77 years to Adoor: a look at his best works
Ask Adoor Gopalakrishnan on his secret to making movies, and he says, 'a filmmaker can never teach script writing and film direction in a school.'
Ask Adoor Gopalakrishnan on his secret to making movies, and he says, 'a filmmaker can never teach script writing and film direction in a school.'
Ask Adoor Gopalakrishnan on his secret to making movies, and he says, 'a filmmaker can never teach script writing and film direction in a school.'
Ask Adoor Gopalakrishnan on his secret to making movies, and he says, “a filmmaker can never teach script writing and film direction in a school.” “My films have always invited criticism. To understand cinema, one needs to understand world cinema first”, he said in one of his interviews.
One of the greatest living filmmakers in India, Adoor Gopalakrishnan turns 77 years on Tuesday and Onmanorama takes a look at his 5 best movies:
Swayamvaram
Swayamvaram, the directorial debut of Adoor Gopalakrishnan, is considered as a landmark film. Released in 1972, the film opened up new platform in Malayalam Cinema. It was through this movie that Adoor, as he is known, became the first Indian director to use sound as a leitmotif. The film tells the story of Vishwam (Madhu) and Sita (Sharada) who get married against the will of their families. But eventually, Vishwam dies, leaving Sita alone with her baby. The film ends with Sita feeding her baby while looking at a closed door. This climax scene took the movie to a whole new level in Malayalam cinema back then.
Elippathayam
Elippathayam (1981) is the first film of Adoor Gopalakrishnan to be shot in colour. It tells the story of Unni who is trapped within himself unable to understand the changes taking place around him. Unlike the conventional narrative, the film has just very few dialogues. The usage of certain visual elements are representations of society. With this film, Adoor became the second Indian filmmaker after Satyajith Ray to win the British Film Institute honour for the most original and imaginative film.
Mathilukal
The 1990 Malayalam movie starring Mammootty focusses on the prison life of noted Malayalam writer Vaikom Muhammad Basheer and the love between him and Narayani, a female inmate of the prison, who remains unseen throughout the film. Presenting various levels of emotions, the film majorly takes a look at freedom and what is really means. A simple fable with a creative making, the film took Adoor to a higher level.
Kathapurushan
A journey exploring the history of Kerala is what the 1994 movie all about. Kathapurushan (Man of the Story) is one of renowned and complex works of Adoor. Covering over four decades of political history, Adoor brilliantly presents the story of Kunjunni (Vishwanathan), born in pre-independent India and belonging to a feudal family. The film saw some of the momentous events of that era.
Naalu Pennungal
Adoor's 2007 movie 'Naalu Pennungal' features four short stories. While one tells the romantic episode of a street woman in a small town, another examines the plight of a newly married farm-worker girl; and the third one is about a childless house-wife and the last one is a story on a spinster belonging to the middle class. These four stories present a cross section of the social life in the erstwhile Travancore region before and after the independence of the country. Adoor in an interview had claimed that unlike his previous films, this one was less complex.