Sanal Kumar Sashidharan's penchant for uncinematic but breath taking and realistic shots of nature is one of the prime things that stood out for me in "Ozhivudivasathe Kali". Chola had more of that.
There are a few scenes that are just world class and timeless. The trailer bit. There is a scene that blends in a dramatic climax with raw nature. That scene can stand proud alongside Tarkovsky movie scenes. There is a scene where a very key incident is presented with camera movement and accompanying soundscape. That scene was brilliant too. These scenes are easily ten on ten scenes.
The movie maintains it's darkness. The movie is attempting to say something tall and radical. That in itself is so controversial that it can turn off a lot of viewers. However, even if you let the movie say what it wants to, the movie has not been able to say it convincingly.
Nimisha, Joju and Akhil Vishwanath have had their share of brilliant acting. However, there were portions that did not seem to gel as well. Nimisha's natural acting and voice modulations were impressive.
However, there were also technical imperfections. There was a scene with the camera following the actors in the jeep. The jeep stops and the camera just rushes into the jeep and turns around, making the camera very precarious. Pretty blatant an error.
Not an easy watch. Would recommend a watch to art movie lovers for some really brilliant pieces in the sonata even while the movie as a whole failed for me.
