to protect their families and children from wild animals, females used to consider the best males are the one who brings meat/ food to their home, Macho behavior in males, competition between other males to become the Alfa male of the tribe, and much more. And finally when they found the buffalo, they literally turns blind and selfish and tries to claim their part , here due to crowd's mob mentality, they starts to behave like sheeps (or like flies who blindly follows each other towards the light and gets killed ). The final scene where the old man meets the buffalo (Yamaraj's buffalo m), may symbolises that it's time for his death, In the film, rope has an important role! The rope is like a paradox, In life on Earth, the rope represents freedom to the old man and confinement to the Buffalo. But in that scene, they both realize that they were wrong about their notions of freedom while they were living on Earth. Towards the end of the movie, you can hear the breath of the old man's and the buffalo's breath merging into one last breath, showing us that there is no difference between humans and animals, And no matter how we see ourselves as civilized and superior to other animals, we still are the same in front of Nature. The last primitive men scene and the tribal theme sound through out the movie, were the Clues for this message. The director in one interview says that "The line between man and the beast dissolves" throughout the movie. That last primitive men scene turned the whole movie into a completely different perspective and it is that simple scene which explains the whole movie. The animation part showed us how the primitive man, slowly engulfed in flames, the same flames he used to cook other animals,his invention, is now burning his body after his death (as in Hindu funeral) and slowly he disappears back into nothingness! (screen turns into complete black, The End) If you can keep all these in mind and re watch the movie, I bet it's going to be a completely different experience and you may find many more symbolisms which I haven't mentioned here ! This film simultaneously keep you entertained and force us to think, that's what art films like this and Parasite does to you. This is not a normal masala movie that spoon feed you the take away message, that's why most people didn't like this movie. But for critiques and film buffs this movie delivers everything from good cinematography, sound effects, casting, acting, realism, technical aspects to clear public message,which I think is universal!, that's why I think this movie is nothing but a Masterpiece and deserves a shot at the Oscars👌
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uttamsarkale2 December 2020The climax fire scene is similar like Beauty & The Beast....Movie is so melodramatic and poor written...this is Just a bunch of copied scene just like Bahubali....Where is Jallikattu this movie Dont have even scene jallikattu sports ...Again A Garbage From South India......i dont know why this movies Characters are like psycho Normal dont do such stupid fights....
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holysaikat8 December 2020Movie captures and depicts a realistic panorama of remote south Indian village, lives of it's dwellers in a superb non-linear manner. Movies of this kind is a tight slap on the face of bollywood. Though as the story progresses, it gets a little bit boring just after midway, but the last ten minutes compensates to that absolutely. Might be a troublesome watch to vegan people.
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gruvy-muvy24 November 2019This is not the Tamil Jallikattu, but a whole different kind of sport - one of savage masculine behaviour inflicted upon a single animal, which makes for disturbing viewing.
This is the way I look at this film:
'Jallikattu' is an allegorical tale of mankind's eternal struggle to subdue Nature. However it is not possible to control Nature, and when she runs riot, the result is mayhem. In their eagerness to control and consume the beast, the menfolk of the village are themselves reduced to a primal state of savagery symbolized by the human mound that engulfs the buffalo in the end.
Are the villagers eating buffalo meat (which I believe is called buff or carabeef) due to the ban on beef? This is not apparent from watching the film, or perhaps I am missing something.
That the villagers love meat in their daily diet is established when they incongruously hang their morning meat purchase to a tree before entering the place of worship. When the buffalo runs amok, the villagers' reaction is sharp, which is reflected in their over-the-top acting, and a farcical chase across the village and the forest.
Therefore I also see this as a commentary against non-vegetarianism wherein a free-spirited buffalo refuses to be reduced to becoming somebody's meal, and decides to take its fate in its own hands - or hooves, in this case.
Either way, in the end, the men appear beastlier and ghastlier than the beast itself.
This is a short film that moves at a rapid pace, thanks to the crisp editing and great sound effects.
Not easily 'digestible' by all. -
AjHuntt26 November 2020Once again it is proved that man is the most disgusting and dangerous creature in this world. Comparing with humans the other creatures and wild animals are nothing just some poor beings wandering earth just for survival. Yet another 'proud to be a malayalee' movie. This is just a director brilliance stuff. Director tries to convey a wonderful message through a brilliant visual+sound experience. A great Indian movie released in 2019.
