"Unknown" was just that, an unknown choice of a movie to watch on a Sunday afternoon. When the Missus, my cousin and me decided to sit down to watch some nice movie, the onus of choice of the movie was left to me. Browsing through my cousin's collection of movies, I happened to come across "Unknown". Not knowing anything else about the movie other than the fact that Liam Neeson starred in it, the three of us sat down to watch it.

 The movie begins with Dr Martin Harris (Liam Neeson) and his wife arriving at Berlin to attend a biotechnology summit where the Doctor is one of the researchers expected to present a significant breakthrough in his field of expertise. At the hotel, when he realizes that he inadvertently has forgotten his briefcase with his passports and other important papers at the airport itself, he hops into the nearest taxi and asks the driver Gina (Diane Kruger) to take him to the airport as soon as possible. On the way to the airport though, the taxi meets with an accident where the cab crashes into a river. Martin in knocked unconscious and wakes up in a hospital 2-3 days later.

 When he returns to the hotel, he discovers his wife with another man who is living the life of Dr Martin Harris. Enraged, confused by this sudden turn of events, Dr Harris starts off in quest of reclaiming his life, identity while trying to figure out what exactly is transpiring. That forms the gist of the movie. To say anything more would end up in revealing too much about the movie and that would prove to be quite a damp squib for anybody who has plans to watch the movie.

 Liam Neeson as Dr Harris plays his character to the hilt. His ability to emote portraying his anger, confusion, frustration speak volumes for his credentials as an actor who always goes the extra mile to bring to life the writers' characters (other notable roles of his include Oskar Schindler in Schindler's List, Ra's Al Ghul in Batman Begins, the protagonist in Taken, the list goes on). Diane Kruger (Helen of Troy in Troy, Abigail Chase in National Treasure) plays the role of Gina competently enough. As somebody who unwittingly gets caught up in a situation that she has no control over, her portrayal of the illegal immigrant taxi driver is quite good and adds to the plot.

 The movie itself follows the standard template of its genre of movies - the cloak and dagger thriller, but it does so with just that bit of flair, panache and individuality that makes it quite a good watch. The screenplay, the locations, the chase sequences, the casting, all of it has been done with eough care and attention to ensure that the audience is treated to a competent action-thriller movie. 

 Related links

 Wikipedia link to the movie **contains Plot Spoilers**
IMDB link to the movie **contains Plot Spoilers**
Youtube link to the movie trailer
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A couple of reasons why I watched ‘Before the Rains’ were Santosh Sivan, its director and Nandita Das, its lead character. While I am a huge fan of Santosh Sivan’s cinematography in almost all of the movies in which he collaborated with Mani Ratnam (Roja, Iruvar, Dil Se, Raavanan, need I say more), the fact that I had seen quite a few interviews of his and he came across as this amazingly imaginative person who knows how to get the maximum detail in each and every frame of his piqued my interest in him. Santosh Sivan is almost like an university of cinematography and the script that he picked up for this movie lent itself to be filmed extraordinarily beautifully.

The second reason that I watched this movie was Nandita Das.
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"Unknown" was just that, an unknown choice of a movie to watch on a Sunday afternoon. When the Missus, my cousin and me decided to sit down to watch some nice movie, the onus of choice of the movie was left to me. Browsing through my cousin's collection of movies, I happened to come across "Unknown". Not knowing anything else about the movie other than the fact that Liam Neeson starred in it, the three of us sat down to watch it.

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