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| Sunday, 12 June 2005 |
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Features |  |
| News Business Features Editorial
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Movies Review Guerrilla Marketing : A vibrant variant from the norm Reviewed by Prof. Sunanda Mahendra
It was completely an unusual experience to see Jayantha Chandrasiri's latest Guerilla Marketing. Not only is the title that is quite alien to the Sinhala audience but also the very structure and the contents. Those who used to watch trick endings and twistings with goody stuff on romances and passionate bedroom scenes with loads of cute dialogue, might not well find a good menu through Jayantha's latest work - it can boast of alternative ingredients that help identify one's role in the society, he or she lives culminating some sort of exalted experience of living in a human society packed with many an inhumanity. Guerrilla Marketing rests on three layers. There is a narrative structure with a continuous flow of human experience like a series of snapshots with no beginning, middle and end. Then comes the in-depth study of three characters via several complex experiences and thirdly, the emerging socio-political and socio-cultural ideological structure voicing more thought on the social matrix. But the three factors being inseparable as the first layer rests on the other two layers. The narrative is not so common [though visibly a love triangle with a difference] as one sees - it is the story of a young man who hails from a village having various experiences with the folk rituals linked to his family lineage, where the dominant factor is the traditional conscience conditioned on the patterns of folk living mannerism that cannot be separated with the inflow of alien elements into his character. His entire outlook is moulded wherein even he becomes an ultra modernist in his profession, by becoming an 'ad man', running his own firm, out of which his talent is used or exploited to put it correct, for the sake of image building not only in promoting commodities but also persons. In this case this young man Tisara [Kamal Addaraaracchi], who is shown as being engrossed in his various promotional campaigns is forced to launch a massive campaign to build the image of a would be political figure, Gregory Adikaram [Jackson Antony], who hopes to contest the presidential election for which he needs to gauge his calibre via a promotional campaign led by Tisara - 'image building via folk wisdom' where the word of mouth [even gossip] matters over and above the rest of the factors linked. The campaign is one of the rooted down ones where a gang [or you may call it a regiment] of folk is utilised to transfer various narratives about the candidate Gregory that culminates in the easy way to embrace success. As is found in a few films made by such masters as Ingmar Bergman and Luis Buenal, Chandrasiri in the task utilizes a number of stylised illusionary theatrical episodes - he excels, to show in visual powerfully, the aspects of reality and the fantasy linked and unlinked from time to time. Tisara's envisaged campaign reaches a climax and he too becomes sick to the extent that he is diagnosed as suffering from a serious case of schizophrenia [characterized by withdrawal, isolation from reality, disturbance of emotional appropriateness, bizarre string of behaviours like running jumping and getting into moods, ecstasies, hallucinations and delusions]. His close associates, wife Rangi [Sangita Weeraratna] and his partner in the promotional work who is also the rooted image, he was obsessed with from his childhood days, a paternal cousin, Suramya [Yasodha Wimaladharma] fail to accept his behaviour to the extent that he is left in an asylum to get treatment from medical specialists. The protagonist Tisara's cure in this narrative sketch inevitably becomes the subject matter of Jayantha's effort. While he becomes a victim of his own political campaign, which is also shown as a pseudo modern marketing technique concocted to suit a campaign opinions are moulded to build an image of a political figure at the expense of a deranged mind. The viewer begins to think the two female characters are not two separate entities but a single entity with two outlooks, the innocent helpful and modest one and the happy go lucky firm mannered but jealous one, are brought to a conflict though they are closely linked by Tisara in his activities, where the former wins more favour over the latter without casting them into black and white categories. Most of the elements that go into the making of an ideal woman in terms of Orientalism [but may be applicable to the Occident as well] are found in these two female characters. This second layer of visual beauty is brought to the forefront via an 'icon contrast', which is rarely observable in the works of Jayantha's local counterparts. As such this cine work becomes a vibrant variant form from the existing pattern, perhaps win our friend more favour abroad than at home. Then comes the third factor, which is the socio political and socio cultural apex on which the central experience of the film rests. The most sensitive and excellent portrayal of a complex political figure with subtle nuances are brought to light via Gregory's character. Though Tisara is depicted as the patient suffering from Schizophrenia, the spectator sees that even Gregory the contestant is similar in certain aspects where his identity is twofold, where the human and the inhuman a nihilist in search of a human identity and calls himself a person who wanted to be a dancer and became a politician who now dances in the political arena. He makes jogging an early morning exercise as the sicknesses are pursuing him. In many ways he is jocular in his behaviour. This element is well portrayed linking the other two layers intact. What I felt is these three factors emerge from the total cine experience - the elements of futility and meaninglessness of the pseudo existence made up living full of disparities, the human state of despair born out of uprootedness and the very absurdity of our ideologies. All these go to the making of a work of existential imagination. [Existentialism - a philosophy of disorientation, and the creative works that had developed concomitant with its influence is a creative work of despair]. Guerrilla Marketing, born presumably out of this ideology, is in many ways spiritual and religious in content and the values upheld inherently by the work, the need for a sound and balance existence, is supposedly the key point in the ultimate expression. As a result of the unhealthy climate prevailing in the present cine- culture, films like Guerilla Marketing