Minimalist art has always looked at life pretty simply. It s the urge to reflect life devoid of the creator s own personal, social or demographic influence is what has made this form of art so appealing. Without going into the debate of bridging Modern with the Post-modern it is probably safe to assume, doing more with less is difficult to produce and even more difficult to apprehend. Watercolour for example is a minimalist medium with respect to the transparency water brings into the medium dark shades placed on the canvas as pigments from the tube, adding water dilutes it. So to say, watercolour leaves spaces instead of painting that space opaque. Calligraphy is one of the popular exponents of the power of the medium minimal, simple and poignant. In literature, haiku closely matches minimalism in content where simplicity in itself is ultimately sophisticated. Thus it s extremely relevant that in a film where Japan comes as an important reference, minimalism will play the keynote in its definition of art. Unfortunately, in Indian psyche minimalism in art is a borrowed concept and seldom internalized. It comes as a surprise hence, that Aparna Sen s latest film The Japanese wife is such a glowing exception.
Notwithstanding the basic premise where a couple lives an unusual conjugate life for 17 years without physically meeting each other, the film treads on the long-tested path of love and sorrow. If the central theme s practicality is questioned (it can well be), then this film can t be seen in the light of its own. There are few love stories in the world which are uncommon and yet they belong to the peripheries of this earthly world. If we can accept this rationale of the film then we can be ready for some of the hidden treasures it offers.
As mentioned, minimalist painting is something which has its own place, its own set of parameters to judge with. To transcend that for cinema is difficult and probably unfair as well. From culture studies perspective, placement of cinema in the trope of common art theories will more often than not, lead to a failure. However, conceptually there are identities which we can now deliberate further.
Life flows on as a river. There are tides and ebbs. Through the crests and troughs generations proceed from one life to the next. In the film, the river Matla plays a vital role. It is the lifeline of Snehamoy, the protagonist. One one hand it acts as a bridge between isolated individual and the society. We can see shots of boats carrying people across the river. The river further acts as a vehicle of emotions for the battered soul Snehamoy just floats on it in his boat whenever he is lonely, whenever he wants to be intimate with his wife physically and also emotionally. On the other, the river acts as an opaque stroke of non-communication when the torrential rain stops the normal ferrying of boats across it. In some masterly camerawork we see the calm river, the turbulent one and the ferocious other. It depicts the inner self. Since everything is looked upon from a Nature point-of-view, here is a law beyond our comprehension which puts things back to normalcy and life flows. This global intelligence of nature is what makes man helpless in front of nature, this why a human creator should refrain from being a prophet he/she can at-most depict life in its fragments, to philosophize or to order is beyond the scope. In line with this we find there are 3 deaths in the film Miyagi s (the Japanese wife) dog (whose name is Haiku!), her mother and Snehamoy, and all three so sublimely unemotional. The camera is an observer and narrator of a slice of life in a part of the world. It seldom pries the other half which is hidden from the audience the Japanese wife s presence is henceforth like Japanese watercolor calligraphy minimal yet natural.
River is also the mother. The life of Snehamoy is influenced by three women his aunt, a young widow, and his Japanese wife. He plays the role of a son to his aunt, the role of a dutiful husband when he visits every possible doctor available for his wife s treatment and that of a responsible father to the son of the widow. Placement of river as the mother archetype is poignant in the scenes where Snehamoy experiences the river internally. He feels the lapping of the river as if his mother caresses him and he returns to his boat, his private abode on the river to masturbate a strong oedipal reference of human beings with Mother Nature. Drawing reference from Tantrik philosophy, we can think of the inverted triangle here representing the feminine Shakti energy. The horizontal line represents stability (the aunt) and the two diagonal lines represent movement (the wife and the widow). And at the centre is the bindu the symbol of Purusha (Snehamoy). Snehamoy here represents Shiva who leads a life of celibacy in the form of Tapasya . Tapa as opposed to Rasa is the internal awakening, the inner uplift and passive gaze whereas the river represents Rasa . The red will of the wife which she sent to Snehamoy acts as the symbol of union the union of the Purusha with the Prakriti (merging of White- representing male reproductive fluid with Red representing female reproductive fluid). So after the disaster and destruction the Prakriti is green, maternal. In denouncing the Vedic path and embracing the Tantrik stance, the director moves closer to nature colourful, tyrannical and without prejudice. The kite-flying scenario is also important here the Purusha way of coluring the Prakriti , the strings of the kites like lines of colour distinctly unique and collectively radiant. In one of the last scenes (after Snehamoy s death) there is a black-white shot of Snehamoy gliding in his boat there is absolute serenity and calmness, the journey from the worldly world to the other world the resurrection from death with the help of Tapa .
