Koozhangal

Greetings again from the darkness. Movies don't get the credit they deserve for opening our eyes to other cultures and providing a snapshot into the lives of others ... lives often unimaginable to us. Another aspect of World Cinema is that it serves as a reminder that people are people all over the globe. Dreams and disappointments are simply a part of the human existence. Often we recognize more similarities than we previously thought. Such is the case with the debut feature film from writer-director P. S. Vinothraj. This is India's official submission for the Foreign Language Academy Award.

Ganapathy (played by Karuththadaiyann) marches purposefully through the village until he finds his son, Velu (Chellapandi), in the school room. The abrasive father brazenly inquires if the boy prefers him or his mother. It's not a question the young boy dares answer. As the two begin their journey, it's clear the man is angry, annoyed, abusive, and we soon learn, alcoholic. He seems ready to burst with pent-up energy and emotion. His goal is to travel to another village and bring back his wife, who returned to her family ... and his demeanor leaves little doubt as to why.

The trip involves a bus ride and long walk on the sunbaked dirt trail through the rocky and mountainous desert. The father doesn't so much walk as stomp, while the small boy follows behind in hopes of minimizing the abuse. Of course, as kids often do, Velu finds his ways to rebel, despite the risk of another slap upside the head.

With only minimal dialogue, director Vinothraj serves up visual storytelling at its finest. The filmmaker is obsessed with details ... right down to minutiae. The camera sometimes lingers as if to force us to go deeper than merely noticing something - a woman loading water jugs on a bus, a family catching-prepping-cooking rats for consumption, or a young boy's collection of the smooth rocks (pebbles) he tucks into his cheek to generate saliva. The remarkable, extended closing shot of women painstakingly filling bottles with precious water is culmination of what we've just watched - a slice of life demonstrating how life is complex even in the most remote areas of India, and yet no dissimilar to what we experience.

We that is the film federation of India is still wearing the glasses of 60s.

Whereas world has moved ahead.

I still don't see any sense in showing such cinema, besides pandering to the white man's burden syndrome. You showcase abject misery and shine it as rat used to do. Comeon guys noone has time for such shenanigans in today's world.

Raise issues and suggest solutions. Raising abject hopelessness serves noone neither the viewer nor the team of such projects.

Big thumbs down for art cinema of 60s. A breed that is extinct and for good.

This movie is not the highlights of your life , cinema has been soo kind to give only the highlights of life and makes more intresting and increase our tempatation. But this film is an exception. This movie is toattly have a different working, if u r commercial cinema lover pls dont watch it but if u r a cinema lover this film is for you. Its a different concept , it will be difficult to explain. This movie is point to point action of events without highlights which portraits the true emotion of a person. The scenic climate siyuation everything was an absolute creep. U may get bored due to the lot of walking, but it was quite an experience. A perfect artistic film. The director vinoth kumar has conveyed lot of things without dialogues. The sounds camera were soo good. The cast did their job to perfect. The too much walki g scenes cud have reduced , but a good artistic experience. Many dont understand this concept. But its worth for a cinema lover. Available in Sony Liv.

A journey through the desert to reach the village where father and son live, it becomes a representation of the family, patriarchal power and the division of the sexes. Despite a drunken and violent father, the son follows him (perhaps he will also become a drunken and violent father). There is good handling of the camera (in the long shot in the village), but the length is long for the scope of the narration.

I decided to watch this film primarily because of its Oscar nominations and award wins. However, what unfolded on screen left me with mixed feelings.

The documentary-style drama had its moments, but I couldn't help but feel that a significant portion of the movie could have been omitted. In particular, the extended walking scenes added unnecessary length to the runtime, making the viewing experience feel like a bit of a drag.

In hindsight, it seemed that the essence of the story could have been effectively conveyed in a much shorter format, perhaps as a concise and impactful short film lasting around 20 minutes. This would have likely made the narrative more engaging and avoided the sense of time being wasted during the viewing.