Disturbed and ashamed!
Last week I was lucky enough to catch a couple of Sri Lankan movies I had missed out on last year – Sudu, kalu saha alu (Sudath Mahadivulwewa) and Uduganyaamaya. Having seen them now, both rank very high in my personal favourites and kudos to the kid in the latter (I never got his name) whose performance was..well..fantastic..and that must be the understatement of the year!
Sudu, kalu saha alu revolves around about 15 characters who live in a border village in Sri Lanka. The director said, of the movie, “border village is a description novel to our vocabulary. Sri Lanka had never had a border till the war. And, of course, it now begs the question: whose border is this? The extremists say it is theirs. The Government says it is theirs… My focus is on those caught in between — the innocent, the individual, the family, none of whom know why they are the victims. The film also questions the behaviour of the Army. I, as a civilian, have a right to ask the question. ”
However, having sat through Sudu, kalu saha alu, at the Regal last Wednesday, a part of me wished I’d been smarter and had bought the dvd instead to watch at home instead of among the uncouth things who were sitting mere meters from me.. *shudder* while another part of me was glad I had now (quite rudely) been enlightened as to what an ugly society I am living in. Why? Because
1. There was a (rather long) “sex scene” (which consisted of a few kisses on the neck) that was greeted by a volley of whistles, catcalls and exaggerated kissing-noises by some audience members. This, I put down to a lot of immature youngsters in the crowd. Then there was a scene of a twelve year old girl, having “grown up”, being bathed with a jugful of jasmine petalled water..again the kissing noises and whistles. At a TWELVE year old girl. But as if the thought that there were paedophiles sitting a few inches away from me wasn’t disturbing enough..
2. One of the last scenes of the film was of the same twelve year old girl sobbing to her friend the story of her having been taken to Colombo as a servant by the head of an NGO and subsequently raped by the “master” of the house…she narrates, very child-like, ‘one day the nona went out and the master took me to a room and took all his clothes off and then made me take all my clothes off and then..and then..’ and trails off to break down sobbing.
How was THIS scene, of a child telling the story of being raped by an adult, greeted? You guessed it: lots and lots of whistles, cat calls and loud kissing noises. The word ‘disturbed’ doesn’t even start to express how I felt at that moment..
And for the first time in my life, I was really and truly ashamed of being a part of this society I live in.
11 comments so far
Leave a reply
I watched both those movies last year and I must say I was disappointed with Uduganyamaya because it managed to ruin a good storyline and drag it on unnecessarily.
About the second part of your post, I suppose being out of the country for a while is what made you get so distubed about the reactions of the audience. I don’t want to preach at those who don’t appreciate the depth of the messages conveyed by such films and be accused of being pretentious.
I think to a big extent it is the fault of the administration of the country and the board of film censorship because for as long as I can remember, they have never been able to draw the line between sex, nudity, etc in cheap, semi-porn films and sex, nudity, etc in films that deal with them on a higher level. Because of this, viewers have also come to consider both in the same way and respond in the same way.
Maybe I’m wrong but that’s what I thought off the top of my head.
maybe the darkened theatre gives these people a level of privacy and therefore immunity from social judgement (as individuals) to vent the thoughts that their society and culture has denied the very existance of; that now lie compressed in the darker reigons of their minds?
saw “sudu, kalu saha alu” in 2005. ( i think i blogged about it ). didn’t like it. too unrealistic and simplistic for a film pretending to be realistic. it also wallows in self pity and victimhood. and one does not feel any sympathy for the chractors ( in spite of director’s best effort to generate some ) who seem to have given up and lost all hope before the film starts and remain so.
btw where can one buy dvds of recent sinhala films?
-
never quite seen the kind of behavior you describe. usually ‘disturbances’ are limited to one or two catcalls and laughs. maybe it is the days and times i go to see films.
-
sach:
i don’t think it is right for a censorship board to decide what ‘high ‘ art and what is prurient. this kind of censorship ( if allowed at all ) should be purely technical with clear guidelines. ( as in frontal nudity – no, female breasts – yes, etc ) .
i think the behavior has more to do with certain cultural norms of sri lankans than anything else. sexuality is ‘unnaturally’ suppressed in the so called urban middle classes here. (not so with lower classes or in villages). hence the deviant behavior.
Hey
Did any of you have the priviledge of seeing Sankara? I thought it was by far one of the better films i’ve seen in ages.
Regards,
Sach: I actually really liked Uduganyaamaya and I thought the time was quite well managed overall, although there were some aspects which I thought may have been better left out.. :S I really want to see both movies again though before I give a proper review of them!
