One film at the 18th International Film
Festival of Kerala 2013, had a catchy
title: When Evening Falls On Bucharest
or Metabolism. The synopsis of the
film reads:
“...This
seemingly simple love story becomes a force of cinematic deconstruction. The
quasi-absurdity of their relationship moves from the dingy room to the
director’s apartment...Dense with meaning
in every frame, the film delivers a thought-provoking rumination on our engagement
with reality through cinema...”
Which film lover would not be seduced by such a synopsis? Many must have marked the film as a must see, the moment
the Handbook of film synopsis was released.
Phew!...if my memory is right, the film hardly has six or seven
scenes. The lead characters chat, chat, chat, chat and act....while the theatre
audience snores, snores, snores, snores and sleeps!!! Some wake up from the
slumber only to be lulled back magically
to sleep...
The film over, while hurrying to the exit, my eyes fell on a
renowned film critic and Professor of English, who too was leaving the theatre.
I explored the countenance of the venerable
teacher for a potential message
of the film which had unfortunately eluded me. I may be wrong...but a gut feeling inside me tells me that the Professor was struggling to put on an intellectually satisfying appearance despite the fact that the film
made the entire audience look like complete idiots!
Back home in my leisure, I pondered on the message/ intention of
the director of the film. It seems deceptively
simple... you too can make films like this... Why not place
a camera in retiring rooms where one can easily come across juicy gossips and
innuendoes with all the elements of a Thriller! And..., who knows the ‘product’
which we can call an ‘Art Film’, might fetch us awards at Toronto, New York, Vancouver and Sarajevo,
which this film managed to!
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