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iView Author:
APOORVA GAURAV
(Bangalore, India)

EMAIL:
apoorvagaurav[at] gmail dot com

It’s all about faith

All the chaos surrounding the Indian entry for Oscars has left me puzzled. I hadn’t seen either of the films causing the controversy but still was amazed at the confidence of Ms. Bhavna Talwar for calling the jury biased. I am a big fan of Pankaj Kapoor and that was the reason enough for being excited when I came to know that Bangalore Film Society is screening the film Dharm, but the controversy had also made me somewhat skeptic. But still curiosity kills the cat so I rushed to the venue. Ironically the film based on dilemma of a Hindu priest concerning Muslim child was screened in the auditorium of a chapel.

I wanted to like the film as that would mean another good young director to the industry plus this is one of the rare spiritual film to come out in recent times, a genre almost forsaken. As the film started and the background score started soaring so did my expectations. But 5 minutes into the film I encountered the most cliched sequence of Brahmins beating a Shudra for touching the head priest. The movie took about half an hour to recover from such cliches which is about 1/3rd of the running length. But gradually the film gains interest, as the focus shifts from Brahminism to the life and times of Pankaj Kapoor. The last half an hour is a tour de force with Kapoor standing tallest.The climax scene makes out a true hero out of a simple priest. The movie is quite strong and the message it conveys that religion in not only beliefs and practices, its also action and action in real world is appreciable. Pankaj Kapoor as expected is top-notch, well supported by others, especially the young boy. Camera work is great and the music especially the verses sang by Sonu Nigam are mesmerizing. The screenplay gets slack at times but in general its quite good. Direction is decent and considering its her first attempt, Bhavna has done a commendable job (hope she concentrates more of making quality film than the antics done in last two-three weeks).

But still I didn’t like it much one of the reason being another film which I saw just few hours before watching it — Ordet(1955) by Carl Dreyer based on a play by Danish playwright Kaj Munk.

For a long time Ordet(The Word) was on my must watch list, finally I was is a film which weaves it web around the viewer. 30 minutes in the film I was kind of bored, an hour in the film and I was trying-to-get-out-but-can’t phase, 90 minutes in the film I was on the edge of my seat (rather the bed on which I was lying) and at the end I was completely enthralled. Would you believe that its not a thriller, its an out and out spiritual film where people call the name of Christ more than that of the characters. Its a story of unflinching faith which is not bounded by the worldly limits. It contains 8 characters with varying degree of faith, from atheist to agnostic to firm believer to one who think himself to be Christ. The film flows at a leisurely pace establishing the beliefs of characters and the conflicts between them. It is more of a character driven than a plot driven film. The conversations propel the narrative and slowly but surely prepares the audience towards a tragedy which is about to happen. As the misery deepens the faiths start to flutter and characters start cursing their destiny. They pray to God, not as demand but as favour and here is when the writer delivers his masterstroke. A miracle happen and the faith is restored that too absolute faith. The screenplay and the direction are so profound that other departments take a back seat despite being first class. Dreyer is known more for Passion Of Joan Of Arc which but this to me is even more difficult film to direct and Dreyer comes out with flying colours. Acting by everyone is good most notably from Henrik Malberg as so-powerful-and-yet-so-weak landowner. The black and white cinematography is almost perfect. In a nut shell, an immensely satisfying film.

By reviewing two similar films I in no way want to compare these two just a natural reaction of two not-so-common films I happened to see side by side. Ordet has a theme of fatalism which at first view seems negative especially when compared to Dharm which asks viewer to act, but still Ordet appealed to me more. A little trivia about Ordet,the only name to appear in film credit is that of Kaj Munk. None of the cast or the crew members are mentioned in the film. Makes me wonder whether the film watching would be more delightful if the creators be more humble and have complete faith on the viewer or in this case jury :-) .