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| Wednesday, 23 October 2002 |
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A fine cinematic texture : Mage Vam Atha - a story of a pick pocket
by E M G Edirisinghe Linton Semage with his recent celluloid creation, Mage Vam Atha (Pick Pocket), makes a bold attempt to add variety to the almost monotonous Sinhala cinematic tradition. It is not in depth nor in vision but in the application of the medium with the minimum use of movement and sound. An element of experimentation and a step forward in local cinema leaving it richer, it carries an impression that could evolve a multiplicity of expressions in the viewer. Streaky fleeting diologues mostly circuitious and indirect averments, are mostly used to strengthen the heavy sequences of the main plot in an abundance of visual intake giving it more varied angles of approach. The impact it creates is complex and unusual for a story-line of this nature. With slow melancholy movements, a tone is maintained right through the film against puzzling mental compositions and a gloomy environment. Subdued contact and limited social and financial resources have restricted the emotional and physical engagement of Kamal's (Linton Semage) family within a narrow perimeter of access and action. The whole film looks condensed into one single frame in which sequences
are made to flow. It is tightly and neatly knit and superbly cut into a
single unit of cinematic art. It is reality within a sub-textual illusion
with Kamal and his wife Vasanthi (Dilhani Ekanayake) spawning the effect
of a fragile, unemotional, unassuming life of uncertainty and detachment
showing hardly any purpose in life for them. Mystery of life itself
surrounds them both domestically and environmentally. This environment of gloom where both the visual and the audio together with the imaginations merge into an illusory creation which unfolds in the viewer with the flow of time the layers beginning to peel off. Kamal makes his livelihood picking pockets which is resented by his wife. She considers it as putting men in flames this conflict mostly implicit, is persuasively and succinctly expressed in the symbolic representation of lighting the oil lamp by Kamal in honour of the Buddha, before leaving home for his 'profession'. He seeks spiritual blessings for success in the day. As a cat pouncing on a rat won't think it is a sin, he does not think that to rob one is sin. The moment he left home the wife blows it off wishing him total failure in his chosen field of livelihood. One day he picked a pocket and found a photo of his wife in the wallet. That broke the monotony of life at home. He decided to hunt himself for the man who cherished the picture of his for him to carry it wherever he went. His decision to keep it a secret even from his wife, is crucial to the plot. In line with his introvert shrivelled character overshadowed by fear and suspicion, Kamal's hawkish eyes focussed on the bulging pockets of men whose face was no concern of him. However, the picture of his wife provided the ideal exception where for the first time the face of the man whose pocket he picked became usually important to him. He was jealous of this man and his own wife. His intention in the subconscious was to discover who his wife was as he had no knowledge of her background. A man who initially was a victim of Kamal's profession, has made Kamal himself a victim of his own profession. It is like someone who is chasing a man whom he wants to strip naked, casting his own clothes on the way revealing his own nudity. Visual shift of focus from pocket to face, although not prominent, it was written into the very wrinkles his perplexed peering face. It is poetic vision and fertile imagination that his wife herself led him to her parental home from where she came and did not go back since her marriage to Kamal. It was his wife's brother who carried her photo wherever he went as her loss to the family was unbearable not knowing where she was, alive or dead. In fact the search for the man ended in an illusion, his married life culminating in the birth of a child which exposed the reality of life to which everyone has to descend. Kamal's sojourn in the village, which provided immense expanse of penetration into life contained in quiet environment is the opposite of goes within his restrained life. The glass of water offered to him, sobriety of the funeral and the vast rustic terrain are symbols of unmatched natural richness that reflected in his wife. That contrasts with her life next to a railway line in an environment of din, dust and noise of moving buses, trains and men. Yet the tragedy is that the village lasses leave home seeking greener pastures in the city and they are thrust between stress and want, hunger and indifference, common in hard urban life. Symbolically, the vehicles and trains moving across the screen is shown in close-up to convey how blurred, unsettled and fast changing is the urban life. Linton's highly commendable work barely uses the voices, and rarely the sounds. That made the visuals stronger, penetrative and talking, making the viewer richer with a fine cinematic experience