Amen

Lijo Jose Pellissery's first commercial success Amen is a wonderful treat filled with stunning aesthetics and an extremely creative world of magical realism. The film tells the story of Solomon and Shoshanna, two lovers who strives to be together despite having Shoshanna's family members standing against their relationship. Solomon is a saxophonist in the church band who has great talent in him but fails to express it due to a fearful memory. Fahadh Faasil and Swathi Reddy shined as Solomon and Shoshanna but the best actor award goes to Kalabhavan Mani for playing the role of Louis Pappan. As the story progresses Louis Pappan discovers the artist inside Solomon, from there on happens a change in Solomon's life and situation. The film also tells about choosing humanity over the evil of religious traditions and cultural norms.

Lijo Jose Pellissery created a wonderful movie of magical realism which has creamy cinematography and amazing camera movements done by the skilled Abhinandam Ramanujan. There was a shot which had the camera rotated in a semi-circular path set at a long and wide angle, the focus point of the frame was a boat going through river. I wondered how Abhinandam managed to do this kind of a camera movement from this kind of an angle. The plot was cliche but it was narrated in a different manner that was so fresh. PS Rafeeque's screenplay was well written with freshness and without much errors and it had nice quirky comedy by both Rafeeque and Pellissery.

As a director this film got Lijo Jose Pellissery's level raised among other malayalam directors and also gave a huge hope to cinephiles. The direction was visionary and aesthetically shot with the angles of POV he chose. Prashant Pillai also did a fantastic job in designing the sound and bgm beautifully.

Divine comedy, it's not worth missing!

Amen probably India's first ecumenical movie surely a magical movie indeed. Well i was not that impressed by the script except for the climax but i was more mesmerize how they all executed it. All the actors were performed exquisitely & here we got a new villain (Joy mathew) and he is not Siddique. Among bunch of actor Joy mathew was my best pick-up & his countenance and grudging sound was perfect. Songs by Prashant pillai were aberrant and apt which add feel to the film. Cinematography by Abhinandan ramanjum was transcended, he brilliantly captured all the beautiful scenery of mystical Kumarakom. Direction was fine but pace was stagnate and there were many slow motion which by default unnecessarily increases the running time. It could be better if it get trimmed by at least 20 min. What i liked the most among was the Aura, way they created was terrific & surely renaissance in theism will evoke up at the end when climax get revealed. Amen is ostensibly romantic satire in between which do didactic about faith in theism and gospel.

+ve: ¤Actors. ¤Songs. ¤Cinematography. ¤Direction. ¤Technical department. ¤Climax.

-ve: ¤Editing could have been better. ¤Script except climax.

¤Watch it if you like experimental movie. Amen is magical movie which revive faith in God in you.

Taken in a previously unseen manner, Amen promises what it gives by the title, a pure divine comedy. The story has all what is needed in optimum level, along-with an excellent performance by an ensemble cast. The technical brilliance in camera and every other aspect of the film are to be noted. Director Lijo Jose, who had already shown his class with the critically acclaimed movies "Nayakan" and "City of God" proves he is a man to look out for in the future. Fahadh Faasil, Indrajith, Swati Reddy did their roles with full commitment, and so did the film's entire crew. The audience will surely be surprised at the film's way of making, and undoubtedly, the climax was one of the best in Malayalam cinema!

Magicall,out of the world, best ever Malayalam movie,LJP <3

It is actually a divine drama which has ounces of good humor, great music & melodrama. It talks about a small town which is running under a tension of church-renovation. All the corruption & illegality involved is related to the band contests and a love story.

The direction & camera work is fabulous. It reminded me of Qeuntin Tarantino. Lijo Pallissery is a stalwart with the camera. SFX is terrific, while the screenplay is amazing. Slow-mo scenes, spur-of-the- moment impulses and impromptu music performances blew my mind out. Performance by Fahadh Faasil, Swati Reddy & Indrajtih is scintillating. Supporting cast is energetic.

The plot goes flip-flop throughout the movie but as it reaches climax, Amen will prove to be gob-smacking. The level of details is good, locations are exotic, and angles are best. They just increase the inquisitiveness. Only the story seemed a bit low, otherwise Amen has ample stuffs to make you go gaga over it. Elements juxtaposed in a running time of 150 minutes is a let-down, but you should feel every bit of it in order to enjoy the play. It starts off with comedy and ends with you experiencing goosebumps.

BOTTOM LINE: Highly recommended. It gives something new. Powerful & rare execution. A gem of Malayalam cinema. One of the best climaxes ever.

Can be watched with a typical Indian family? YES

Profanity: Mild | Sex/Foreplay/Nudity: No | Violence: Strong | Gore: Very Mild | Smoking: No | Alcohol: Critical