Sankara: Invitation to experience spiritual depth
E. M. G. Edirisinghe
CINEMA: The impact made by Sankara has been universally
acclaimed. People with a long history behind them are traditionally and
spiritually enriched. The essence of tradition is instilled in the
social life of the people while the spiritual content is contained in
the principles of religion they follow.
Prasanna Jayakody goes in search of this spiritual content and boldly
accepts the test to explore the area which has escaped the respect of
many filmmakers.
Sankara depicts a marvellous fusion of visual images, and meaningful
sounds which enhance its quality. It gives an unusual depth to the film.
Youthful monk Ananda is striving to realise his spiritual
emancipation; but he finds himself in collision with sensual pleasures
arising within his own self. Committed to a code of discipline laid by
the religion he finds himself under pressure from the subconscious which
stimulates him to stray into shades of pleasure inherent deep down in
man.
The young monk’s moral strength to withstand intrusion of passions
that could distance him from the path of purity takes him to
emancipation from worldly pleasures. This reflects the struggle he has
to make.
Sparingly and occasionally used terse dialogues are reflective of
mental introspection made in the study of disturbing and distracting
inclinations of fomenting the subconscious of the monk. Economical use
of the spoken word moulds the characters to translate their inner
feelings more forcefully into expressions with greater energy.
There are no recitals or utterances to take away the intensity of
persistent feelings internally aroused or externally provoked. However,
the sounds produced, natural as well as artificial, together with the
human voice are often played unusually loud. It suggests that what is
unspoken is louder and stronger than what is spoken.
Extensive use of the sound at turns of events and changes in
feelings, transmits that the personal and environmental pulse taking
effect is stronger and more elusive than what the naked eye or the ear
sees or hears.
Each visual frame scripted and captured within enhances the
reverberating sound that makes communication of inner feelings more
effective. When the village girl sees the young monk picking up the
hair-pin, we are made to hear a loud scraping sound of the temple wall.
This shows how strongly it hit his subconscious, a feeling which he
wishes to suppress but was unconsciously giving into it for the light
sensual pleasure it produces.
A lithe feminine figure creates a sense of sexuality. Naturally, the
village girl cannot believe that a young monk would paint nude pictures
of women and questions how far it was morally correct.
This scene tells in that purity or impurity of the mind stems from
the intention with which a particular act is performed. Thus the
filmmaker with the stroke of a single sentence breathes life into the
Bhikku Vagga in Buddhism.
The girl makes a request from him to draw her own picture as well,
but on paper. Later his subconscious compels him to draw her picture,
but later his conscious mind induces him to crush it. Painting the
figure of a woman itself is no sin.
His chief monk says that it is only the attachment to anything
sensuous or material that drives the mind to stray from the desired
concentration. The young monk however, has resolved to remain detached
from worldly comforts and to honour the code of ethics he has vowed to
follow, under the supervision of the senior monk.
The young monk is compelled to discipline himself and to stay
detached from feelings arising in the subconscious.
The imposing opening scene of the film encompasses the vision of
co-existence and integration of both the material and spiritual content
in man. Through this vast stretch of cultivated land runs a clear
straight road into which a monk the sole spiritual symbol of the rural
folk.
However, the luxurious growth of the plantation is in total contrast
with the village temple in disrepair which shows the collapse of
religious piety and the surrender of the villager to material gains.
Yet, the elevated status of spirituality it enjoys is figured in
locating the temple right on a hillock much above the materialism that
reigns below among laymen.
The chief monk of the temple is symbolical of a monk’s capacity and
maturity to reach the status of detachment. The material world is only a
flat form to keep oneself alive to pursue a goal of higher spiritual
standing. The village girl represents physical flexibility which entices
the young monk back to the temple.
She succeeds in enticing him back to the temple. The monk’s decision
to return to repaint the murals marks the triumph of the subconscious.
It symbolically enlightens that both Devadaththa (sinner) and the
Bodhisatva (righteousness) live within the same man. However, the
eternal conflict between attachment and detachment one has to bear will
continue to persist and torment until man realizes total emancipation.
Sankara is enlightening and absorbing. It is enigmatic like Mona Lisa
and captivates like the Sigiri fresceos.
Commitment to honour the religious code of discipline is externally
manifested by the yellow robe. The young monk is involuntarily pushed
into mental anguish with the passions within, yearning to get the better
of him there by frustrating his mission to reach spiritual perfection.
Incidentally the inconclusive end of the film tells the viewer that
the limitless nature of samsara (cycle of being) which is a process of
repeating the same error over and over again.
The cinematic narrative of Prasanna feeds the viewer with a stream of
thoughts which begins to rotate within him giving the effect of what is
being and rebeing. This is a film which one would relish to see became
of its spiritual depth. |
