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| Thursday, 06 January 2005 |
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Film Review : Randiya Dahara (Shower of Gold) Randiya Dahara is the finest film Udayakantha Warnasuriya has made to date. It happens to be his eighth and latest feature film. His mastery of the art of the film, the creative montage of moving images and sounds to convey meaning, is now complete. Given the galaxy of famous stars in Randiya Dahara - Geetha Kumarasinghe, Kamal Addaraarachchi, Jackson Anthony, Sanath Gunathilake, Tony Ranasinghe, Jeevan Kumaratunga, Mahendra Perera, Henry Jayasena, Anula Karunatilake - directing the players must have been excruciatingly embarrassing for him. Rehearsing them would have been quite superfluous. Unsurprisingly, the film is a consummately acted piece. Even the child star (Asantha Pieris) making his debut, plays his part with such enchanting skill, that one feels he must have somehow believed that what he was experiencing in the world of film was real life. Context The context in which the film is set is the long-drawn-out, low-intensity conflict in our country. UW seems to know the life of the social groups directly affected by the war, like he knows the back of his hand. This gives the screenplay he wrote for the film he also directed an authenticity which is palpable. In view of all of the above, his main as director must have been to decide how each shot in the film was to be taken. And given the proven "photogenicity" of the stars -their chiselled faces and sundry mammalian endowments - deciding how each shot was to be taken must have also been a piece of cake. The happy outcome of this concourse of circumstances is that in Randiya Dahara UW presents to serious moviegoers a film that intelligently recounts with compassion and humour, the story of values in conflict in the war-torn society in which the film is set. War is hell That was is hell is a cliche. Cliche or not, for some war is truly hell. One such is the soldier superbly portrayed by Kamal Addaraarachi. When we first encounter him in the film, he is a soldier classified as "missing in action" and assumed to be dead. Current military rules entitle the wife of a soldier killed in action to a substantial sum of money by way of compensation. If he is unmarried, then, it is his parents who are entitled to the money. How do paymasters ascertain whether a woman claiming to be the wife of a soldier presumed to be dead, is in fact his legal wife? Not by asking the soldier, of course. (The poignant high-point of the film is when Kamal A as soldier tells the world, that the woman (Geetha K) who dexterously masqueraded as his wife, is in fact his very own dear wife. But let me not jump the gun). The answer to the question I posed before the above digressions is that paymasters ascertain the veracity of such claims on the basis of documentary evidence. And as any parent who has got his child admitted to a prestigious national school knows (but will not tell) documentary evidence for almost anything under the sun in Sri Lanka can be manufactured for a price. People for whom war is a hell of a good time include women who claim to be wives of soldiers presumed to be dead; and men whose business it is to manufacture the documentary evidence required for substantiating such claims. Mistress In Randiya Dahara Geetha K plays the role of a lower middle-class woman who has fallen into the clutches of a violent, married, underworld guy (played to perfection by Jackson Anthony). To complicate matters, the mistress of the underworld guy, has a lovely little boy (played by little Asantha Pieris) sired by him. The guy worships his little bastard son. He batters his son's mother on the slightest provocation. He generally messes up things for her family by his rowdy behaviour. I cannot help remarking at this point, that mistresses in Sri Lanka do not seem to share any of the advantages enjoyed by the common law wife of Alfred Doolittle in George Bernard Shaw's play Pygmalion. Those familiar with that play written in 1912 will recall what Doolittle told Colonel Pickering when he advised Doolittle to marry his mistress: "I' m willing. It's me that suffers by it, I have no hold on her. I got to be agreeable to her. I got to give her presents...I'm a slave to that woman, Governor, just because I'm not her lawful husband". No such luck is enjoyed by the heroine in Randiya Dahara. To escape the clutches of the violent father of her son, she decides to go for employment to the Middle East. But to do that she needs money. She gets the money by successfully posing off as the wife of a soldier missing in action. However, she doesn't use that money at all. What, then, does she do with it? I should not give the game away. Let me simply say that according to a Hindu version of the story of creation, in creating woman God took of the beauty of the flowers, the song of the birds, the colours of the rainbow, the gentleness of the lamb, the cunning of the fox, the waywardness of the clouds, the fickleness of the shower - how can I name them all ? - and wove them together to create woman. Geetha K's portrayal of the principal character in this film substantiates the essential truth of that version of the creation of woman. The fate of the physically damaged and psychologically traumatized soldier in the film, proves the validity of Albert Camus's judgment that "woman is all we know of paradise on earth". Reaffirmation of faith In Randiya Dahara Udayakantha Warnasuriya holds the camera up to our current social reality and hints that for all its sordidness, cruelties, corruption and commercialism, nobility of human character has not yet been totally extinguished. For a reaffirmation of our faith in the fundamental goodness of human nature Randiya Dahara is well worth seeing. - Carlo Fonseka Orlantha Ambrose enriched the power of music The World of arts by Gwen Herat A young life was cut short by the cruel hand of fate. The blue ocean and her gentle swirling waters she loved and whose beauty she homaged on strings, was the very monster that snatched and snuffled out her life. While every single life is precious and treasured, there are some who touched the lives of others. Orlantha Ambrose was one such being. In Sri Lanka for a year on a musical journey from the USA, she performed at the Lionel Wendt few days before the calamity. A talented violinist at whose strings she excelled at concerts and performances both here and abroad, Orlantha was also a gifted pianist after having studied under reputed and brilliant music teachers in the USA. A music teacher herself Orlantha conducted classes at Wycherly International School but helped and organised musical troupes from other international schools around the island. She had a knack with children and able to identify their individual talent and nurture their gifts towards the right direction. She leaves hundreds of young musicians heart-broken and devastated whose hearts are swollen the void. They loved and adored their teacher. This gifted violinist, was not content confining her talents to concert halls or heaping laurels upon herself but was determined to impart its virtuosity and excellence to others, especially children. Simple but yet a powerful personality of music Orlantha touched the hearts of many with her laughter and kindness. Enriching young lives all the time, she was a devout teacher of her instrument and passionate by the sounds it produced. She heard them in the sea, the wind and in the cascading waterfalls. They were enough to inspire and motivate her strong fingers at the bow. Given the option, Orlantha could have even been a concert pianist but her passion lay within the folds of the strings of her instrument. Orlantha made studying the violin a joy for the youngsters who at the beginning feared whether they could handle this difficult musical instrument and there are many among them who will make it to the top but unfortunately their teacher would not be there when they cross the concert halls. She made them probe into their young hearts to find passion and power in every musical note and they became richer, wiser and lovely youngsters. She was their living example and they are bound to emulate. That should be their tribute to this wonderful teacher. Beethoven's emotional and spiritual music had always inspired Orlantha, especially in the field of string quartets. His scores such as Second Symphony Violin Sonatas Op 3, Symphony No.4 Violin Concerto and Violin Sonata No. 10 Op 96 were some of her favourites which she played often and as she joins this great Master in eternity, may she rest in peace. |
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