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Film review - Ekamath Eka Rateka:
An intriguing and enthralling voyage
Sachitra MAHENDRA and Ruwini JAYAWARDANA
Performing and directing are two diverse spheres only a few have
mastered. The local cinema has seen more performers at the helm of their
career assuming the director's seat as well as performance. However
their personality and inner instincts make them always opt out the role
of the anti-hero. They tend to fill the shoes of the hero, probably as a
means of achieving the zenith of glory as well as to eliminate the fear
that the audience would not accept them in an entirely different role to
the dashing protagonist of the tale.
Eccentric behaviour
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Roshan and
Nirosha |
Sanath Gunatileke has bucked the trend for the first time. He is the
distorted and ageing man who evokes the sympathy of the viewers in
Ekamath Eka Rateka, a movie he directed, scripted and portrayed a role.
Sanath proved no extraordinary actor until Tissa Abeysekara took the
maximum out of him in Viragaya's Aravinda. His eccentric behaviour as
the ageing man seems far-fetched at times, but in many a scene he shows
his brilliance in portraying the odd character. Sanath has worked on the
script in such a manner, weaving the scenes around the disfigured
individual, to make the anti-hero outwit the younger and good looking
character played by Roshan Ravindra.
Ekamath Eka Rateka is the proof of Sanath's outstanding capability to
balance scripting, directing and performing even-hand. He is indeed a
genius on and behind the lens. His dialogues are limited, yet induce
just the right touch of pathos. His directing syringes creativity into
natural dialogues. In essence no single scene or dialogue seems
unnecessarily inserted and adds a meaning to the plot which slowly
builds up, intriguing the viewers to be in their seats till the end.
The reasons that Sanath had picked on French writer Emile Zola's
short story Pour Une Nuit d'Amour is a question to ponder. Zola rejected
the idea of romanticism, so apparently the movie doesn't have anything
to do with romance. He firmly believed in naturalism.
Acute angle
The movie plot tilts the conflict between physical and platonic love.
The two modes of love differ with age. The ageing man has desires as
well as resistance. The young, on the other hand, has no hesitancy
giving way to his carnal desires.
Gunatileke's use of imagery to portray this theme is quite distinct.
He uses doves flying in flocks when the aged man was staring at a poster
of some sexually enticing girls. It leaves the viewers to ponder about
the man's mind frame. Sanath's imagery takes a more acute angle when he
alters the aged man's monotonous routine. It shows how his desires and
expectations disturb a normal lifestyle. In this case his routine runs
on a parallel track with his encounter with the girl.
It is only the man's Labrador Retriever who is named in the tale as 'Goodgirl'.
The beast signifies the only hope and intimacy the man is able to
afford but when he looses it, he seems to loose grip on his own life.
He sees the girl with the boy on balcony and his dog meets with an
accident soon after that. It philosophically signifies how a man had to
bear the yoke, but the director makes it obvious.
Rare combination
Focusing on his leading lady for Ekamath Eka Rateka, one cannot help
noting that the director did not have a better option than to employ
Nirosha Perera for the provocative role of the girl. Together with a
bright complexion and haughty manner, Nirosha possesses a rare
combination of skills which the director made maximum use of to build
the character of the girl is much admired but overly spoilt and
snobbish. Steering her voice in a exceptional manner she gives like to a
blonde yet one cannot help noting that her character could emerge from
the aristocratic backdrop of the country.
The scenes are cleverly arranged so that cinema goers cannot pin
point where the story unfolds. Sanath had struck with the fact that this
story can unfold at any part of the globe, a feature which he had
stressed at the release of the movie. The qualities of these characters
are universal and the incidents timeless. It could have taken place at
any period,anywhere.
Sanath's creativity works better in minor scenes, because they
foretell what is in the offing on major scenes. There are minor scenes
such as a garbage truck, a woman sneezing, filthy mouthed girls, brief
encounters with workmates, company of a drunkard friend, an women who
takes pity on him and provides him with food, the flower girl and a
street-whore trying to seduce him that contribute to the plot as a
whole.
Central theme
The aging man has many desires but significantly they are humble and
only heightens the viewer's compassion. He wishes to buy a flute, but
doesn't purchase it straight away. He enjoys Goodgirl's company. He
likes to experience novel ways of life, but is scared to pursue the
matter. The street-whore's indecent approach to him, though in a
fantasy, is a good example for this fact.
Ekamath Eka Rateka is not a farce, but it makes you laugh and smile
at times. The string of suitors for the girl may seem odd but has a
slight relevance to the central theme which runs parellel to the film.
It shows that the girl enjoys the pleasure of being desired and wooed
but does not betray the fact. She enjoys dominating the opposite sex
rather than being in the shadows of their rule.
Premasiri Khemadasa's music brings a melancholic theme. The knowledge
that the maestro is no more adds more value to the creation while the
music merges with the backdrop very well and enhances the beauty.
Another feature to take to account is the use of lighting in the
movie. It is significant that the girl is introduced for the man along
with a flash of bright lights.
It outwardly represents the luminous impact that girl has on him.
Interestingly our mind turns to the scene when the girl is introduced to
the young man and we note the striking contrast. For the deformed
individual the girl is like a goddess, beautiful and out of reach while
for the young man the girl is mysterious and a challenge to conquer.
The attractive aspect of the man probably lies in his flute music.
Thus even though the girl is aware of the fact that the man is
undesirable she is still moved by his the serene melodies. Nonetheless
this does not stop her from taunting the man once she catches sight of
him.
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Sanath and
goodgirl |
The fact that he is the victim of the tale is evident as she only
beckons him only to ask for his help in disposing the body of her lover.
She exercises her power over him at moment when he had lost the
companion closest to his life and bewitches him into performing an
unsavoury task which he ultimately performs against his will.
Different angles
The interiors of the mansion, cracked wall of the bathroom signify an
aristocracy yet to decline. The movie deserves the 'adults only' label
for its almost-pornographic scenes, yet it is harmless entertainment
which hardly affects our peace of mind.
In the scene when the youngster has an intimacy with the girl for the
first time, it would have been more appropriate if the director had shot
the episode from different angles. These scenes are essential for an
Emile Zola student, for it questions the ethics, religion and politics.
The movie comes to an end in a conventional way. It is not a story
with a perfect start nor end. Ekamath Eka Rateka should literally be
translated as 'once upon a country', but this is a movie that surpasses
regions and time. With just the right dose of suspense and excitement
Ekamath Eka Rateka clearly embodies a watchable plot.
Though based on a short story it is stretched to a feature film in
such a manner that despite some minor drawbacks which could be
overlooked, the story remains etched in the memory of the viewers long
after they had left their seats in theaters and continues to make them
go back to the storyline, questioning the relevance of certain episodes
and incidents which emerged in the story.
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