AZMAISH: A JOURNEY THROUGH THE SUBCONTINENT - BFI LFF 2017 Preview

AZMAISH: A JOURNEY THROUGH THE SUBCONTINENT is a searing, provocative and deeply relevant documentary about the demise of liberal humanism in India and the rise of the Hindu-fascism.  It contrasts this with the parlous state of Pakistan - a failed state dominated by an uneasy balance of militarism and Islamism that didn't even have the luxury of decades of Nehru-ism that India at least benefited from.  Both countries now have a political discourse driven by discriminating against the Other, and are united in expressing this through the subjugation of women - an ironic commonality.  The brave documentary who chronicles this slide into extremism is Sabiha Sumar, a child of Partition who grew up in Pakistan with her father's memories of liberal India.  She takes her journey with Bollywood and arthouse actress Kalki Koechlin, as they move from articulate but petrifying dinner table conversations in Mumbai to feudal rural Pakistan. The over-riding conclusion is that India is wilfully throwing away its inheritance of liberal democracy in favour of Hindu populism, and they aren't afraid to point out that the ruling party has its own funded militant violent thugs, akin to the SS. And, as Kalki points out, if a new generation is raised in segregation, rather than in the diverse communities of the past, learning to hate from the cradle, "then we really are screwed".  By contrast, the  problems of Pakistan seem like a more acute version of the same - deep political corruption and an in-state terrorist organisation - the Taliban.   As I watched this brilliant and brave film, I kept thinking of all the parallels with the Europe and the USA today - not just the obvious populist vote for Trump - but the degradation of liberal discourse - as much from the Left as the Right.  A Hindu fascist argues in this documentary that critics of the new Indian government argue that the quality of discourse in parliament has gone down - but then that was only ever the discourse of the liberal elite and didn't reflect the concerns of the uneducated masses. We are seeing something of the same in the West today - the increased distrust of the learned expert, and the very institutions that underpin our democracy.  And in the segregation of communities into the vegetarian building or the Hindu building or the Muslim building aren't we seeing a reflection of the liberal Left's fight for "safe spaces" and the protests against dissenting speech on campus?  Apparently all diversity is good except diversity of thought.  In the closing moments of this film, the director also makes the link to the rise of populism in the West. And I wondered why there weren't more films addressing this in the LFF line-up and being thankful for this one. I've long since been petrified by the slide of India into extremism and finally we have a spotlight onto this vitally important issue.  That said, far be it for us to be complacent when we suffer from so many of the same problems. This is a must see movie.

AZMAISH: A JOURNEY THROUGH THE SUBCONTINENT has a running time of 85 minutes. The film played Toronto 2017.  Tickets are still available for one of the screenings at the BFI London Film Festival.

London Film Fest 2011 Day 10 - TRISHNA

Freida Pinto stars as Trishna in Michael Winterbottom's loose
adaptation of Hardy's Tess of the Durbevilles.

TRISHNA is a fascinating, intelligent film about a relationship turned sour on the back of withheld secrets and unequal material power, centred on Freida Pinto's first performance of real merit. 

She plays a poor, naive village girl called Trishna - who in her society is simply a commodity to earn to support her family, and conditioned to obey. A chance meeting with a rich young man, Jay (Riz Ahmed, FOUR LIONS), prises her away from her family and strict values. They approximate the life of two lovers in the freeing atmosphere of big city Mumbai. Given the differences in their social status, it is a measure of Jay's belief that he loves Trishna, that he's willing to broach the subject of marriage, but the revelation of secrets and the return to a cloying small-town hotel serve to subtly alter their relationship, step by step, into one of master-servant, and sexual exploitation, with alarming results. 

What I loved about the film was how it was able to show the drastically increasing imbalance of power in the relationship with a few elegant, economical scenes. There is very little straightforwardly scripted dialogue. Characters' actions, positions, tell us everything. Jay is rarely shown other than supine on a chair or bed, waiting for his dinner to be served to him. Trishna seems to turn within herself, visibly shrinking as the film progresses, trapped in her material dependence on Jay and her shame at her sexual history. I also loved how writer-director Michael Winterbottom didn't feel the need to show Trishna's accusers as a gaggle of villagers or hotel workers scandalised by her situation. Her emotional distress, her shame, her sense of betrayal and entrapment, is all in her own mind, and expressed by Freida Pinto in a quiet, sensitive performance. I also loved Winterbottom's willingness to simply observe everyday Indian life - a side of India rarely shown in glitzy Bollywood movies. DP Michael Zyskind's (28 DAYS LATER) evocative images of Rajasthan and Mumbai show what can be achieved with high quality DV (in sharp contrast to yesterday's MARTHA MARCY MAY MARLENE).

That said, there are some small quibbles. In the Mumbai section, I'm not sure what the cameos of director Anurag Kashyap and actress Kalki Koechlin really add. Also, I'm not sure this film should be marketed as an adaptation of Hardy's "Tess of the Durbervilles". I spent the whole film being teased into believing that a Hardy character or situation was being introduced only to realise that Winterbottom wasn't going to take the film in that direction. His adaptation contains clever elisions and contemporarises the story intelligently. But what you end up with is a quite different beast - particularly in the character of Tess/Trishna. I would suggest that by far the best way to enjoy and appreciate this film is, then, to take it on its own terms.

TRISHNA played Toronto and London 2011.