By Harsha Gunasena
This is a view but not a review of the 105 minutes movie,
Let her cry- ‘Age esa aga’- by Asoka Handagama and his usage of sexuality in
the movie.
I can remember the struggle I had to view the movie, This is
My Moon- ‘Me mage sandai’- directed by Asoka Handagama about fifteen years
back. The movie was not released as usual to the distribution channel but shown
as a stage play at various occasions. Finally
I managed to view the film at the French Cultural Centre-Alliance Francaise.
The fate of his latest movie, Let her cry, seems to be little better since it
was released to the distribution channel for a short period in between two
regular films so that a short running period is estimated. Handagama may have
his own valid reasons for this but as a filmgoer I expressed my displeasure to
him at the lobby of the Regal Theater soon after watching the film show, Let
her cry.
The movie Let her cry was read by different people in
different ways. Handagama portrays the gap between the reality and the fantasy
of a husband and that of a wife and the inter-relationship and ripple effects
of those. He uses sexuality to express this effectively. The synopsis of the movie
given in the website of Kolkata International Film Festival is as follows.
“A university Professor appears to be having an affair with
a young female student; his behavior threatening the carefully established
routines of his middle class family. Through their unusual correspondence, the
student keeps the professor’s wife informed of the affair and activities. The
professor seems torn and confused as he at times denies and then admits to
seeing the girl. The wife caught in the middle is not sure what to believe. The
young student claims she is willing to die for their love and wants the
Professor at any cost. As her carefully composed life starts to unravel, the
wife makes the ultimate decision: she brings the girl home to live with them.
‘He’ is a man of the post-modern world who cannot be a true lover and must
therefore live out the routines of a good, decent and responsible professor and
father.”
In day to day life from moment to moment we deal not with
the real persons but with the images we have of them. Therefore any
relationship is not real but a relationship between two images. This image created in the minds of the people
blocks the real understanding of the other person which has to be done from
moment to moment since nothing is permanent. A so-called good person can be a
so-called bad person in the very next moment. In fact good and bad are just
relative terms. Hence reading the life of one’s own or of another person is bit
of a cumbersome job. It is not as easy as a dealing by one image with another.
The university Professor in the movie portrayed by renowned
Bengali actor Dhritiman Chatterjee helps a young university student portrayed
by Rithika Kodithuwakku, a new talented actress, in financial terms. Later he was
forced by her for a love affair. In sub-conscious mind he likes it but in
conscious mind he rejects it. The details of this ‘affair’ was reported by the
student to the wife of the professor portrayed by Swarna Mallavarachchi, a best
in class actress in yesteryear. In the synopsis it was mentioned that the
professor seemed torn and confused as he at times denied and then admitted to
seeing the girl. He denied since he did not have any such affair and he
admitted since in fact he visited the girl and in the sub-conscious mind he
liked to have an affair with her.
As a result not only the professor but also the wife seemed
torn and confused. The end result was that the wife brought the girl home which
was an unusual act and to which the professor objected. The answer of the wife
was that if the professor keeps on vising the girl it was not good for the
professor and for the girl as well. What the wife did in reality was appeared
to be detrimental to her marriage and her sub-conscious was badly in need of
the continuance of the marriage. In contrast to this in reality the professor
did not have a real affair with the girl although in his sub-conscious mind he
was in need of it. He has not put his mental defilement in to practice.
The behavior of the wife was non-emotional and in
understanding of the situation faced quite in contrast to the behavior of any
other ordinary wife. This was depicted in the incident towards the end of the
movie where a wife of a politician physically attacked a woman who supposed to
have an affair with her husband at a temple premises in front of the monk, the
devotees and her husband.
The wife hated the girl and at the same time she was
compassionate to her and enjoyed her company. The girl stayed in the home of
the professor and left after few days. After she left and soon after the wife
and the daughter portrayed by Sandali Ash, left to the temple, professor was in
a fantasy enjoying sex with the girl. He used the scent bottle left by the
girl. After arriving from the temple wife and the daughter asked the professor
whether the girl came back sensing the smell of the scent. Professor said no
which the reality was. Then at the bed sensing
the smell of the scent in his body, wife asked professor whether the girl came.
He answered yes which was the fantasy.
Handagama used sexuality effectively to portray this duality
of the mind. Previously in the movie, Flying with one wing- Thani thatuven
piyambanna- as well he used sexuality effectively. A girl portrayed as a boy
throughout her life and got married as a man.
She worked in a garage as a man and one day her workmates discovered
that she was a woman. A large group of people were shouting in front of her
house. Finally she comes out of the house slowly with her ‘wife’ but fully
naked. Protesters disappeared one by one. I was in the audience viewing the
movie and had a strong feeling of leaving without watching that seen further.
That was the most effective film frame I have ever seen in a movie and the most
effective way of using sexuality in a movie- distraction in attraction.
Let her cry is an interesting movie which widens the
horizons of the audience rather than providing light entertainment. Therefore
if the crowd wants to watch it let them watch.
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