may tend to go undiscussed unobserved and perhaps unhonoured. Blended soundwise in the finest aesthetic experience in the use of music on the part of the Maestro Premasiri Khemadasa, which gives a definite a new facelift to the celluloid experience, a subject that needs to be discussed further. Guerrilla Marketing, a Sinhala film written and directed by Jayantha Chandrasiri. Classics Revisited Les Quatre Cents Coups (Four hundred blows) : Decades of undiminished fame Fran‡ois Truffaut's award winning film Les Quatre cents coups (400 Blows) was screened on the second day of the seminar on French New Wave Movies organised by the French Embassy in association with Sri Lanka Television Training center (SLTTI) at the SLTTI last month. . Reviewed by Samangie Wettimuny Though nearly half a century has passed since its release in 1959, Fran‡ois Truffaut's Les Quatre Centre Coups remains one of the most beautiful films ever made in world cinema. Competing successfully with its technologically advanced rivals, the film still flourishes at the top as a major movie about childhood. New Wave Movie Most important of all is its position in the French 'Nouvelle Vague' or New Wave, a movement which was preceded and inspired by the radical film magazine `Cahiers du Cin‚ma' edited by the world renowned film critic, Andr‚ Bazin. In fact, it was Les Quatre cents coups, the Grand Prix winner at the Cannes Film Festival in 1959, that gained international fame to this movement, making a worldwide impact on movie making for more than a decade there after. Plot The story is woven around 13 year old Antoine Doinel (Jean Pierre L‚aud) who is in his transitionary period, (from childhood to adolescence) always up to mischief. But he is not the type of adolescent that we come across in James Joyce's Araby. Doinel ends up in a reform school meant for juvenile offenders though he escapes in the end. Throughout the flim we see the conflict between the world of children and the world of adults, how ignorant the adults are of the needs of the children and the negative impact it has upon the children in return. Doinel's parents have their own interests and little do they care about the needs of the child. His teachers too are no better. Ironically being teachers they hardly pay any attention to the psychology of their students. In fact in the film Antoine's mischief at the beginning does not differ much from his classmates. But the poor fellow always gets caught. He is not the one who brought pin-up to the class. But as it is passed around the class the teacher notices it when it is on his desk. The teacher without giving him any advice, being totally ignorant of his inquisitive age severely punishes him. The condition is worsened as he begins to skip school and tells silly lies (that his mother died) to get excused. Inspired by the style of Balzac, he writes an essay yearning his teacher's applause but ends up being punished for plagiarism. Even in prison he is treated as a hardcore criminal. Had he got any love at some point, his life would have definitely been changed. The child who cuts school on the previous day runs away from home as he is afraid of the punishment that awaits him. Nobody tries to reach him and talk to him kindly. As the child reveals at the psychologists he is the result of an unwanted pregnancy. The child overhears a conversation between his mother and stepfather where his mother openly reveals her need to send the child to an orphanage. The psychological impact of such incidents is tremendous upon him that he gradually evades home and gets into all kinds of mischief. The child who runs away from home spends the night at the printers. Though at this point his mother shows some interest in the child, it is but short lived. What I see most is her hypocrisy. She tries to use the child to keep her misbehaviour a secret. The child's innocence in contrast with his hypocritic mother is highlighted. Throughout the film we see how innocent children are. It is this innocence and honesty which is highlighted even when they commit some mischief, `the child's lie is honest than the truth of the adult'. Antoine steals a typewriter from his stepfather's office, but he gets caught not when he is committing the act but when he returns it (as he fails to find a suitable buyer for it!). Though this appears as a serious offence to the police, to the sympathetic audience it only shows Antoin's innocence and inexperience in the field. The final shot, the freeze frame of Antoine looking into the camera is well discussed by several critics as this is the first time the technique was used in cinema. The frozen image of the boy's face indicates several things. Antoine who escapes from reform school runs along the beach until the image freezes with a slight smile on his face. The sea is unlimited. Its enormity perhaps indicates that the world does not end here. May be it is the symbol of a new beginning. He finally achieves what he has been looking for FREEDOM. That is why a slight smile remains on his face. In another sense the sea is the symbol of nature.Though the ending is uncertain he finally gains happiness in his association with nature. Autobiography Since Truffaut bears a striking resemblance to his protagonist, some critics wonder whether the film is his autobiography. Just as Antoine he used to run away to the cinema to avoid discomforts at home. A troublemaker at school he too loved to skip classes. Title Though literally translated as `400 blows' giving us the impression that it is surely a film filled with horror and violence, Les Quatre Cents Coups is actually a French idiom which has the meaning `to get into all kinds of mischief'. The child in his transitionary period, is in the quest of several things, particularly sexuality. What his inquisitive mind compels him to do always earns disapproval from the rest of the society. He tests his life and in the absence of proper guidance falls into trouble. Surely Truffaut might have had all these things in mind when naming his film. The film, which is free from three dimensional use of camera, in the end ensures its audience what a carefree medium cinema is. Truffaut presents Antoine as he is, letting the viewers grasp the film the way they want. Yet with all these foibles it is Antoine who gains our sympathy most. Les Quatre cents coups is so true to life that we hardly feel we are watching a film. This factor is definitely among one of the many reasons for its undiminished celebrity status. Director/Producer: Fran‡ois Truffaut Cast: Jean-Pierre L‚aud, Claire Maurier, Albert R‚my, Guy Decomble, Georges Flamant, Patrick Auffray Cinematography: Henri Deca‰ Music: Jean Constantin
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