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jithinjoseph3914 December 2019Cannot believe that the movie is came by a malayalam director in malayalam industry. Fabulous is not enough to describe the movie Nailed it
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SAMTHEBESTEST26 November 2020Jallikattu (2019) : Brief Review -
A rapid-fire toasting of a beast and wildness of Humans turned the Realistic film into Mythological tale. Jallijattu is not about one individual human, it's about the entire village (or mankind) and of course only all Men (no women, why? No comments) are involved in the crazy, wild manimal fairytale. A buffalo escapes from slaughterhouse and creates a village-wide hysteria in which we see all men turning even wilder and brutal than animals. So this was the basic idea behind the storyline but was focused occasionally while rest of the time it was about anything but nothing useful and related to the main story. In the runtime of about 95 minutes Jallikattu gets to the main content only when the beast appears, otherwise it has some useless small small segments to tell such as a lady having affairs, politicians thinking about thier future, casteism, a police officer's quarrels with his wife and bla bla. All of it got nothing to do with the storyline yet covers 90% of runtime and the reason and logic behind is still pending. The climax of the film is so unrealistic that it looks like mythological story from a novel or as if we are watching a fantasy action film set in stone-age. How was those man supposed to climb on each other on so high just to kill one man in realistic proportions? Leaving it aside and coming to the positives of the film the first one is, the direction style is different and modern. The use background score is fascinating and innovative. It gives a feel of watching something really new and fresh to eyes. Jallikattu was humanly a very tough film to make yet it delivers spectacular visuals shot amazingly by cinematographer and brilliantly directed by the director. Apart from these three things there is nothing in the film that can be termed Great. The chaotic aspirations of the team to make something different deserves one time viewing.
RATING - 6/10*
By - #samthebestest -
anupnn7 October 2019An over-hyped movie, which is thin on story and relies on strong visual and cinematography to render the message. The acting seems forced and exaggerated, and the characters go overboard to portray their wild side. Overall its a movie which pretends to be on the right side of good cinema, but leaves you with a negative feeling and a bad taste in your mouth. You are going to miss nothing by ignoring this movie.
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its-me66114 January 20209/10
Plot: A buffalo escapes from a butcher and all the villagers band together to hunt it.
I liked the trailer. Though the film turned out to be different than what I expected from the trailer. I still liked the film. I was hooked from the first scene, I did not know what was going on or how it will turn out but the making is so good that I was glued to my seat. The cinematography is out of this world. The editor has done an amazing job. The film just flows. The pacing is perfect. The background music is oddly perfect. The atmosphere created by the film maker sucked me in. It is an extremely rewarding experience. My heart beat raised in some scenes as if I was there. The rawness is sometime hard to watch.
There seems to be a meaning behind the film which I did not quite get. The beast nature of human is pointed out but there are few things that is still making me ponder. I liked the film just fine without getting too deep into the meaning behind it. I don't think I have seen a film like this before. It is an innovative, beautiful, raw, thrilling and thought provoking film. -
sathishtr199318 November 2019Looking at the reviews, I expected a wonderful movie. Though I like slow moving plot oriented movie, this movie didn't meet expectations. The director wanted to project wilderness of inner-self of men, but the way it was showed is idiotic & incomprehensible. The way characters lost their intelligence in the last 20 minutes is unrealistic and pure stupidity. Camera work, low light capturing & cinematography are to be lauded.
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coolguyajit10 October 2019Lijo Jose has gone from brilliant to overdo. Taking his leaf out of Kamal Hassan who went from brilliance to self-glorifcation. Man turning to savage over his need was the motto, good enough. But the way he has portrayed is where the problem lies. Unnecessary loud music and some nonsensical camera angles reminded me of the downfall of RGV. The brilliance of Lijo Jose lies in his witty/ironical dialogues and characters that he builds which we witnessed in Angamaly n ee ma yo. There is no relevant/strong character here in this movie, no sensitive dialogues and a very forgettable plot. I thought of leaving the theatre during the interval but only stayed with the hope that Lijo will come up with something before the climax. But I was utterly disappointed. At the end, I was wondering why I allowed myself to go through this ordeal all the way through. I am sorry to myself.
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Azanspy5 October 2019Lijo Jose Pallisserry is a trademark in Malayalam cinema now. Audiences will rush into the theatres for movies made by him without a star cast or big budget just like Hollywood directors Quentin Tarantino or Christopher Nolan. We all know he won't disappoint and it will be worth watching in theatres. Jallikattu is the most anticipated movie in his career so far on par with Double Barrell. We all waited for Double Barrell mainly because of the stellar cast and big budget. But for Jallikkattu, all the expectations are for LJP. The film screened in various film festivals and received applauds. Jallilattu is a 91 minute roller-coaster. The movie never slows down. The pacing of the movie increases more and more from start to end. A big salute for Girish Ganagadharan. His cinematography is simply the best in Indian movies in recent times. The bgm was also very good. As for the performances, every cast did an excellent job. Jallikattu proves that LJP is getting more and more good by his every next movies. Highly waiting for his next release.
