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| Sunday, 23 November 2003 |
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Features |  |
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Sakman Maluwa : An allegorical garden by Jayanthi Liyanage
Sakman Maluwa the eighth cinematic direction of Sumithra Peries after a pause of eight years, somehow escapes being slotted into the conventional genre of narration. In Sumithra's own words, "Take it as a contemplation, or a philosophical musing, of life, love and relationships of average Sri Lankan people in their ordinary day-to-day lives." It is also, as she adds, an attempt to recapture the essential goodness of human beings, which we once relished and treasured as an inalienable quality of our society, though now on the decline in increasingly diluting quantities. No excessive melodarama, or strongly underlined sexual or inequality issues. "The focus is on beauty, and tranquility, of every day life, as well as the lack of tranquility in the every day experience through love and jealousy - common to the human race."
The barest skeleton of the script Dr. Lester James Peries wrote from Godfrey Goonetilleke's short story, "The Garden", is "a man and a woman and a snake." "The theme is allegorical," says Sumithra. "The characters are rooted in Buddhist milieu while the author did not specifically draw on the Bible story. Whatever the religion, people are familiar with this situation - an ideal situation, which is not really ideal. It questions, what love is all about? What do people expect of a relationship? Are there other things to be concerned with in the day to day life?" Rather than defining, the subtle conflicts which unfold on the screen are understated. One must have a lot of patience to get the right nuances of village life." Middle aged Tissa (Sanath Gunatilleke) has a paradise in his garden, and marries Prema (Kanchana Mendis), the young woman he loves. "But what is hidden deep below, comes to the surface when the snake comes into this paradise. Tissa is cornered and cannot get out. He asks Prema to kill the snake but she runs away. Was it because she wanted him dead? The marriage is never the same again." The film is strong on visual aesthetics, and the emphasis of nature imagery used in metaphors. Sumithra hopes that the audience could perceive that which lies behind the celluloid, the lens and the screen. "The snake is the main symbol but the others are ancillary and contribute to the atmosphere of the idyllic garden." The arrival of Tissa's young brother, Ranjan (new comer Dinindu Jagoda), from Russia, is not to raise the issue of infidelity. "In any relationship, something more than that lurks," says Sumithra. Sakman Maluwa is set in Kandy. Filming was carried out in a privately-owned house, surrounded by a sprawling garden called "Lassana Watte", said to be part of King Rajasinghe's garden, overlooking the Kandy Lake. Sumithra comments, "We did not have a flowering garden but we had an interesting garden, and I had to take lorry-loads of plants to do it up. The police dog we roped in as Raja, acted very well and I am sure people will note him!" A focal point of the movie is Irangani Serasinghe's portrayal of the benevolent mother of the sons, which stands out in its epitomising of the integral goodness of the human spirit. "She has a lovely face and she brings all her resources to give that undefinable quality of absolute warm heartedness," is high praise from Sumithra. Her role of benevolent matriarch is the thread which links the characters in one chain, infusing them with relevance to the theme in entirety. Sumithra also feels that as Tissa, Sanath has achieved a well sustained role since he acted in Tissa Abeysekera's Viragaya. "He managed to get the shifts and the receding looks by cutting some of his hair. Kanchana was natural, delightful and fitted into her role easily." The film, with other roles played by Vasanthi Chaturani, Rangana Premaratne and Daya Tennekoon, has a dialogue by Tissa Abeysekera and a lilting musical score by Pandit Amaradeva. The cameraman was K.A. Dharamasena, Mani Mendis the Art Director. The film is released on November 28 to the Regal circuit, as a production of Ceylon Theatres Ltd. to commemorate its 75th anniversary. ****************** East meets West : Kandy YMBA music seminar A blind professor giving a fine lecture-demonstration to introduce western music to an audience of oriental and western music teachers and students ! I was fortunate to attend it at the auditorium of the Kandy YMBA on November 15. The blind speaker was Dr. D.P.M. Weerakkody, Professor of Western Classics, Peradeniya University. He said that appreciation of fine western music required attention to several factors including historical period (baroque, classical, romantic, modern); form (such as 'sonata form'); tempo (speed) and dynamics (loud and soft). He illustrated his argument with four reorded musical works: a movement of Bach's Suite in B minor' Schubert's Erl king; Ravel's Jeux d'eau; first movement of Beethoven's Fifth Symphony. The audience of 75 people showed their appreciation of Professor Weerakoddy's lecture-demonstration with much applause. This was followed by a half hour of comments and questions on chords and on the relation to western music of concepts in oriental music such as 'raga', 'rasa' and 'alap'. Proceedings were in Sinhalese and it was welcome that there were some Tamil teachers too who asked questions in Sinhalese. The seminar included a lecture-demonstration by yet another professor who too was not a professor of music. He was Carlo Fonseka, Emeritus Professor of Physiology, Kelaniya University. He spoke about his numerous compositions of lyrics and melodies. He described how they arose, and how he proceeded to get them performed by noted artistes including Amaradeva. He played extracts from his cassette, Carlochita Gee. He spoke throughout with conviction and spirit. The audience gave him too rousing applause. The questions and comments that followed were all about how to set about writing songs. The seminar was organised by the Arts Committee of the Kandy YMBA. -ODS |
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