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| Wednesday, 22 September 2004 |
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Films, books and music
As far as I know, the American Centre, Alliance Francaise, the ICES,
Vibhavi and other cultural institutions in Colombo periodically screen
some outstanding American, French and International films for the delight
of its viewers. Please allow me to digress a little. Since the late 1950s, I had been seeing a lot of films - Continental, American and Indian (Thamil, Hindi, Bengali, Marathi) and of course Sri Lankan (Sinhala and Thamil). The Colombo Film Society (the late L. O. de Silva was the livewire of the society), Cinema Sixteen Society (the late Murali Jayadeva - formerly S. Muralitharan - and the late Neil I. Perera were the men behind the society), the Film Critics and Journalists Association (some leading personalities in the arts circles were its members), the German Cultural Institute, the embassies of Italy, Sweden, Poland, Czechoslovakia, Iran, India and also other embassies and consulate in Colombo and also Ashley Ratnavibushana's Film Society - all these have contributed to the understanding and appreciation of film culture in the island.
Apart from the legendary Lester James Peries and his spouse Sumithra Peries, there are one or two other filmmakers in Sinhala, who have received international acclaim. So, there is a lively interest in good cinema by discerning Sri Lankans. Even some politicians like the late T. B. Illangaratna were following a course in film script writing conducted by the then Sri Lanka Film Corporation when moviemaker, D. B. Nihalsinha was at the helm. I too followed this course conducted only in the Sinhala medium though I was not very proficient. It was enthusiasm that drove me to learn about this visual art. FTTI Let me brag about myself a little: Courtesy, the Indian High Commission in Colombo, I was one of the three Lankan students, in 1990, following a Film Appreciation Course at the famous Pune Film and Television Training Institute of India (FTTI).
It was a new world that opened out for me. Watching in full a few and also as clippings many shots in important films, numbering more than 200 gave an insight into discriminating good cinema from the box office movies. These were illustrations beautifully and lucidly explained by P. K. Nair, Chabla and Bhahadur and other academics and filmologists and filmmakers themselves. Upon my return to Sri Lanka after weeks of intensive learning, I began to view films from a different angle. Now, I became a little familiar with the technical aspects of the film and filmmaking and the structure, texture and the treatment of themes in films. Earlier I used to review Thamil films for the Ceylon Observer when one of the best Asian journalists, Denzil Pieris was its editor. I was also reviewing all language films for the Thamil Service of the then Radio Ceylon, a long with Muralitharan. I used to write film columns and articles on South Indian playback singers in the now defunct Cinefilms, published by Cinema's Limited (its editors were A. R. Asirwatham and M. D. Jesuratnam, who later became judges) and Ceylon Cinema edited by K. Yogarajah. These fortnightlies were published in English in the late 1950s. I also wrote about Thamil film music, musicians and music directors in Thamil in the Virakesari and the Thinakaran. I also wrote to Thamil Cinema, a critical film fortnightly in Thamil published in Chennai, edited by A. Careem, a vituperative critic of cheap Thamil films of yesteryears. The re-education at Pune, changed my methods of understanding and reviewing films. At the end of the course at the Film and Television Training Institute in the salubrious Pune in Mahrashtra state in India, I was asked to make the valedictory speech on behalf of all participants which numbered more than sixty. I did that and the following day the Times of India (Mumbai edition) flashed it with the photograph that a Sri Lankan was a participant in the course generally reserved for Indian students. I was happy on behalf of my country. IFFI And subsequently from 1991 to 1997, the directorate of the International Film Festivals of India (IFFI) invited me to the annual prestigious film festival offering me 10 days hospitality. These festivals were held in New Delhi, Kolkatta, Mumbai, Chennai, Bangalore, Hyderabad and Thruvananthapuram - mega cities in India.
