A clever ambiguous movie that takes on Colombo society
Angela Seneviratne as Tilly and below, Jehan Mendis as Mahesh and Kaushalya Fernando playing the role of his mother Norma
Rehan Mudannayake is a gifted filmmaker. His short film “Elephant” (script by Ashok Ferrey, Sheela Lal, and Rehan Mudannayake) has nothing to do with elephants. Like the film, the title is enigmatic, and could be interpreted in terms of the saying: “There’s an elephant in the room and no one wants to talk about it.” Possibly, the title is a euphemism for a character called Mahesh, who lives with his younger brother and middle-aged mother (a down-to-earth, responsible woman) in a house somewhere in Colombo 7.
Mahesh is probably employed but we do not know what his line of work is. (A hint by the director would have been useful.) He is a quiet, serious-minded person, but there appears to be a moody, introverted side to him as well. His younger brother (whose name is never mentioned) is immersed in research on grease yakas. Coarse language, artistic arrogance, and a smug, rebellious attitude are his defining characteristics. He does not have a regular income and lives off his mother (Norma). Is she a widow or a divorcée? We have no idea. But one thing is clear: this is an English-speaking, upper-middle class family. It is part of Colombo’s landed gentry; not of the nouveau riche, who come from a different background (trade/business).
Their mother’s elder sister (a slightly crazy, good-looking woman who is taken for a ride by a Spanish playboy) used to live in Southern Spain. Her name is Tilly. She once owned a plantation (her inheritance), but sold it in order to migrate to Spain. Now she is back and leading a quiet, lonely existence in Galle. If there is one thing that Southern Spain (Granada, Cordoba) shares with Galle, it is the strong Moorish influence. Perhaps this is why she decides to live in Galle, so she could imagine she’s still living in Granada. The film was shot entirely in Sri Lanka, but when we catch a glimpse of a narrow street with an intriguing cosmopolitan ambience, we wonder: Is this Galle or Granada? These kinds of ambiguities are created with remarkable sensibility.
Tilly is broke and waiting to die. (We are not certain what her illness is – cancer, perhaps). She is very fond of Mahesh and leaves her house to him in her will. After her death, he goes to Galle to clean up the house and discovers some old letters and postcards she had written Norma from Spain. (Presumably, they had all been returned to Tilly by her sister when she returned to Sri Lanka.) While going through the pile of correspondence, he discovers a dark secret about himself that leaves him visibly shaken. The film ends shortly after bursting the bubble of sham and hypocrisy surrounding this so-called respectable family.
The director wisely resists the temptation to extend the storyline and provide a clear, unambiguous ending. Had he done so, the emotional impact as well as the enigmatic quality of the movie would have been lost. “Elephant” is a stylish art-house movie, not a mainstream product. The film clearly has an objective: to expose the double standards of the Colombo elite and to prick the balloon of complacency and self-deceit with a needle. The Colombo elite wield a great deal of power and influence in Sri Lankan society. They also have many skeletons in the closet. In other words, the film has plenty of material to play with. But it does not attempt to take on too much. The script is handled with maturity and finesse.
The film, on the whole, is expertly crafted with the sparse dialogue, minimalist music (composed by Natasha Nathanielsz and Isaac Smith), and deft camera work blending into a cohesive whole. The interior lighting is full of poetic imagery and carries a hint of Caravaggio. The script is subtle and provocative and loaded with sub-text. The deeper one goes, the deeper one sees. The two sisters (played by Angela Seneviratne and Kaushalya Fernando) are as different as chalk and cheese. The same goes for the two brothers (played by Jehan Mendis and Ruvin de Silva). Thanks to some superb acting by the quartet, the uniqueness of each character is clearly brought out. The supporting cast includes Bimsara Premaratne, Dushi Parakrama and Arun Welandawe-Prematilleke, who perform their respective roles with aplomb.
The sombre mood and dark humour combined with slick cinematography bring to mind the films of Bergman and Antonioni. “Elephant” has intellectual depth as well as emotional resonance and scores highly in terms of artistic merit. The use of visual imagery to suggest similarities between Galle and Southern Spain in respect of Moorish culture and architecture is a splendid artistic innovation. The slick manipulation of past and present is another.
In recent years, it has become fashionable for local movies to embrace ethnic conflict as their central theme. In 2005, one of our top film directors, Vimukthi Jayasundara, made an award-winning movie called “The Forsaken Land”, set in a border village during the time of the Ceasefire Agreement. And this started the ball rolling. While the ethnic conflict (which could erupt again if the ongoing reconciliation effort fails miserably) should continue to receive attention, one would like to see other pervasive social and cultural issues also being addressed by local filmmakers.
In this regard, Rehan Mudannayake’s debut movie (shot in English) represents a point of departure. (Note, the executive producer is Vimukthi Jayasundara.) The former is probably the first Sri Lankan director to make a movie about the Colombo elite. The film, though short (about 29 minutes), is packed with tasty morsels that would surely appeal to the palates of art-house movie buffs. The ambiguity that pervades every aspect of the film is its strength, not its weakness.
To date, the movie has been screened three times: once at the Harold Peiris Gallery (short version) and twice at the British Council (longer version). On all three occasions, the halls were packed to capacity.