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| Sunday, 20 November 2005 |
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Film reviews
Butterfly Wings captures the soft cadences of childhood dreams by C. A. Lenin Divakara Somarathna Dissanayaka of Suriya Arana fame who has a penchant for films with children as protagonists, is in the limelight again with his latest creation, Samanala Thatu (Butterfly Wings). Samanala thatu seems to me a misnomer since its heart-warming theme stands in striking contrast to the miserable life of the street children portrayed in the film.
Sira belongs to a small family living on the street. His father is ailing from a terminal disease. His sister is disabled. They earn their bread and butter with the inborn musical and dancing talent, they display in gay abandon in their performances on the street, entertaining the passers-by from whom they earn a pittance. Sira is fortunate that his struggle for survival itself provides an outlet for his latent talents and ironically becomes a source of realisation of his right to play, proving that the natural urge to play is indestructible. Sira's dream is every child's dream whether he is a street child or not. Somarathna's films though created with children as protagonists depict adult's perspective. Perhaps t..............he director's aim is to appeal both to the adult and the child and the child in the adult. Samanalathatu is a vehement protest against the exploitation of children, rampant in today's world and the denial of children's human rights. The finale is Sira's affirmative action of asserting himself as the breadwinner of the family. He is proud of the new role symbolised by the band with frills which he sports, his assertion and affirmation of the new role, though denying himself the pleasures of growing up, move the audience to think and act to eliminate social injustice. Is this finale an indirect justification of the status quo? Definitely not. It moves the viewer to struggle for a brighter world in which he may realise his potentialities. Samanala Thatu is an 'action' film, in the sense, that it moves the viewer to think and act to eliminate social injustice and not to take things for granted. So in making Samanala thatu Somarathna has proved himself a social reformer driving home a message, an example worthy of emulation. Memorable performances of the talented cast, Dasun Madhushanka, Suminda Sirisena, Dulika Marapana, Dulanjali Ariyatilaka, Jayalath Manoratna, Gamini Hettiarachchi, Vijaya Nandasiri, Anton Jude, Ajith Lokuge and Jagath Benaragama and the musical creation of Rohana Wirasinha and the songs of Edward Jayakodi, Harshana Dissanayaka and Ravindra Guruge enhance the artistry of the film, making the director's vision clearer and the mission, more effective. The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy - Whatever you do DON'T PANIC! : A charming mess but...! It's an important and popular fact that things are not always what they seem. For instance, on the planet Earth, Man had always assumed that he was the most intelligent species occupying the planet, instead of the *third* most intelligent. The second most intelligent were of course dolphins... But ironically The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy enlightens us about the story of the third most intelligent biengs on the planet and how they got to be. Mild-mannered five-foot-eight, ape descendant Arthur Dent (Martin Freeman) is having a bad Thursday. He awakens in the morning to discover that bulldozers have arrived to flatten his house so that an expressway bypass can be built. By lunch, he has learned that his good friend Ford Prefect is an alien and Earth is about to be destroyed by a nasty group of creatures called the Vogons. At Ford's side, Arthur soon finds himself on an intergalactic odyssey in the company of the President of the Galaxy, a two-headed egomaniac named Zaphod Beeblebrox; Trillian, the last surviving Earth woman; and a depressed robot named Marvin If you've read the book the plot of the film is a little different. There's a humourous, yet adorable love story going on with Auther and Trillian that you wouldn't want to miss. It's a sort of girl-meets-boy story and then boy-loses-girl -to-the-president -of-the-galaxy sort of tale. The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy boasts a strong ensemble of performances. Martin Freeman is the perfect choice for an ordinary, unheroic Earth guy. Sam Rockwell is annoying - at times bordering on unbearable - as Zaphod, but that's kind of the point. Zooey Deschanel, who deserves to be better-known than she is, is beguiling as Trillian. And Mos Def seems to have been born to play Ford Prefect. Voice work by Alan Rickman, Stephen Fry, and Helen Mirren (as Deep Thought) is superlative. Hitchhiker fans will know what is happening, but newcomers will be left scratching their heads at a story that flits from one unpronounceable planet to another - each one populated by equally exotic-sounding characters. Studiously harmless, Disney's long-in-development film rendition pasteurizes the book's renegade verve with typical means: special effects and gooey romance. Despite outstanding production design and some fantastic visual effects, overall the film is a bit of a mess. A charming mess, maybe, but you have to admit The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy is a film as boundless in its creativity as the human imagination. |
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| Produced by Lake House |
The veteran director explores the inner world of the protagonist Sira,
who is obsessed with riding a brand new bicycle of his own. The director
celebrates the innocence of the world of the street child in particular and
that of the world's children, in general. So the theme transcends
specificity and gains universality. 
