I had taken a resolution to watch, listen, read from artists or authors outside US, to get more wider perspective. Followed this resolution to finally blow through some of my long pending watchlist of movies from other countries with a Mubi subscription. Drive My Car (Japanese, felt it was a forced story), One Fine Morning (French – this one portrayed the anguish of the children, and helplessness of the parents towards the end of their lives), Aftersun (Scottish, bored me, but pulled at the heartstrings of quiet desperation of a father who couldn’t hold things together), Worst Person in the World (Norwegian, understood the need for someone to not get tied down or not settle, but felt pointless), Decision to leave (Korean – beautifully shot and sad), Past Lives (Korean/American – slow and confusing, the situation must have been painful, but it didn’t feel as much for me).
All these were leading me to a conclusion that it is so hard to depict true feelings of people going through hard fights throughout their lives, their momentary joys, anguish, dilemmas, and suffering. But then closer to home, watched a few films which I felt did better. Nanpakal nerathu mayakkam (Malayalam/Tamil, Netflix) – how would it feel if someone you thought were permanently lost came back in another avatar for a day. I felt the role of the widow in this film would have been the toughest, but it wasn’t explored much. Kaathal – the Core (Malayalam, Prime) – while it wasn’t perfect and sort of restrained, the openness of relationships despite the disagreements, silent acceptance of fate of life and leaving the destiny of oneself to others felt real. Three of Us (Hindi, Netflix) – beautifully shot and poetic, real difficult puzzle of a life problem and how three people would deal with it. Loved the transparency in the relationships and freedom to express the feelings however complex or embarrassing it maybe. Became a fan of Jaideep Ahlawat.
Yesterday someone told me, there is a web series based on the book, “Lessons in Chemistry”. I said no, I am good with the book. I didn’t want to spoil my mental image of that world and the experience of traveling with them, by seeing someone else’s interpretation of it. Then happened to see the below quote which perfectly expressed what I was feeling.
"In films, we are voyeurs, but in novels, we have the experience of being someone else: knowing another person's soul from the inside. No other art form does that. And this is why sometimes, when we put down a book, we find ourselves slightly altered as human beings. Novels change us from within." - Donna Tartt
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