The world of Kurosawa, Ray, Ozu, Fellini and Antonioni is what that always inspired Girish Kasaravalli, who won the National Film Award for Best Feature Film four times - for ‘Ghatashraddha’, ‘Tabarana Kathe’, ‘Thaayi Saheba’ and ‘Dweepa.’ The city-based Banner Film Society has picked four of Kasaravalli’s favourite films for its monthly film festival to be held at Lenin Balavadi at Vazhuthacaud on January 20.
The festival kicks off with Kaneto Shindo’s ‘The Naked Island’, arguably one of the masterpieces of the Japanese New Wave at 9.30 am. Set on a small island in the Setonaikai archipelago, the body of water that separates the three main islands of Japan, this is a story of hardship that frames the struggles of a peasant family against an awe-inspiring yet unforgiving landscape.
At 11.30 am is Antonioni’s ‘La Notte’, considered to be part of Antonioni’s ‘trilogy of alienation’, which included ‘L’Avventura’ and ‘L’Eclisse.’ All of these films, including most others in Antonioni’s oeuvre, focus on the internal developments that take place in the minds of the principal characters. ‘La Notte’ is supposed to be a study in the failure of communication.
Of all the great masters, it was Ozu who inspired Kasaravalli the most. Ozu’s last film, ‘An Autumn Afternoon’, will be screened at 2.30 pm. Made in 1962, the film makes particular use of the colour red to draw our eyes deeper into the frame. In almost every shot there is something red or orange in the foreground, middle distance, and back - probably a stool, a vase or a book.
Even though they mean nothing in particular, the red objects prevent the eye from reading the shot on a flat plane, giving the film more depth. Ozu’s cinematic style is so distinctive that you can tell an Ozu film almost from a single shot. Shot mostly indoors, his camera is at the eye-level and hardly ever moves. His shots often begin before anyone enters the frame, and end after the frame is empty again. There is meticulous attention to the things within the shot.
At 4.30 pm, the festival will screen ‘Raise the Red Lantern’ by Zhang Yimou. It is an adaptation by Ni Zhen of the 1990 novel ‘Wives and Concubines’ by Su Tong. The film was later adapted into an acclaimed ballet of the same title by the National Ballet of China, also directed by Zhang. Set in the 1920s, the film tells the story of a young woman who becomes one of the concubines of a wealthy man during the Warlord Era. It is noted for its opulent visuals and sumptuous use of colours.