Movie Review: KOOZHANGAL [Pebbles] - India's Official Submission to the 94th Oscars
Review: Koozhangal [2021]
India's Official Submission to the 94th Oscars
Reviewed by Bodhisattya Pal
"Listen! From now on, you have no mother! Only a father!"
I don't remember when I saw an Indian movie which hardly talks but strikes sharply with every scenes! A bare, raw and purest form of cinema, coming from a debutant director which is powerful, shocking and sensational!
Set in some arid barren desert village of Tamilnadu, where life is fragile and vulnerable, we experienced an unforgettable journey of a father and son; a journey like no other. A smell of toxic masculinity, dominance and marginalization of femininity and childhood was evident.
The eerie, lifeless landscape was the colour, camera was paint-brush an our eyes were the paper! Koozhangal consists of one of the most stunning camera work in the Indian cinema history. Director never told anything coherently; he just showed us things - mostly deep, hard hitting, visceral, sometimes humourous, but always natural! Some scenes will make you uncomfortable, other scenes will make you inpatient even when nothing that much is happening in the movie.
The character development was also authentic; we got to know the characters via scattered conversation of people. Director never provided any in depth character details still he manged to establish them stunningly. The movie was devoid off any major dialogues or conversation; we explore the characters' mental state, their perspective through their actions.
The whole movie was so natural, so pure, sometimes I imagined it as a non-scripted movie; and it somehow reminded me of Kiarostami's Taste of Cherry. The landscape metaphors - the rocks, dried trees, the rats, that tribal family, the reflector, the dog and offcourse the pebble - all were hypnotic, serene some time but spectacularly vocal.
The movie has the most powerful opening and closing scenes from my recent memory! It portrayed some rural issues in a naked form! Inspite of being spontaneous and serious, it never lacked the emotional connection. The moment when our boy forgot his drunken chasing father while watching aeroplanes; was truly precious!
From sound engineers to the cinematographer, everyone associated with this movie delivered phenomenal performances to capture the genuine essence of the work. There are lot more to say about this masterwork; but no word can do justice unless one experience it ownself.
Koozhangal is an exceptionally well shot movie showing toxic masculinity, domestic violence, child exploitation, water scarcity, marginalization of femininity, modern slavery and other issues of rural India in the most crude form possible. Koozhangal announced the arrival of a spectacular artistic talent named P.S. Vinothraj!
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