"Athithi"(Guest) is arguably one of the alltime great films in Malayalam. The storyline is influenced by Harold Pinter and Edward Albee. There is a house in the sand dunes where a family awaits the arrival of Sekharan. Different members of the family have different understandins about this character. The grandfather in the family goes to the railway station to receive Sekharan, but the train never stops. There is the card playing, gam,bling son, whose beautiful wife has very complex relations with her husband's playmates. There is also the younger sister in the family, who dreams of the city and the citylights. Another character is the automobile mechanic who probably is in love with the little sister. Sekharan never arrives. After many phantasmagorical experiences by various characters, the last sequence shows the wife of the gambling man and the mechanic moving along in slowmotion. They are dancing on the dunes, in light and shade.
The story might sound absurd, but the fact is that this is a powerful portrayal of complex relationships, interminable waiting, the futility and absurdity of all those. It is very existentialist and thus emphasises the entrapment of man and woman in impossible situations.
It is rather unfortunate that this film did not receive the accolades it received. The creator of "Athithi" K.P Kumaran is the co-author of the screeplay of "Swayamvaram" (1971) a ground-breaking artfilm. One of the many qualities of "Athithi" is its haunting music and brilliant camerawork by Murthy, a newcomer. It is shot in black and white. The film was much ahead of its times. It had the beauty of Ingmar Bergman's "Wild Strawberries" with its emphasis on fantasies. I think the film critics in Kerala, who were unused to really subversive films put "Athithi" down in order to hide their own inadeqacies at proper film appreciation. It is noteworthy that K.P Kumaran nenver became a very successful filmmaker because it was never easy for a person who created such a wonderful film to stoop down to the nauseating levels of pseudo-art and masala movies of Malayalam.
I have heard (I cannot vouch for it) that this beautiful film does not even have an archival copy. How about that for a society that prides irself in its progressive outlook and intellectual "First Worldness"?
The story might sound absurd, but the fact is that this is a powerful portrayal of complex relationships, interminable waiting, the futility and absurdity of all those. It is very existentialist and thus emphasises the entrapment of man and woman in impossible situations.
It is rather unfortunate that this film did not receive the accolades it received. The creator of "Athithi" K.P Kumaran is the co-author of the screeplay of "Swayamvaram" (1971) a ground-breaking artfilm. One of the many qualities of "Athithi" is its haunting music and brilliant camerawork by Murthy, a newcomer. It is shot in black and white. The film was much ahead of its times. It had the beauty of Ingmar Bergman's "Wild Strawberries" with its emphasis on fantasies. I think the film critics in Kerala, who were unused to really subversive films put "Athithi" down in order to hide their own inadeqacies at proper film appreciation. It is noteworthy that K.P Kumaran nenver became a very successful filmmaker because it was never easy for a person who created such a wonderful film to stoop down to the nauseating levels of pseudo-art and masala movies of Malayalam.
I have heard (I cannot vouch for it) that this beautiful film does not even have an archival copy. How about that for a society that prides irself in its progressive outlook and intellectual "First Worldness"?
