Gamperaliya

No cinema springs from a social and a cultural vacuum All cinemas bear the imprint of the society , culture and the movement of history that gave rise to them . SriLankan cinema is no exception . "Kadawunu Poronduwa"the first SriLankan film also had shown the rudiments of a film culture . Gamperaliya won the Grand Prix ( Golden peacock) at the international film festival held in India New Delhi. The Jury comprised Lindsay Anderson, Andrew Wajda, Georges Sadoul and Satyajit Ray, commended it for the poetry and sensitivity with which it explores and illuminates personal relationships . This film opened up a new cultural space with immense possibilities . Though vividly realized characters the film deals with the collapse of the feudal social order and the emergence of the middle class.

Kaisaruwatte Mudliar and Matara Hamine are both husband and wife, and they represent the decaying social order . Nanda is their second daughter . Clearly the family has had better days . Piyal is a young and an attractive teacher who is entrusted to conduct English tuition to Nanda. Piyal belongs to an inferior social class . Although Nanda is attracted to Piyal , Marriage is out of question since wide social gap that exist between both families . Instead Nada marries Jinadasa , a man who has the approval of Nanda's Parents. her married life undergoes hardships and problems. As their economic plight declines, Jinadasa ( Gamini Fonseka) resolves to leave home and search for a better livelihood. Then Jinadasa dies in a far rural village as a penniless fellow. After sometime Piyal and Nanda get married . Lester converts this story into a film that carries complete conviction . Martin Wickramasinghe published this novel in 1945 , Prof. Ediriweera Sarachchandra most eminent literary critic of the time praised the novel for authentic depiction of the peasant society . When Lester James Peiris'Gamperaliya was made Srilankan society was experiencing a social revolution that had deep rooted implications for the lives of the generality of the people. The year 1956 marked an important landmark in the developmental trajectory of the Srilankan society . S.W.R.D. Bandaranayake was swept into power in large mandates and that was decided to eliminate the residual elements of the colonial structure and apparatus . He put in place an administration that made Sinhalese the official language of the country and the language of higher education . Mainly western-Based elite that dominated Srilankan society had given way to an indigenous elite that was rooted in traditional culture and heritage . Gamperaliya was the first of a trilogy that sought , in terms of conscious literary art , to chart the rise of the middle class in Srilanka and possible decay and the inexorable influence of urbanization . Lester ,made two films out of the other two as well. Namely, Kaliyugaya ( Age of Kali 1983), and Yugaanthaya( End of an era 1985.) Both films were produced by Vijaya Ramanayake for Tharanga films . Devaka S. Jayasuriya , 90 Old Kesbawa Road Nugegoda