I feel like I might appreciate this film more on subsequent watches but for now, I think I'll go with the 7 stars rating. This isn't a bad film persay, but my viewing experience was a bit convoluted. To sum it up, make sure there are subtitles because you will miss out on important bits (one being a huge plot point which is essentially what drives the third act forward) and make sure to keep the brightness on max and no lights are lit because there are many, many night shots which are barely visible even if a little light is present.
The story of Nooran finding her lost song could've been quite a character-study but it transcends to something much more niche and something which may or may not connect with you. It almost connected with me until it didn't. I can't really explain what went wrong because it feels too convoluted and self-indulgent and I'll just leave that to you to decide. I was very confused as to where the third act goes as the payoff that was setup at the end of first act doesn't really seem like one. The end to this story (judging it for what it is and not for what I was expecting it to be) should feel very powerful and moving rather, it feels unearned and somewhat on the ambiguous side with much left for the viewer to decode. I love ambiguity, I really do but a filmmaker should atleast be competent enough to understand what a viewer might and might not understand. I feel like a dumbass who didn't understand the end but what I'm trying to say is, the ending could've felt a bit more earned and satisfying than it actually is.
The film very heavily utilizes the marwadi accent with it's characters and while Irrfan quite smoothly slides into his character, Golshifteh Farahani's dialect was more of that of an actor trying their best. This doesn't mean that Golshifteh's performance is awful, on the contrary, I connected with her the most since this is her story and Director Anup Singh does manage that quite firmly. The performances are all excellent. Irrfan as always is great, Golshifteh as the lead is quite the empathatic presence and you develop a significant amount of care for her throughout the film but, it was Waheeda Rehman who in particular stood out to me. She plays the role of Nooran's mother and although her presence is brief, she never feels out of place and works quite well in service for the story.
The songs and cinematography are also great. The folk marwadi songs were a somber tune for the ears and the cinematography is just beautiful. This film is absolutely ravishing to look at. DOP Pietro Zuercher takes Anup's vision a step ahead. It's almost on the same level as Greig Fraser marinated the dark and broody tones of Gotham with hints of shades of black in The Batman, The Song Of Scorpions follows the same visuals but the setup now moves to a desert. Costume design by Divya and Nidhi Gambhir, art direction by Mayur Mulam and Production design by Rajesh Yadav are authentic and near to perfection.
