Rekava

This was my second insight into Lester James Peries filmography with the first being, Baddegama (1980). I have just seen it once, many years back but I still remember it with fascination. The girl saving the deer sequence, local mysticism, the villagers conflict, shots of the wildlife and the devil in the climax. While having some similar elements, Rekava (1956) is considered his best work and I wanted to share my thoughts on this masterpiece. At that time when Sinalese cinema was confined to melodrama, following a regular formula, replete with over-the-top antics and over emphasis on spectacles and stars. Lester despised sing along and reversed the trend, he created Rekava which portrayed reality from an aesthetic perspective. The film made international headlines, unfortunately not recognised in its time as it usually happens with all great art masterpiece. Anyway, it was a real relief from the duplicate distributed from the gaudy sets of popular melodramatic Indian movies at the time. The majority of Indian parallel cinema had only one thing to do, marketing and overselling poverty for the sake of realism and film festival awards. Also, I feel Lester received much less critical attention than his Indian contemporaries.

Rekava shared all the regular ingredients with the popular cinema - like the emphasis on family values, melodrama, series of song-and-dance sequences. But the difference with Lester was his artistic vision comprised of strong humanism and visual lyricism that can be experienced in the climax of the film. Overall, I recommend it to anyone who are willing to explore Sinalese cinema and wants something more than yet another melodrama from the past.

Prior to the film Rekava Sri Lankan film songs were completely under the Indian influence.

The immortal songs of Rekava were able to escape that tradition.

The songs of the film Sandesaya reaffirmed this new trend of having Sri Lanka's own music and lyrics in film songs.

Songs for both these films were composed by Sunil Santha and still sung around the country.

Fr. Marcelline Jayakody wrote lyrics for the songs in Rekava.

Through the songs in this film a new set of young Sri Lankan singers were brought in to the limelight.

Even Lester James Peiris did not assume that "Rekava" will open up a whole new era in local film making . Lester after this made three films in sequence i.e "Golu Hadawatha", "Akkara Paha", and "Nidhanaya" for Ceylon Studios ( Then) The Cinema was born in 1875, according to historians , however its real claim to be taken seriously began in and around 1910 - 1915 that the first tentative steps were taken which assisted to make the cinema an independent form of artistic expression.

Now..... The story Rekava is set in rural SriLanka then Ceylon. The film starts with a tilt walker cum musician arriving in the village of Siriyala. He has with him a monkey who performs various antics for the amusement of the public. Two thugs of the village Siriyala try to rob him . Sena, a young boy from the village prevents the robbery . In gratitude , the tilt walker , who is also an accomplished palm reader , volunteers to read the boy's palm and predict the future . He says that Sena will become a famous healer and bring dignity to the village . It also occurs that one day , when Sena and his friend Anula are playing with a Kyte, Anula suddenly loses her eye sight . The village native doctor was unable to restore Anula's sight. Sena touches her eyes and miraculously Anula begins to see . As a result, Sena now gains a reputation in the village Siriyala as the boy with a magical touch . His father who is a felon , with the notorious money lender of the village, seek to exploit the situation for their monetary gains . They organize a healing campaign to impress the villagers . A rich land owner brings his son for treatment, but unfortunately , the boy dies. The villagers are outraged; they assume that it is Sena's fault . To make matters worse , the village of Siriyala undergoes a huge drought . However finally, Peace and tranquility return to the village of Siriyala. Many western based film critics in SriLanka found it to be a moving experience and a significant work of art. In most international film festivals such as Cannes, Edinburgh, Karlovy Vary this film was acclaimed and awarded. Music in this film is backed by the person who created an era in Sinhala Music , Late Mr. Sunil Santha . Lyrics were composed by Late Rev. Fr. Merciline Jayakody . Of which the songs are heard and praised even today and most probably in future generations as well. Sisira and Indrani Senaratne are the main vocalists. The next important land mark in the growth of Sinhalese Cinema is Lester James Peiris'"Gamperaliya"( Change of the village) made in 1965 based on the celebrated novel by the leading novelist of SriLanka Late Mr. Martin Wickramasinghe of Koggala Malalagama. Devaka S. Jayasuriya 90, Old Kesbawa Road Nugegoda