The Land of Cards

I had the luck to see this film a few years ago with my partner, and then later we both couldn't remember what it was called. Fortunately a friend reminded me, and I'm so pleased. This has become a new favorite. An exciting storyline full of symbolism (both meaningful and for the sake of unique imagery), a dreamlike atmosphere, excellent cinematography and makeup reminiscent of German expressionism. It's dizzyingly psychedelic, and at times confusing, but not disorganized or pointlessly random. There's a lot of little threads to follow, but all the noticeable themes leave plenty of room for your own perspective. It's not your typical movie by a long shot, and if you're not into surrealism, the joy I felt for this film might be lost on you. In any case, we've got creative storytelling combined with fine acting and beautifully strange imagery. If you're in the mood for something decidedly different, but you've already watched Twin Peaks again and crave something "refreshingly trippy"--- definitely take a stroll into The Land of Cards.

Directed by Qaushiq Mukherjee (of the 2010 cult film Gandu the loser fame) this film, stands true to its word, being a quirky take on the play of the same name written by Rabindranath Tagore. The film's narrative has great shades of surrealism, fantasy and neo noir which as an impressive graph of development where two stories go hand in hand and they intersect at the pre climax , plus after few scenes with hardly any dialogues, the film takes a sweet boost and the rest is assured, drawing inspirations from Satyajit Ray's film "Goopy Gyen Bagha Byen" and the director's own previous work. The best part of the film lies in the cinematography by Manu Dacosee and the director himself, where every frame is a pure work of art and noir, the music score by Neel and Miti Adhikari and Q which takes on the Rabindra Sangeet with a tinge of some loud Western music making every song worth listening, then even editing by Nikon is great that well compliments the narrative, the performances by Tilotama Shome, Joyraj, Anubrata, Imaad Shah and Rii Sen. The film is a must watch for cinema lovers. My rating would be: 4/5. 

One thing is certain: this film doesn't hold back on experiments, no matter how eccentric. The avant-garde style is very unlikely of mainstream Bengali cinema, which nowadays is a rat race of making box office hits.

Rabindranath is a sensitive topic to us Bengalis, and naturally we tend to have a rather conservative stance. This transgressive film crosses the boundary of the "acceptable", venturing into the wild world of experimentalism, mending Tagore in ways that wreck havoc on our traditional mindset, forcing us to reformulate the notion of him and his body of work. The surreal nature of the film may obscure some the plot, yet it adds to the element of mystery shrouding the protagonists and their goals. This film unabashedly criticizes facism through its core message of anarchy that blooms within the women. Though explicitly political in nature, it never ignores the human element; culminated in the last scene of making love.

Even through its rooted in imagination, yet it is strangely realistic as it brings Tagore out of the books applies in a modern sociopoltical context. The cards depict a facist society, where every citizen is a soldier, bestowed the duty of protecting the state at the cost of losing their individuality. This is a feminist critique of totalitarianism.

Qaushiq Mukherjee also known as 'Q' is known for directing films 'Gandu'. He is well known for making psychedelic films, which have overdose of visuals style of editing cuts like a fashion film with parallel narrative taking you a trip of music and visuals in a world governed by the characters which takes you on journey.

'Tasher Desh' is a modern take on revolution breaking rules and coming out of the shackles of the society. 'Tasher Desh' in English means 'Country of cards' reminds you Satyajit Rays 'Chess Players' and movies like Dreams by Akira Kurosawa and Takshi Kitnao's way of story telling and narrative structure.

The songs of Rabindranath Tagore with new age music bring life to stretched conversations between the writer and the widower and the relationships between the royal prince and the princess and the queen.

The writer's story is in black and white whereas he characters are in color. Mixed with claustrophobia and open spaces of beaches in the land of cards.

Its Rabindranath Tagore's play retold.

Visually stunning, making use of all phographic techniques, psychedelic, disjointed, lost in its exuberance of colour composition and collage, the film loses it's centre and slips into a numbing fantasy.