I saw the Sinhalese film, Igillena Maluwo(Flying Fish) in 2012 Bangalore International Film Festival. I had registered for the film festival months back and received my pass weeks before start of the film festival.But, somehow got stuck in a lot of work during the week. Desperate, i wanted to see at least one film. So,after spending some research on various titles listed in the festival calendar, i chose to see this. So, i went to see it in an afternoon after skipping my work.
The reason i wanted to see this film is that, it is a film made by a Sinhalese director in the backdrop of Srilankan civil war. I wanted to find out how unbiased the film is based on my understanding of the crisis. But when i came out of the theater, i realized that not only the film is very truthful to its intentions, it also made to reinvent my understanding of the crisis. It also reaffirmed my views on war. It even got a standing ovation from the audience. I am not sure whether it is a usual thing with all the festivals. But i think this film totally deserved it.
[TRAILER]
I want to mention a few thing before i explain the story. Flying Fish is not a usual film. It is an amateur movie made for film festivals. In-fact, there is a very good chance that you(and me) will never see this film in the future. It makes me very sad, because i think it is a very very important film. Also, i must tell you that even if, you ever get hold of this film somewhere be very prepared for the slowness of the film. Since, it is not made with commercial interests, the director takes liberty of deciding the length of the scenes in whatever way he wants. Every scene is slow,long and tedious. Also, it is a very very sexually explicit and violent film. So, it is not ideal for your hall viewing.
Now coming to the story. This is not a film that deals with the politics of the crisis. But, tt is about the common people who struggle to live their lives in the crisis. There are a lot of characters but overall it depicts lives of three women from different background and their families in Triconamalee in Northern Srilanka.
First is Upanasana who is a Sinhalese teenager who has fallen in love with an army man posted in her village. Her father knows about their affair and he despises it, but afraid to do anything because he is an army man.
Second is a Sinhala widow, who has lost her husband to the civil war and struggling to support eight of her children alone. Her eldest son is a teenager who studies in local school and is in love with a classmate.
Third is a pre-teen tamil girl who studies in a local school and her father is a clerk. He is seriously thinking to send her to Canada because he afraid that one day or the other he might not be able to pay LTTE and they might confiscate her.
We see their lives moving slowly amidst the peace time that existed between the LTTE and the Army. The LTTE is actively recruiting people and the Army is keeping their men posted in all the places. Upasana and the army man are walking around the village and forests carefreely. They make love in the forest, visit monasteries and discuss about the future. The widow is trying to earn money and support her children.She is desperate in need of a support. Her teenage son is walking around the mountains with his classmate. They also discuss their future and lives after war.The Tamil Girl, goes to school and listens to the lectures of LTTE cadres who visit the class. Her father goes to work and faces racial slurs from the Sinhalese shop keepers. He also faces threat from LTTE who warn to take his daughter away, if he does not pay 2 Lakhs by the end of the month.
When life is taking a shape slowly in Triconamalee , the peace time breaks down. Upasana learns that she is pregnant. The army man promises to marry her. The widow, in desperate need for support and care, starts an affair with an young shop keeper. His son is punished in the class for seen with a girl in strange places. The LTTE invades the Tamil Girl's home where they kill their dog and give an ultimatum to the father
Finally one morning, Upasana finds out the army has moved out of the village and her lover has deserted her. In rage she takes a bus ,goes to place where he is posted newly. When he meets her, she unzips his pants, takes out his penis and pretends to give him oral sex. He closes his eyes in pleasure.She then stops ,takes out a knife and cuts his penis. Blood splatters and she walks away in the sunset. She then boards a bus to come back. Meanwhile, the son of the widow, sees her having sex with the shopkeeper in a deserted place. Humiliated, he goes home waits for her. When she returns, he stabs her in front of his siblings and runs away in the sunset. He then boards the same bus in which Upasana is in. While this is happening, LTTE enters the Tamil Girls home and have an argument with her parents. When things go out of hands , they shoot her parents in rage, while she somehow manages to escape. She runs away in the dark and boards the same bus. The bus keeps on going in the night. Finally, when the sun comes out ,we can see that the girl is sleeping on Upasana's lap and the bus is actually running without a driver. Thus the film ends. Such is the power of the last fifteen minutes of the film , we completely forget how slow it was for the first two hours.
Everyone, these days talk about the greatness of the armed troupes. Srilankan supporters are happy that the army has won the battle. LTTE supporters are proud of the matyrs. But is there any one, who cares about the people? No body. Not the UN, Not the Srilankan government, Not the LTTE and definitely not the people who talk about the braveness of the war. The message in Flying Fish is very evident. It is an anti-war film. It makes a very clear statement that war does nothing good for common people. You may be in the winning side or loosing side, at the end of the day you loose something. Either you are persecuted or you face the side effects of handing over power to the army. War also brings out huge economic drain in the society.
I am very happy that such an anti-war film is made at this juncture.Because history tells us again and again that nothing good comes out of wars and especially ethnic wars. No body wins and every body looses. Sudan, Congo, Rwanda, Afghanistan, a lot many african nations, there is a huge list of examples.Srilanka is a new addition to it. Everyone thinks the war is over. But it is not. As long as there is hatred among people, the war is far from over. This is why Gandhi is a great man. He averted a huge crisis in India. Without him, we would have killed each other and disappeared from the face of the earth. Because he is a wise man who realized that "an for an eye will make the whole world blind". Sooner or later, every one has to realize this and as of now.Now, i can only hope that somehow the hatred among Tamils and Sinhalese disappear in Srilanka. Peace!
