Mathilukal (Malayalam, The Walls, 1990)
Written & Directed by: Adoor Gopalakrishna
(Autobiography of Vaikom Muhammad Basheer)
This is another classic from Kerala's son of the soil. It tickles our minds to consider two things. Firstly, human beings are creatures of routine. The other is we are social animals.
A routine schedule gives them a purpose to this entity called life. No matter how purposeless the rituals may be, we would do it diligently as if it were a higher calling. We would find a legitimate explanation to justify our actions, perhaps give a scientific twist to it. In absence of these 'unwritten' rules and left to our own devices, we would probably just rot away trying to fulfil the indulges that satisfy our primal needs. This would just make the human race a band of sloppy sluggards. Soon enough, the species would be decimated from the face of Earth.
Written & Directed by: Adoor Gopalakrishna
(Autobiography of Vaikom Muhammad Basheer)
This is another classic from Kerala's son of the soil. It tickles our minds to consider two things. Firstly, human beings are creatures of routine. The other is we are social animals.
A routine schedule gives them a purpose to this entity called life. No matter how purposeless the rituals may be, we would do it diligently as if it were a higher calling. We would find a legitimate explanation to justify our actions, perhaps give a scientific twist to it. In absence of these 'unwritten' rules and left to our own devices, we would probably just rot away trying to fulfil the indulges that satisfy our primal needs. This would just make the human race a band of sloppy sluggards. Soon enough, the species would be decimated from the face of Earth.
Being social animals, we need to interact with each other. This interaction could be in person, via mail, in cyberspace or just by hearing a responsive voice, as we learn to appreciate from this film. And the voice does not need a face to go with it.
Being in prison cuts us off from our desire to be free. It put us into a routine, which hopefully will make us reassess our existence. The routine nature of life there hopes to put us back into the loop of living purposefully.
Having human interaction is construed as a luxury for inmates. Hence, solitary confinement is threatened as a stick to cow them to conform to the rules of gaols.
This legendary offering with a string of accolades behind its name tells of the author’s autobiography during his incarceration during the pre-independence era in the 1940s when he was charged with treason for writing ‘anti-National’ articles. The film can roughly be divided into two parts.
In the first, we learn that he is respected by jailers and fellow inmates. He gets on jolly well with other prisoners, considering the usual stereotype about prison politics we get from movies. Everyone has a backstory justifying their crime and the circumstances that pushed them to commit them. Basheer, the protagonist, is well respected, for everyone knows about his incisive writings.
One day, there was quite an excitement when many political prisoners were released when the colonial masters had a change of heart. Unfortunately, Basheer's name is not on the list. Basheer is left alone without his friends. The small rose garden he cultivated around the compound started growing, giving him some tranquillity.
Being in prison cuts us off from our desire to be free. It put us into a routine, which hopefully will make us reassess our existence. The routine nature of life there hopes to put us back into the loop of living purposefully.Having human interaction is construed as a luxury for inmates. Hence, solitary confinement is threatened as a stick to cow them to conform to the rules of gaols.
This legendary offering with a string of accolades behind its name tells of the author’s autobiography during his incarceration during the pre-independence era in the 1940s when he was charged with treason for writing ‘anti-National’ articles. The film can roughly be divided into two parts.
In the first, we learn that he is respected by jailers and fellow inmates. He gets on jolly well with other prisoners, considering the usual stereotype about prison politics we get from movies. Everyone has a backstory justifying their crime and the circumstances that pushed them to commit them. Basheer, the protagonist, is well respected, for everyone knows about his incisive writings.
One day, there was quite an excitement when many political prisoners were released when the colonial masters had a change of heart. Unfortunately, Basheer's name is not on the list. Basheer is left alone without his friends. The small rose garden he cultivated around the compound started growing, giving him some tranquillity.
One day, whilst tending his garden, whistling, Basheer hears a feminine voice from the other side of the tall prison wall. What started as time-pass slowly evolved from a non-essential banter to possibly something romantic. It came to a time when that was the most looked forward moment of the day!Finally, when the day came for release, Basheer was actually in two minds about whether he should leave as he would miss his conversationalist across the wall. How ironic. He wanted to leave the prison all the while, but now he is sad about leaving. How routine and meaningful interaction brought purpose to life!
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.
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