Re: what you’ve said that the disgusting reaction of some of the audience members is in some way related to not being exposed to things such as nudity and sex scenes..well, I’m afraid I can’t agree with that view. Sex scenes that attract cat calls, and the scene of a child narrating her rape attracting the same type of cacalls cannot, unfortunately, be blamed on any other force but having no moral standard at the most personal level. Rape is rape. A child is a child. Any one who doesn’t see that and can’t understand how wrong it is to get any gratification from that, or to make fun of it, cannot be excused by anything – not even absurd censorship rules. Does that make any sense? :S
And also, I wasn’t ashamed and disgusted by these reactions cos it was foreign to me in any way – I’ve been to see quite a few movies since I’ve been back and while I was on holidays here..but the difference with those movies, I suppose, was that there has always been only a handful of people in the audience when I went..hence there isn’t that “crowd” who seem to want to do each other out..I think!
Haren: I think you’re right in saying that the darkened theatre gives them some privacy and immunity from social judgement to vent their thoughts..but what i was disturbed by was exactly their thoughts.. it’s not a matter of someone jerking off at the hint of skin on a screen.. it’s rather a matter of someone sitting there thinking, a child talking of being raped, and connecting that to sex (between consenting individuals) and therefore reacting to the former as they would to the latter. And I’m not sure what you mean exactly when you say they were venting the “thoughts that their society and culture has denied the very existance of” cos then you, too, seem to be implying that a sex scene is the same thing as a rape scene..which doesn’t make sense for the reasons I’ve discussed in my reply above to Sach.
Sittingnut: I didn’t find Sudu, kalu saha alu too bad..though you’re right in saying that there were (some at least) characters that I couldn’t muster too much sympathy for..but I put that down to being hit with too many “victims” in one go..But, as I said above, I think I’d like to see both movies again before I review it properly..mainly cos I watched both movies straight after a full day of work with a semi-migraine in the back of my head..
And as I said above in my reply to Sach, my usual experience too has been a coupla catcalls/ laughs/ whistles for a skin/ kissing scene..never this sort..hence my surprise. And you saying that sexuality being unnaturally suprressed may cause this kind of bahaviour seems to leave one with the conclusion that a person is unable to distinguish between pleasure/ horror in reacting the same way to sex/ rape.. and since all of you – you, Sach & Haren – seem to be saying this..I’m tempted to believe that people (due to censorship) are now unable to distinguish between what is right and wrong.
Re: where to buy dvds of Sinhala films: I usually go to Vibrations (the one on Union Place..IN union place?? :S)..but I’ve been told there’s a better collection/ range at Toranas.. If you manage to get a copy of Ira Madiyama at either of these places..PLEASE let me know..cos I can’t seem to get my hands on a copy! :’(
Negligible Minorist: A brand new blogger?? Welcome!
And yes, I watched Sankara and really wish I’d got a chance to watch it again!! There are so many layers to that movie..the more I think about it, the more I’m amazed..and that makes me wonder how many other possible layers I may have missed out on so far!! In under 2 hours it managed to deal with the dichotomies of modernity/ tradition; attachment/ non-attachment; pleasure/ non-pleasure (neutrality?) and the conscious/ sub-conscious.. Anything else you picked up that I’ve missed out on?
hello, friend from small world
SLkan cinema etiquette, can’t beat it. I was in ampara couple of years back watching one shot (don’t ask), and in one scene, an old woman, 50+ did a comical dance (she was imitating CBK i think) in full sari, and the crowd went wild! major hooting and cheering and whistling. I’m not even going talk about the reaction when anarkali made an appearence 
however it does still disturb me that that need for an outlet has left people with a worrying inability to distinguish between ‘right’ and ‘wrong’ :-s
Agreed in principle.
but jeering and cheering in a theatre is not ‘rational’ behaviour to begin with – so it seems reasonable for me to assume that these peoples reactions would never have been influenced by a rational thought process or a deeper understanding of sexuality or sexual expression. The problem is the very fact that they do not have a clear understanding of sexuality and sexual expression.
i am trying to make a difficult point so forgive me if I take up some space here.
Our culture – for better or for worse – suppresses the topic of sexuality or at least has ignored it. it’s difficult to debate whether it is a good thing or a bad thing without considering the background and context.
Let me make my point with a few examples. From a fairly young age, we learn/are taught to appreciate the our historical art works such as the Sigiriya frescos which are open and tasteful in their expression of sexuality. We see great examples on how even a devout Buddhist priest can appreciate and engage in expressions of sexuality in works like the “Selalihini Sandeshaya”, without corrupting his conscience or the mind of the reader – but rather do it most tastefully and with dignity and respect for the subject.
But for some reason that I cannot understand, our society has lost ground in its cultural progress where the masses (not so much the well-read or ‘educated’) hardly see any good (as in tasteful, respectful) modern examples of sexual expression. One would expect a public outcry when the police arrest young couples by the Kandy Lake – just for holding hands or being seated together on a public bench; you get ‘elders’ in society endorsing such brutal invasions of privacy and personal liberty – let alone all else! So as immature and uncivilised as it is, why should I be surprised that people would jeer at a sex scene or show a lack of judgement in being unable to differentiate between appropriate and inappropriate forms of sexual expression – all in the safe and un-judgemental darkness of a theatre? Honestly?
And we keep wondering if they’ll ever grow up..