November 15, 2024
FILM: ALL WE IMAGINE AS LIGHT
DIRECTED BY: PAYAL KAPADIA
STARRING: KANI KUSRUTI, DIVYA PRABHA, CHHAYA KADAM
RATING: 3 ½ out of 4 stars
By Dan Pal
Earlier this year All We Imagine as Light became the first Indian film in thirty years to screen in competition at the Cannes Film festival. It would go on to win one of its top prizes, the Grand Prix. Unfortunately for fans of the film, it wasn’t selected by India to serve as its submission for this year’s Best International Film Oscar. The reasoning is a bit unclear as many are touting it as not only one of India’s best films but one of the best films of the year period. I may not go quite that far in my assessment but it is a very accomplished and well-themed film with a couple of terrific performances.
Written and directed by Payal Kapadia, the film concerns two nurses who room together in a very modest apartment in Mumbai as the narrative slowly builds towards its eventual central concern. Prabha, played by Kani Kusruti, is the more traditional of the two women. She is part of an arranged marriage but she hasn’t seen her husband in over a year as he works in Germany. Prabha is very serious minded compared to Anu, played by Divya Prbha. Visually, she is often framed in darker rooms with lower levels of light than Anu is. Anu is a bit of a free spirit and is sexually involved with a Muslim named Shiaz. (This may have been why India didn’t select the film.) She has no interest in the custom of arranged marriages. Her approach to life is much more modern than Prabha’s is and her personality confirms this even if her circumstances might be only a bit brighter than Prabha’s.
The two get along pretty well but they are part of the larger dichotomy that Kapadia seems to be exploring throughout the film. There’s a train outside the women’s apartment which takes many workers to and from Mumbai to their respective villages. The lifestyle in each setting is very different. Mumbai, with its modern buildings and sensibilities, stands in contrast to the villages that Prabha and Anu are from. It’s of course a quieter and more humble life there that believes in the culture’s traditions. Older structures are being demolished and modern thought is being infused into the perspective of younger people such as Anu.
However, the film goes even wider with this sense of disparity. The people coming to work from the villages are depicted as almost slaves to the rich people running Mumbai. Do they have any choices? Are people fated to whatever lot in life they’ve been raised into? Are they either rich OR poor? While Anu is attempting to live her life from a more contemporary perspective, Prabha seems rooted in tradition. The latter isn’t necessarily a bad thing as is shown with another character, Parvaty (Chhaya Kadam), who is disillusioned with the city and returns to her life in the village.
The film doesn’t try to take sides in its observations about both worlds. Instead Kapadia is suggesting that whether fates can be changed or not there is light wherever we choose to find it and we should try to embrace it.
All We Imagine as Light played at the Chicago International Film Festival. It opens today in limited U.S. cities. It will screen at the Gene Siskel Center in Chicago beginning November 22nd.
FILM: ALL WE IMAGINE AS LIGHT
DIRECTED BY: PAYAL KAPADIA
STARRING: KANI KUSRUTI, DIVYA PRABHA, CHHAYA KADAM
RATING: 3 ½ out of 4 stars
By Dan Pal
Earlier this year All We Imagine as Light became the first Indian film in thirty years to screen in competition at the Cannes Film festival. It would go on to win one of its top prizes, the Grand Prix. Unfortunately for fans of the film, it wasn’t selected by India to serve as its submission for this year’s Best International Film Oscar. The reasoning is a bit unclear as many are touting it as not only one of India’s best films but one of the best films of the year period. I may not go quite that far in my assessment but it is a very accomplished and well-themed film with a couple of terrific performances.
Written and directed by Payal Kapadia, the film concerns two nurses who room together in a very modest apartment in Mumbai as the narrative slowly builds towards its eventual central concern. Prabha, played by Kani Kusruti, is the more traditional of the two women. She is part of an arranged marriage but she hasn’t seen her husband in over a year as he works in Germany. Prabha is very serious minded compared to Anu, played by Divya Prbha. Visually, she is often framed in darker rooms with lower levels of light than Anu is. Anu is a bit of a free spirit and is sexually involved with a Muslim named Shiaz. (This may have been why India didn’t select the film.) She has no interest in the custom of arranged marriages. Her approach to life is much more modern than Prabha’s is and her personality confirms this even if her circumstances might be only a bit brighter than Prabha’s.
The two get along pretty well but they are part of the larger dichotomy that Kapadia seems to be exploring throughout the film. There’s a train outside the women’s apartment which takes many workers to and from Mumbai to their respective villages. The lifestyle in each setting is very different. Mumbai, with its modern buildings and sensibilities, stands in contrast to the villages that Prabha and Anu are from. It’s of course a quieter and more humble life there that believes in the culture’s traditions. Older structures are being demolished and modern thought is being infused into the perspective of younger people such as Anu.
However, the film goes even wider with this sense of disparity. The people coming to work from the villages are depicted as almost slaves to the rich people running Mumbai. Do they have any choices? Are people fated to whatever lot in life they’ve been raised into? Are they either rich OR poor? While Anu is attempting to live her life from a more contemporary perspective, Prabha seems rooted in tradition. The latter isn’t necessarily a bad thing as is shown with another character, Parvaty (Chhaya Kadam), who is disillusioned with the city and returns to her life in the village.
The film doesn’t try to take sides in its observations about both worlds. Instead Kapadia is suggesting that whether fates can be changed or not there is light wherever we choose to find it and we should try to embrace it.
All We Imagine as Light played at the Chicago International Film Festival. It opens today in limited U.S. cities. It will screen at the Gene Siskel Center in Chicago beginning November 22nd.