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shruthika-658683 December 2020This film spoil the perception of tamil's traditional game jallikattu. Absolutely absurd title.
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santhosh-1029025 January 2021Good Movie. Everybody acted well in the movie. BGM in the movie was good. The movie was not so interesting or thrilling at 1st half. The movie was so interesting or thrilling at 2nd half. The climax could have been more better. Good Movie.
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sonutjohny7 September 2019Super realistic natural movie. Truly a masterpiece. It was a perfect visual treat in every aspects. I wish everyone could watch the movie in its pure form and in theatres
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PimpinAinttEasy5 October 2019Jallikattu is a film about Mallu rednecks - people who live in the hilly regions. But too much style and shouting over character development ruins the film to an extent. It is nowhere as good as Agamaly Diaries.
Worth a watch for the crowd scenes. But zero character development and strange background score ruins it a little. A bit of a miss for Lijo. And the final oooh message ..... We might wear clothes and all but we are just animals at the end of the day. Lijo is someone who loves the masculine men and the fight for territory. Here he tried to show it's dark side and sort of fell flat.
The supporting cast is full of unremarkable nobodies unlike in Angamay Diaries where every bit player made an impression.
A subplot involving an alcoholic Christian patriarch organizing a function and being scared of not getting enough meat was entertaining.
So many lost opportunities in Malayalam cinema to capture the lives of the people who live in the hilly regions. Either the director gets carried away with style like in the case of Jallikattu or is some boring blowhard.
I wonder whether the final scene is an allegory for overpopulation. -
ryanksa-4870118 March 2020LJP s' directing in the film was outstanding. The starring Anthony Varghese,Chemban Vinod and Sabumon Abdusamad their acting was great. Overall the movie was amazing.
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vishnuv-542116 October 2019The film has pointed out a social issues which is not been discussed or familiarised in the society to resolve the problem. Special thanks to Mr. Lijo Jose Pellissery & the crew who made a movie which is a moral to the society that we need to discuss this so that we will be a complete Human. Don't expect a mass Entertainer because the movie itself made a signature in Visualisation & Audio Effects which can only be experienced in Theatres. For a mass story based viewers this won't be a wise choice but the Film need an appreciation for the Hardwork they made to familiarise the topic to the current society. So enjoy the Play ..
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vijeshshankar18 October 2019I couldn't be any more disappointed watching this movie. Story or the whole thing was just a whole waste of time. And if it is to say it has anything to do with human behavior, trust me there are other movies which deserves and worth giving our time.
Such a disappointment -
nairabh11 October 2019Lijo Jose Pellissery directed Jallikattu is a splendid movie. It will leave you spellbound. Credit goes to the director and the cameraman. Gireesh Ganagadharan. 🙏🙏🙏 Anthony verghese, Sabumon and Chemban Vinod were outstanding with their acting . Background score by Prashant Pillai was amazing .They largely used acapella-based background score. UFfff😍😍🙏🙏🙏 This movie is insane and well choreographed chaos. What happens if a buffalo who was bought to slaughter runs and creates a chaotic situation in a village in Iddukki. It creates lot of confusion ,havoc ,violence etc. The entire village close to 100 -200 men go out day and night to catch the buffalo and at the end become an animal and starts fighting with each other. The climax is so nicely shot, Hatts off to the director and the cameraman. It's a must watch movie. You have to experience this in theatres especially for the cinematography and music..
This movie will stand out for its technical brilliance and I am sure it has taken mollywood movies to a different level.. #oscarcalling. -
sujith789_reviews17 November 2019
- Excellent direction and camera and deserves 10/10 for the making.
- The shots with the buffalo were excellent and realistic.
- There are some moments of comedy.
- Story is weak and acting is also not that great.
- Unnecessary violence was shown throughout the movie and didn't felt realistic.
- Final Score - 6.5/10. With a realistic story, it would have been a masterpiece.
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stsmack3 December 2020This film's title is misleading with its content. Tamils never eat or kill Cow meat after Jallikattu Sport. "When a foriegner watches this movie they will think Jallikattu is a sport to kill and eat Buffalo meat, which is completely wrong". Jallikattu sport is to find the Healthiest and Strongest Bull, later cows are allowed to mate with the strongest Bull, so that the future cow/bull species will be healthier and stronger.