The reason i wanted to see this film is that, it is a film made by a Sinhalese director in the backdrop of Srilankan civil war. I wanted to find out how unbiased the film is based on my understanding of the crisis. But when i came out of the theater, i realized that not only the film is very truthful to its intentions, it also made to reinvent my understanding of the crisis. It also reaffirmed my views on war. It even got a standing ovation from the audience. I am not sure whether it is a usual thing with all the festivals. But i think this film totally deserved it.
I want to mention a few thing before i explain the story. Flying Fish is not a usual film. It is an amateur movie made for film festivals. In-fact, there is a very good chance that you(and me) will never see this film in the future. It makes me very sad, because i think it is a very very important film. Also, i must tell you that even if, you ever get hold of this film somewhere be very prepared for the slowness of the film. Since, it is not made with commercial interests, the director takes liberty of deciding the length of the scenes in whatever way he wants. Every scene is slow,long and tedious. Also, it is a very very sexually explicit and violent film. So, it is not ideal for your hall viewing.
Now coming to the story. This is not a film that deals with the politics of the crisis. But, tt is about the common people who struggle to live their lives in the crisis. There are a lot of characters but overall it depicts lives of three women from different background and their families in Triconamalee in Northern Srilanka.
First is Upanasana who is a Sinhalese teenager who has fallen in love with an army man posted in her village. Her father knows about their affair and he despises it, but afraid to do anything because he is an army man.
Second is a Sinhala widow, who has lost her husband to the civil war and struggling to support eight of her children alone. Her eldest son is a teenager who studies in local school and is in love with a classmate.
Third is a pre-teen tamil girl who studies in a local school and her father is a clerk. He is seriously thinking to send her to Canada because he afraid that one day or the other he might not be able to pay LTTE and they might confiscate her.
We see their lives moving slowly amidst the peace time that existed between the LTTE and the Army. The LTTE is actively recruiting people and the Army is keeping their men posted in all the places. Upasana and the army man are walking around the village and forests carefreely. They make love in the forest, visit monasteries and discuss about the future. The widow is trying to earn money and support her children.She is desperate in need of a support. Her teenage son is walking around the mountains with his classmate. They also discuss their future and lives after war.The Tamil Girl, goes to school and listens to the lectures of LTTE cadres who visit the class. Her father goes to work and faces racial slurs from the Sinhalese shop keepers. He also faces threat from LTTE who warn to take his daughter away, if he does not pay 2 Lakhs by the end of the month.
When life is taking a shape slowly in Triconamalee , the peace time breaks down. Upasana learns that she is pregnant. The army man promises to marry her. The widow, in desperate need for support and care, starts an affair with an young shop keeper. His son is punished in the class for seen with a girl in strange places. The LTTE invades the Tamil Girl's home where they kill their dog and give an ultimatum to the father
Finally one morning, Upasana finds out the army has moved out of the village and her lover has deserted her. In rage she takes a bus ,goes to place where he is posted newly. When he meets her, she unzips his pants, takes out his penis and pretends to give him oral sex. He closes his eyes in pleasure.She then stops ,takes out a knife and cuts his penis. Blood splatters and she walks away in the sunset. She then boards a bus to come back. Meanwhile, the son of the widow, sees her having sex with the shopkeeper in a deserted place. Humiliated, he goes home waits for her. When she returns, he stabs her in front of his siblings and runs away in the sunset. He then boards the same bus in which Upasana is in. While this is happening, LTTE enters the Tamil Girls home and have an argument with her parents. When things go out of hands , they shoot her parents in rage, while she somehow manages to escape. She runs away in the dark and boards the same bus. The bus keeps on going in the night. Finally, when the sun comes out ,we can see that the girl is sleeping on Upasana's lap and the bus is actually running without a driver. Thus the film ends. Such is the power of the last fifteen minutes of the film , we completely forget how slow it was for the first two hours.
Everyone, these days talk about the greatness of the armed troupes. Srilankan supporters are happy that the army has won the battle. LTTE supporters are proud of the matyrs. But is there any one, who cares about the people? No body. Not the UN, Not the Srilankan government, Not the LTTE and definitely not the people who talk about the braveness of the war. The message in Flying Fish is very evident. It is an anti-war film. It makes a very clear statement that war does nothing good for common people. You may be in the winning side or loosing side, at the end of the day you loose something. Either you are persecuted or you face the side effects of handing over power to the army. War also brings out huge economic drain in the society.
I am very happy that such an anti-war film is made at this juncture.Because history tells us again and again that nothing good comes out of wars and especially ethnic wars. No body wins and every body looses. Sudan, Congo, Rwanda, Afghanistan, a lot many african nations, there is a huge list of examples.Srilanka is a new addition to it. Everyone thinks the war is over. But it is not. As long as there is hatred among people, the war is far from over. This is why Gandhi is a great man. He averted a huge crisis in India. Without him, we would have killed each other and disappeared from the face of the earth. Because he is a wise man who realized that "an for an eye will make the whole world blind". Sooner or later, every one has to realize this and as of now.Now, i can only hope that somehow the hatred among Tamils and Sinhalese disappear in Srilanka. Peace!
Good one, Siva.
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