The intermingling of the existential world with the cosmic taking a minimalist stance is what makes this cinematic experience so memorable. As pointed out earlier, logical consistencies are to be overlooked because life is not always logical. Moreover, the simplistic rendition in a minimalist genre strips off the sophistication of putting forth a complex urban rationale. By self-reflexivity then, any critique of the film including this one should be simple, straightforward and minimal. That I have delved deep into mythology and the other genres is in sheer admiration of this work of art nice, taut and sublime.
Rest is the viewer s Ananda , her love and her dream.
Notwithstanding the basic premise where a couple lives an unusual conjugate life for 17 years without physically meeting each other, the film treads on the long-tested path of love and sorrow. If the central theme s practicality is questioned (it can well be), then this film can t be seen in the light of its own. There are few love stories in the world which are uncommon and yet they belong to the peripheries of this earthly world. If we can accept this rationale of the film then we can be ready for some of the hidden treasures it offers.
As mentioned, minimalist painting is something which has its own place, its own set of parameters to judge with. To transcend that for cinema is difficult and probably unfair as well. From culture studies perspective, placement of cinema in the trope of common art theories will more often than not, lead to a failure. However, conceptually there are identities which we can now deliberate further.
Life flows on as a river. There are tides and ebbs. Through the crests and troughs generations proceed from one life to the next. In the film, the river Matla plays a vital role. It is the lifeline of Snehamoy, the protagonist. One one hand it acts as a bridge between isolated individual and the society. We can see shots of boats carrying people across the river. The river further acts as a vehicle of emotions for the battered soul Snehamoy just floats on it in his boat whenever he is lonely, whenever he wants to be intimate with his wife physically and also emotionally. On the other, the river acts as an opaque stroke of non-communication when the torrential rain stops the normal ferrying of boats across it. In some masterly camerawork we see the calm river, the turbulent one and the ferocious other. It depicts the inner self. Since everything is looked upon from a Nature point-of-view, here is a law beyond our comprehension which puts things back to normalcy and life flows. This global intelligence of nature is what makes man helpless in front of nature, this why a human creator should refrain from being a prophet he/she can at-most depict life in its fragments, to philosophize or to order is beyond the scope. In line with this we find there are 3 deaths in the film Miyagi s (the Japanese wife) dog (whose name is Haiku!), her mother and Snehamoy, and all three so sublimely unemotional. The camera is an observer and narrator of a slice of life in a part of the world. It seldom pries the other half which is hidden from the audience the Japanese wife s presence is henceforth like Japanese watercolor calligraphy minimal yet natural.
River is also the mother. The life of Snehamoy is influenced by three women his aunt, a young widow, and his Japanese wife. He plays the role of a son to his aunt, the role of a dutiful husband when he visits every possible doctor available for his wife s treatment and that of a responsible father to the son of the widow. Placement of river as the mother archetype is poignant in the scenes where Snehamoy experiences the river internally. He feels the lapping of the river as if his mother caresses him and he returns to his boat, his private abode on the river to masturbate a strong oedipal reference of human beings with Mother Nature. Drawing reference from Tantrik philosophy, we can think of the inverted triangle here representing the feminine Shakti energy. The horizontal line represents stability (the aunt) and the two diagonal lines represent movement (the wife and the widow). And at the centre is the bindu the symbol of Purusha (Snehamoy). Snehamoy here represents Shiva who leads a life of celibacy in the form of Tapasya . Tapa as opposed to Rasa is the internal awakening, the inner uplift and passive gaze whereas the river represents Rasa . The red will of the wife which she sent to Snehamoy acts as the symbol of union the union of the Purusha with the Prakriti (merging of White- representing male reproductive fluid with Red representing female reproductive fluid). So after the disaster and destruction the Prakriti is green, maternal. In denouncing the Vedic path and embracing the Tantrik stance, the director moves closer to nature colourful, tyrannical and without prejudice. The kite-flying scenario is also important here the Purusha way of coluring the Prakriti , the strings of the kites like lines of colour distinctly unique and collectively radiant. In one of the last scenes (after Snehamoy s death) there is a black-white shot of Snehamoy gliding in his boat there is absolute serenity and calmness, the journey from the worldly world to the other world the resurrection from death with the help of Tapa .
The intermingling of the existential world with the cosmic taking a minimalist stance is what makes this cinematic experience so memorable. As pointed out earlier, logical consistencies are to be overlooked because life is not always logical. Moreover, the simplistic rendition in a minimalist genre strips off the sophistication of putting forth a complex urban rationale. By self-reflexivity then, any critique of the film including this one should be simple, straightforward and minimal. That I have delved deep into mythology and the other genres is in sheer admiration of this work of art nice, taut and sublime.
Rest is the viewer s Ananda , her love and her dream.
A very good article. And you are right, if we question the practicality of the central theme, the film cannot be seen in its own light. The theme and settings should be considered as surreal and the film should be appreciated from that perspective
ReplyDelete