Tue, 23 Sep 2025, 02:40 am
Opinion

Gains and Pains of an Era in Power

“Continuity” in government matters a great deal for the development of a country. There is a possibility that many decisions of the present government may get reversed with the change

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1970’s election campaign made Bangabandhu an iconic figure

The Pakistan general election in 1970 based on ‘one-man-one vote’ principle proved to be a watershed moment in the turbulent history of the erstwhile Indian sub-continent. This was the first

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Remembering Justice Murshed

“A drop of ink makes millions think.” I am told by a very senior journalist as well as by a very elderly lawyer that it was Justice Murshed who would

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Crucifixion of American Democracy

Just for one man’s lust for power and greed, democracy in America as envisaged by its founding fathers died a tragic death on Wednesday, 6th January 2021. The man is

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Twelve years of ‘People First’

t is heartening to note that the government led by honourable Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina has just completed twelve years of its continued existence. The last one year of her

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Fight against Covid-19 and Expectations for 2021

In 2020, the Covid-19 paralyzed all sectors worldwide as one of the major catastrophes of the century. The virus spread around the globe within a relatively brief span after it

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Sustainable Development through Climate Action

Climate change impacts the planet through higher temperatures, an increase of extreme weather events, changing precipitation patterns, rising sea levels, and ocean acidification. It disrupts ecosystems, and human livelihoods, particularly

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We Australians face China’s bullying insults with honor

The appointment of Australia’s new Trade Minister, Dan Tehan, has been accompanied by speculation about whether he can help repair worsening trade tensions with China. Such trade tensions are undoubtedly

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Incidents of mob beating continue

At least 34 people were killed in numerous incidents of mob beatings throughout the country in 11 months of the immediate past year, posing a threat to the overall law

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Agri sector shows resilience amid pandemic

The agriculture sector played an important role in keeping the country’s crop production stable and ensure food security the during the coronavirus pandemic. Despite the devastating impact of the global

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The megastar plays a philosophy professor shaken by a student’s sexual assault allegation against a colleague in Luca Guadagnino’s new film – and she’s easily the best thing about it. Julia Roberts doesn’t make many films these days. She was in Leave the World Behind in 2023; in 2022, there was her tropical romantic comedy with George Clooney, Ticket to Paradise; and then we have to jump all the way back to 2018 for her previous turn in Ben Is Back. But you can see why she chose to star in After the Hunt, a contentious campus drama directed by Luca Guadagnino (Call Me By Your Name, Challengers). Roberts is on screen for almost every one of its 139 minutes, and she is the monumental centre around which its chaos and controversy swirl. It’s the kind of heavyweight role that gets awards nominations if it goes to the right person – and Roberts is definitely the right person. Her character is Alma, a philosophy professor at Yale University. Striding regally around its leafy quadrangles in a chic white suit that matches her blonde hair, this combatively intelligent alpha female is adored by everyone who knows her. Her husband Frederik (Michael Stuhlbarg) is resigned to the fact that he loves her more than she loves him, and is willing to make whimsical jokes about the imbalance; Hank (Andrew Garfield), a would-be rebellious friend and colleague, is even more flirtatious with her than he is with everyone else; and her favourite PhD student, Maggie (Ayo Edebiri), worships her – which could explain why she is Alma’s favourite PhD student. It seems as if the status quo might soon be upset, though, as either Alma or Hank – or perhaps both – is expected to be granted permanent tenure. But then something far more drastic happens. The day after a boozy party in Alma and Frederik’s book-lined flat, Maggie tells Alma that Hank walked her home and then “crossed a line”. Alma is sympathetic – but only up to a point. There is no evidence of assault, so she isn’t sure whether to trust the word of a new friend over an old one, especially at such a critical moment in her career. And maybe, her thinking goes, lines were crossed at the party anyway, considering that teachers and students were hugging each other while knocking back expensive wine. “Roberts’ Alma is a coiled spring: her steely stillness makes her ferocity all the more powerful” It’s refreshing to see a grown-up Hollywood film that takes on contemporary issues: feminism, cancel culture, identity politics, and the generation gap. But After the Hunt is more of an admirable project than an engaging drama, because it never stops reminding you of how clever it wants to be. Guadagnino keeps showing off his quirky camera angles and intrusive music choices. The screenplay, by Nora Garrett, squeezes too much philosophical jargon into the dialogue, and too many tangential scenes and subplots into the structure. You might think that the alleged assault would be a big enough deal for any film, but Alma is given mysterious abdominal pains and guilty secrets, and Maggie is overloaded with significance as a queer, black, plagiarism-prone young woman with a non-binary partner and rich parents who are major donors to the university. In theory, viewers of After the Hunt should leave the cinema arguing about its subject matter. In practice, they’re more likely to be asking each other what was going on and what it meant. It’s all a bit much, basically. Garfield, miscast as a denim-clad dude who is, it is implied, roughly the same age as Roberts’ character, shouts and swears and waves his arms with a quantity-over-quality approach to acting. Stuhlbarg’s flouncing and sing-song delivery are presumably meant to be irritating, but perhaps not as irritating as they actually are. At the heart of it all, though, Roberts is a different matter. She understands that less can be more. Her Alma is a coiled spring: her steely stillness makes her ferocity all the more powerful and her pain all the more intense. Her muttering is scarier than Garfield’s yelling, and when she glares at someone, they stay glared at. It’s an expertly controlled performance which demonstrates why Roberts has been a Hollywood icon for so long, and why she could well be in line for her second Oscar, 25 years after Erin Brockovich. After the Hunt would have been better if everyone else involved had had some of that control, too.

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