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<\/p>\nThe acting is uniformly good, and each and every frame of this movie is a mini work of art. <\/p>\n
The conflict is unnamed, although you can guess which war it is, due to the ethnicity of the characters. Malli (played beautifully by Ayesha Dharker), a 19 year old guerrilla soldier, is chosen to be a suicide bomber for a very important mission. It will “inspire generations to come”. The mission itself is not spelled out specifically but we get the idea: She is going to be blowing up some head of state. This is a targeted attack on a high-level politician. Malli has grown up in war, her father was a revolutionary, and her brother was also a “martyr”, so inflexibility and focused mania for the cause run in her blood. <\/p>\n
The film is very interesting because (and Ebert pointed this out in his review, and I agree with him), unlike other films where, even though the main character is a murderer, or has done heinous things, you start to root for him (see every James Cagney movie ever made), this is not the case here. Throughout the entire movie, you sit there and you keep hoping that somehow it will be called off, that she will not succeed. Her mission is futile, you just know this. She is filmed like a lamb going for the slaughter. She is right in her mind, though. She has chosen this. She wants this. But, as with all good movies, the reality is a little bit more complex, once you start going into it, once you start getting to know her. Ebert writes too that you identify with her without identifying with her goal. Now that is a tricky thing, a very difficult thing, but this movie completely succeeds. And like I said, up until the very last frame of the film I did not know which way it would go. <\/p>\n
The last 20 minutes are terribly stressful. There is this blazing-eyed martyrdom that is being yearned for, and surrounding all of that is a sense of complete inevitability. There is no free will. You cannot stop the suicide bomber train once you get on it. That’s a one-way ticket. Ayesha Dharkur who plays Malli is riveting, in every single second. She’s got a face that the camera loves. Feelings ripple across it, breaking to the surface only occasionally. She’s gorgeous, but in a way that seems totally non-actress-y.<\/p>\n
The absolutes of Malli’s world are chilling. There’s something I get there, something I do understand, but it is a world where one cannot really afford to have personal relationships. There is only room for the cause. Of course, this becomes the main conflict in the film.<\/p>\n
I’ve posted some screenshots below. You’ll see what I mean about their beauty. The fact that this is such a gorgeously shot film is interesting, and I’ve been thinking a lot about it. The surroundings are lush, almost cartoon jungle, huge green leaves dripping with rain water, rushing rivers, gentle rainfall. The countryside looks so lush, so fecund and welcoming. Yet the reality is carnage. <\/p>\n
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The acting is uniformly good, and each and every frame of this movie is a mini work of art. The conflict is unnamed, although you can guess which war it is, due to the ethnicity of the characters. Malli (played … Continue reading