With love from the Maldives

By Kalakeerthi EDWIN ARIYADASA

"The Maldives is one of the world's most geographically dispersed countries, encompassing a territory spread over nearly 35,000 miles. It is the smallest Asian country, in both population and land area. It is the planet's lowest country, with an average ground level of 1.5 metres above sea level. It is also the country with the lowest natural highest point in the world, at 2.4 metres."

The alphabetical progress of the film event, organised by the SAARC Cultural Centre, Colombo has reached 'M' for the Maldives. The entry that has been selected to showcase Maldivian Cinema, in the SAARC Film Series is, Love story, by Abdul Fattah.

I have dutifully watched the four previous films, that represented Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Bhutan and India and have put down carefully and with all the objectivity I could muster, my intimate perceptions of the cinematic works.

I was especially keen to obtain those highly significant insights these films could obliquely provide, to deepen our understanding of the lifestyles of the SAARC lands, out of which the films emerged.

Surprises

The cinematic presentation from the Maldives, was chockful of surprises for us. The prevail norm in film-circles now-a-days, is that, the average cinematic work should not exceed two hours. A hefty blockbuster, produced occasionally, on a fabulous budget, may go counter to this rule.

Abdul Fattah's Love Story, clearly went beyond three-hours. The work was dialogue-incentive. It did not provide even simple subtitles, to guide the viewer through the massive verbal exchanges.

Sri Lankan film-goers hugely enjoy Hindi and Tamil presentations, though they are not literate in the language media. This is largely due to their long familiarity with films in those languages.

The Maldives is our close neighbour - just 400 miles across the ocean. Culturally, the relations between our two countries extend to the far past. Legand has it, that, the Maldive islands were colonised by Aryan settlers, who came over to Sri Lanka with Vijaya. The language of the Maldives - Direhi - according to linguists is a derivative of original Sinhala Prakrit. The Direhi word for Kingdom is "Rajje" very much akin to Sinhala.

Cultural affinity

With all that cultural affinity, we in Sri Lanka, have not seen many Maldive films. The Maldives produces about ten feature films a year, largely for local consumption. Some of them address highly controversial social issues.

Love Story, is very much theatrical in its format. The need to communicate in slick cinematic vocabulary, has not entered, very much, into the production of Love Story.

As a cinema-land, the Maldives claims a whole series of valued treasures. Primary among assets are its turquoise seas, lavish with fish. Though a country of some 300,000 people, its cultural heritage is stunningly rich - with an inter-twining of Buddhist, Hindu Muslim and even western streaks of influence.

Landscape

The landscape is pleasing, reflecting a perpetual summer. Extensive tourist arrivals add a modern and cosmopolitan touch to the strange mix. Stories abound. The emerging urges of a new generation, awakening into fresh and sophisticated ideals could contribute vital and vibrant themes to the Maldavian film directors.

Love Story displays the sumptuous array of material available to the Maldavian film-maker. A cherished outcome of this SAARC series, is the learning atmosphere it ushers in. If Love Story, represents some typical trends in Maldives cinema, the film traditions in other SAARC countries could note them, and could perhaps help out through some wholesome guidance.

Cultural habits

Love Story seems to lack an adequate grasp of film technology and cinematic grammar. A well-thought out cinematic "slenderising" of the sight and sound story narration, could certainly have enhanced the dramatic-especially the emotional impact of the film.

When we make an observation of this nature, it could very well be that, we are erring as outsiders, who cannot fully appreciate the specific cultural habits of the Maldavian film-goers. For all we know, the average Maldavian film-goer may want prolonged dialogues and theatrical enactments of events, in some detail, to drive the emotion home, tellingly.

The Maldavian film-maker is quite likely to create his cinematic work, within a particular ethos, which may not be too familiar to those beyond its pale. The film from the Maldives makes it extremely clear, that the SAARC film event can initiate a movement for the inter SAARC understanding of the variegated cinema traditions.

If, for instance, Love Story was preoccupied only with its domestic film-goers, now, the Maldavian film-makers can think of a possible SAARC audience for their works. I am fully convinced, that at the conclusion of the current SAARC film event, we will be able to have a responsible assessment of the cinema traditions of the eight SAARC lands, to register a far-reaching consequence.