where his capacity for imagination is widened. This reminds me of what Charlie Chaplin said in 1928 that the silent movie is stronger than the talkies. By the way is there any significance in naming the film Mage Vam Atha (My Left Hand)? For me, yes. Right hand signifies dexterity and skill in its continuous use. Here it is to pick pockets. The use of the left hand signifies clumsiness, in experience and incapacitation of the right. Kamal's search for a man and his face was not an area he was conversant with and skillful. Being totally a novice in this kind of mission, his immaturity is symbolised in the use of his left hand. He fails and finds himself in a cell of guilt and frustration. It revealed his inexperience in search of other's souls which finally leads himself to uncover his own weaknesses. Editing is creative with sequences being fastened together to realise a piece cinematic art not often seen in Sinhala cinema. Cameo roles performed by Sarath Kotalawela and Saumya Liyanage two award winning stage artistes are impressive and they add variety to the film. The rhythm that began with the picture negative of Kamal being developed in the dark room is maintained at the same gentle pace and depth upto the end when Kamal was captured in long shot in deep despair merging himself with the endless surrounding tranquillity. A fine film for the discerning film-goer. Mage Jeevitha Kathava
Anagarika Dharmapala, well-known Buddhist missionary and patriot, started writing his autobiography during his lifetime. However, he could not complete the book due to his death. Lakshman Jayawardane has rendered a yeoman service by completing Anagarika Dharmapala's autobiography with the help of his diaries and other writings. The latest edition of "Mage Jeevitha Kathava" describes in detail the great patriot's childhood, youth, his struggle to regain Buddhagaya, the launch of Maha Bodhi organisation, becoming a Buddhist monk and his services to the Buddhist world. The book also carries some of the rare photographs depicting his life and times.
"Jathiya Ran Vimanak Ve"
'Jathiya Ran Vimanak Ve" is a collection of poems written by the Tibetan monk Ven. S. Mahinda Thera. The book contains some of his popular poems, such as "Nidahas Dehena," "Nidahase Manthraya," "Lanka Matha," "Jathika Thotilla," "Ada Lak Mavage Puttu," "Nidahasa," "Videshikayakugen Lakmavata Namaskarayak," "Sinhala Jathiya," "Jathika Veerayo" and "Sihala Vikum". Two award winning essays written by A. K. P. P. Elgiriya and R. Malliyavadu are also included in the book.
"Pembara Lanka"
Premachandra Alwis's "Pembara Lanka' is the unabridged Sinhala translation of R.H. Bassett's "Romantic Ceylon". Although very little is known about Bassett, he appears to have served in many parts of the island. The book, first published in 1929, gives a detailed account of the communal harmony that existed among the Sinhalese, Tamils, Muslims and Europeans. The author has been a keen observer of cultural activities, myths, superstitions and foreign invasions. He has given some of the most startling facts about Jaffna hitherto not discussed by any other writer. Premachandra Alwis is a senior journalist and a reputed translator who won the State Literary Award for "Vanagatha Lanka" in 2000. - R. S. Karunaratne
Described after a Liszt recital as 'a pianist of Herculean stamina', Robin Zebaida enjoys a flourishing international career. In the first half of 2002 alone it has taken him to the USA, Canada, Hong Kong, South Africa and Australia, where his Sydney recital was reported as achieving 'a warmth and empathy with the audience rarely seen'. At home in London, he has performed at various venues including St. John's Smith Square and the Queen Elizabeth Hall. Wide ranging and versatile recital performances encompass not only standard repertoire from Bach to Gershwin but also many unfamiliar or neglected composers. Particular areas of interest include Russian music, orchestral and vocal transcriptions, and music for the left hand. A former recipient of awards from the Ann Driver Trust, which supports musical education, Robin Zebaida also very much enjoys the opportunity to combine recital tours with teaching. As well as individual coaching for pianists and chamber groups, he gives masterclasses around the globe in English, French and German. He has examined for the Associated Board of the Royal Schools of Music since 1998. Robin Zebaida was born and educated in London, England, later winning an Exhibition to read music at New College, Oxford, from where he graduated with maximum distinction in performance. He completed his formal studies with a postgraduate year at the Royal College of Music, followed by further private tuition. His programme in Colombo will include works by Chopin, Tehaikovsky and Godowsky and three English pieces by Ireland, Vaughan Williams and Moeran. |
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Produced by Lake House |
Edited by Lakshman Jayawardane
By Ven. S. Mahinda Thera
By Premachandra Alwis
British pianist Robin Zebaida will be in concert in The British Council
on Thursday 24 October at 7 p.m. at the British Council hall. Tickets
(from the Arts Office of the BC).
