Praying with Anger

I saw this when it was premiered at the Toronto International Film Festival.

It was a late entry, but the festival's programmers were so impressed by this debut feature by a young filmmaker (only 20 during shooting) that they put it on the program anyway. One of them (David Overbey as I recall, sadly now deceased) introduced Shyamalan and glowingly said something like "Watch this young man; he's going places and you'll be seeing a lot more of him". Pretty good assessment.

The film is about a teenager, born in India but raised in the U.S. (as Shyamalan was), who goes to his birthplace for a long visit and experiences major culture shock. He sees various aspects of local life with his American eyes, from trivial things to matters of life and death, and the film shows his bemusement while doing a good job of communicating the thoughts of the local characters. I would say that he chose well the issues to highlight (I too am a South Asian raised in the West, born in Canada to Sri Lankan parents who planned to go back but never did), like the importance of superstition and the local variety of racism. However, some parts were a bit too Hollywood for me, in particular the scene where the protagonist stops a lynch mob by preaching his American brand of morality - in much the same way that Captain Kirk used to prevent interstellar war with a few glib phrases.

After the screening, an audience member asked Shyamalan how autobiographical the film was. He replied that he had indeed taken the same kind of journey, but that the movie was definitely fictional. As he put it, "I did not quell a riot in India".

Another question from the audience was how much the movie had cost to make. His answer: "About a million". He didn't say where the money came from, but clearly someone took a chance on this talented young filmmaker. I'm sorry that the film didn't get released; it has stayed with me through the years despite my never having heard of the guy at the time. And now that I've seen other movies he's made, I'd like to watch this again to see more of their origins, much as I was fascinated by watching, long after it was made, Stanley Kubrick's first feature Fear and Desire.

M Night Shyamalan's debut film sees him return to India to find his ancestry. This isn't a bad movie and although budget constraints are evident, they should be forgiven seeing as this is his very first attempt. Dev Raman (M. Night Shyamalan) is an American-born Indian sent to India as part of a college student exchange program. Dev is reluctant to go, but his mother, to whom he is devoted, insists. So, friendless and alone, halfway across the world, Dev experiences culture shock -- he may look like an Indian, but it is quickly and vividly demonstrated that looks are of little consequence, and it will take more than a glib tongue and an unwillingness to back down to earn acceptance and respect. In the midst of his initial travails, Dev's sole friend is Sunjay (Mike Muthu), his guide and mentor, upon whose advice he relies. Praying with Anger relies on too much stock material for it to warrant anything more than a passing interest.

Yes, this depiction is outright because it highlights the necessity of one's origin. Certain elements of our lives are locked or rather concealed with us until we enter the vicinity of our origin. Because usually the end is the start from where we came. Great movie overall, Wonder what took me so long to watch it. Recommended to me by a random blogger, I highly recommend it to all that will read my review. You shant regret investing your hours in it. The character is easy to connect with as his situation is seemingly very relatable. Great movie for friends and family too. Would watch it tirelessly had I the time.

M. Night's debut film is hard to judge properly with such a low quality version of it on the Internet. It's essentially a student film and a pretty uninteresting one honestly. I'll give M. Night some credit on playing the main character and having a passable music score in it, but that's really all the good things going for this film.

The performances are amateur and it doesn't leave much of an impression by the end. It's kind of cool there were little glimpses of dialogue and ideas in this film that foreshadow what movies M. Night would make in the near future. Oh well, you gotta start somewhere in the industry I guess, so can't be too harsh on this debut.

3/10.

A film about an Indian-American who returns to his homeland to go to college. It very accurately depicts the social conventions of the time. It is a movie about inner courage and self-discovery that will leave you with a good feeling when it is over.