Dear ICB posters,
I strongly recommend that you guys watch Elipathayam, a Malayalam film directed by Adoor Gopalakrishnan. The film's languid pace might turn some of you off in the beginning. But I urge you to watch it with some patience.
In fact, a lot of you might identify with the actions of the film's strange protagonist. We live in a mad world in which constant change overwhelms us and renders us helpless and pathetic. The protagonist is one such pathetic person who is unable to deal with the changes around him and is reduced to a state of sloth. The film takes place at a "tharavadu" (a large home occupied by the upper castes in Kerala). Unni (played by Karamana), the patriarch of the tharavadu is overdependent on his two sisters to simply get through the day. He passes his days in a state of anomie, unable to deal with the encroaching world - represented by his greedy elder sister, an amorous woman who sexually shames him, a successful Christian acquaintance whose father used to work for the Unni's family and now has designs on Unni's sister, coconut thieves, a cow who eats the plants in his home and last but not the least a rat that always attacks him in his sleep.
While he is a pathetic figure, he is also very cruel to his sisters and indifferent to the people who visit him. The director portrays Unni as someone with no redeeming qualities but his helplessness deserves our sympathy.
The film's slow pace complements Unni's desolate, empty and idle life perfectly. Glimpses into the life at a tharavadu are interwoven into the narrative. The visuals are often the exact opposite of striking. The film is filled with shots of the still untouched nature surrounding the declining tharavadu, with only the colorful clothes worn by the women providing an occasional respite from the scenes of stillness and stagnation. The film must have been shot during the rains because the nature is awash in a very pleasant green. But rather than beauty they convey a sense of decay and ruin. I cannot really compare the visuals to any other film. They are truly unique. I also respect Adoor's control over the narrative, he never succumbs to any sort of temptation.
I was not awed by the performances of either Karamana or Sharada. But they were successful in conveying the sense of doom with which the characters lived. Karamana is an actor with great histrionic ability but over here he is subdued. Sharada was a very attractive woman, she was only 37 when the film was made.
I will not write about the title and how it is related to the plight of the protagonist. Enough and more has been written about it on the internet.
Best Regards, Pimpin.
(8/10)
Best Regards, Pimpin.
I strongly recommend that you guys watch Elipathayam, a Malayalam film directed by Adoor Gopalakrishnan. The film's languid pace might turn some of you off in the beginning. But I urge you to watch it with some patience.
In fact, a lot of you might identify with the actions of the film's strange protagonist. We live in a mad world in which constant change overwhelms us and renders us helpless and pathetic. The protagonist is one such pathetic person who is unable to deal with the changes around him and is reduced to a state of sloth. The film takes place at a "tharavadu" (a large home occupied by the upper castes in Kerala). Unni (played by Karamana), the patriarch of the tharavadu is overdependent on his two sisters to simply get through the day. He passes his days in a state of anomie, unable to deal with the encroaching world - represented by his greedy elder sister, an amorous woman who sexually shames him, a successful Christian acquaintance whose father used to work for the Unni's family and now has designs on Unni's sister, coconut thieves, a cow who eats the plants in his home and last but not the least a rat that always attacks him in his sleep.
While he is a pathetic figure, he is also very cruel to his sisters and indifferent to the people who visit him. The director portrays Unni as someone with no redeeming qualities but his helplessness deserves our sympathy.
The film's slow pace complements Unni's desolate, empty and idle life perfectly. Glimpses into the life at a tharavadu are interwoven into the narrative. The visuals are often the exact opposite of striking. The film is filled with shots of the still untouched nature surrounding the declining tharavadu, with only the colorful clothes worn by the women providing an occasional respite from the scenes of stillness and stagnation. The film must have been shot during the rains because the nature is awash in a very pleasant green. But rather than beauty they convey a sense of decay and ruin. I cannot really compare the visuals to any other film. They are truly unique. I also respect Adoor's control over the narrative, he never succumbs to any sort of temptation.
I was not awed by the performances of either Karamana or Sharada. But they were successful in conveying the sense of doom with which the characters lived. Karamana is an actor with great histrionic ability but over here he is subdued. Sharada was a very attractive woman, she was only 37 when the film was made.
I will not write about the title and how it is related to the plight of the protagonist. Enough and more has been written about it on the internet.
Best Regards, Pimpin.
(8/10)
Best Regards, Pimpin.