I accepted this kind offer and enjoyed watching international films and learning more. The pleasure of meeting, chatting, learning from famous film personalities all around the world was in itself an education. The acquaintance gained by meeting the real arty film makers from India was another profitable endeavour. My reports and reviews of the films I saw at the festivals for seven years had appeared in the Ceylon Observer, Sunday Times TV Magazine, Sunday Leader, Daily Mirror and since I write in Thamil also, they appeared in the Thinakaran, and the Virakesari. I also reviewed these films in Thamil over the SLBC. The moving image Utilizing my updated knowledge on Cinema, I wrote a little book in Thamil and tried to explain the grammar of cinema and approaches to understanding and enjoying serious films. It was really on film criticism. The title of the book was Asaiyum Padimangal (The Moving Images). There was an excellent book by an American drama and film critic, Gassner, titled The Moving Image. The cover of my book included a photograph I had taken with Lanka-born major film director in India, Balu Mahendra, who himself is a graduate of the Pune Film Institute majoring in Cinematography. My book was the first of its kind in Thamil to be written in this country. It was well received by reviewers and serious readers. Thank you for reading the above even if it was concerning me. I just wanted to put the records in order and also as passing information on unknown facts. Shyamalan Night On my visit to the U.S. in April 2002, I passed through Singapore, Taipei (Taiwan) and Los Angeles and then reached Cincinnati in Ohio state. At the California state capital's international airport I had to wait for a few hours before I boarded a plane to my place of destination. Among those awaiting the planes to their respective destinations was an Asian. He appeared to be an Indian by his features and complexion, but his dress was clearly a typical American's garments - jeans, T-shirt, sports shoes, 'mod' hair style. Seeing him I wanted to smile with him and I did. He responded with a polite nod and a flashy smile. At the same time he did not pay any special attention to me. I was curious and willingly opened a conversation with him. He was polite, courteous and pertinent in his conversation with me. Without any formal introduction we chatted on the passersby, talked about western lifestyles, fellow passengers of different ethnic backgrounds, literature, films, women, sex etc. He spoke with a heavy American accent of which I tried to figure out the words. I could speak English only the way I learnt it. And yet we could communicate to each other. It was time for me to take my place, so I bade him goodbye. He was flying to Toronto in Canada. Little did I realize that I had a rare opportunity to interview a Hollywood celebrity. Had I known this before, I could have had a scoop for a film page in a newspaper in Sri Lanka in the form of an interview. But I missed out on that. It was only later that I discovered from the Entertainment Weekly's photograph of this artist that this personality was in fact Shyamalan Night. He is an Indian (Karnataka) born successful Hollywood filmmaker. He was travelling incognito. Knowledgeable readers among us will recall that Shyamalan hit the headlines even in prestigious newspapers and magazines in the U.S. with his film The Sixth Sense. It was a thriller featuring Bruce Willis and Samuel Jackson. This was made in 1999. Then he gave us the next film called Unbreakable. I missed out on that. Was it shown here? Probably you have seen both these films. His new film is called The Village. This 34 year old Shyamalan is fond of making supernatural thrillers. I have personally no fancy for this type of films and yet I would like to see them as to learn how it figures out as a film crafted well. The Village is reported to be an old-fashioned ghost story, inspired by Wuthering Heights by Emile Bronte. The film stars Bryce Dallas Howard and Joaquin Phoenix. The actresses' father is a film director, Rom Howard, who had won Oscars Shyamalan is inspired by Stanley Kubrik and Peter Weir, two outstanding movie makers.Here is a quote from Shyamalan: "For me, the ability to judge a director is from their tone. My particular account that I speak in is suspense. If two people are having a conversation, my mind will immediately go to doing it in a way that creates a little ticking clock inside you." On Fear, he has this to say: "Fear is the unknown. The definition of fear is what you do not know. We feel scared of the woods because we are not familiar with it." JBD's book in Thamil Prof. Emeritus of the University of Colombo, J.B. Disanayaka is a respected academic. A specialist in linguistics, he is also interested in all fields of the arts. He can read and write Thamil, but he doesn't really understand what he reads in Thamil. However, he is particular in seeing that his book reaches the Thamil reader as well. He is interested in progress towards a 'culture of peace'. This is an excerpt from his project of writing, particularly for the children: "A culture of peace is everyone's dream these days. Such a culture can be brought about not by wars or by laws, but by building bridges of understanding among the peoples who live here. What the fonder fathers of the UNESCO said in their preamble is prophetic: "Since war begins in the minds of men, it is the minds of men that defences of peace must be constructed. "How true it is. To tell other communities the creative genius and the wisdom of the Sinhalayas, two series of books for children have been inaugurated. They are called Once Upon a time, and Wisdom of the Folk How Gramala went to Heaven, Mahadenamuththa (The Wise Man who knew everything), Andare (The Court Jester), Avichchiya and the Peacock, The Sun Moon and Paddy come under Once Upon a Time. The other series, Wisdom of the Folk includes The Pumpkin Thief, The Seven Andis and their Porridge and King Kekilla and his Judgement. These folk tales are based on popular proverbs of the Sinhalayas. These books are published in Sinhala, English and Thamil. Beautifully and fittingly illustrated by Sybil Wettasinghe, who has done a tremendous service in promoting books for children. The books are very appealing in appearance. Village Wisdom - 1 is called Poosani Thirudan in Thamil. The suitable translation is by Sarojini Devi Arunachalam, who has produced some excellent translations into Thamil. The book is available from Sumitha Books. Telephone: 2764441. The Thamil word for pumpkin is poosani. While the book cover spells the word correctly, in the text the word is spelt wrong. This should be corrected in the next edition. Also, the correct word for the computer is kanini, but the word given is kanani. This word means calculator. So this too should be corrected. The young ones can readily read and understand these stories. Mystic Harp 2 I was listening to beautiful harp music the other day. It's from a CD titled Mystic Harp 2. I am not sure whether this CD is available in Colombo. But you can get it down by e-mailing music@clarity sound. com Sailing the Blue Sea is music in the Celtic tradition by Donald Waters. And the harpist is Dereck Bell. He belongs to the music group "The Chieftains", who had won the Grammy Award five times. Dereck has earlier produced Mystic Harp 1. There are 20 Celtic melodies on the harp. The total running time of the CD is nearly 72 minutes. Enjoy. Contact: [email protected] **** Back **** |
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Produced by Lake House |
There I re-learnt the grammar of Cinema. It was an awesome experience
for me. I met some experienced film art lecturers in India and also some
intellectuals of that country coming from various parts of the
subcontinent. They had primary disciplines as professionals and yet wanted
to learn the art and substance of this magic phenomenon called the Cinema.
