The wait is over for ‘According to Matthew’
A still from the film: Fr. Mathew Peiris (played by Alston Koch)
Overcoming many a challenge, the much-anticipated and eagerly-awaited gripping but also chilling tale of illicit love or was it lust, treachery, betrayal and murder will hit the silver screen next week.
‘According to Matthew’ in English and just ‘Matthew’ in Sinhala will be in local cinemas on November 23 (Friday) and well-known film-maker Chandran Rutnam is a contented man. The movie will go across the seas to America, to be released there on December 14, while already there is a major buzz in India about it with various trailers originating from there on YouTube.
Two and a half long years Mr. Rutnam has waited to see this day dawn and he gives us a glimpse of what happened ‘behind-the-scenes’ not when shooting the movie but linked to the real-life characters of the movie – even vociferous calls from the clergy to those in high places “to ban it”.
“We had interference by the families using influence and creating issues behind-the-scenes, with the clergy also raising objections,” he says, reliving those difficult times when they made it hard to find locations, when no church was available.
However, veteran Rutnam is adamant that no one can stop a film-maker. If there are hurdles here, a film-maker will go somewhere else. “For me, when making a movie, objections and hurdles don’t matter. Making films is our job.”
The major delays hit him post-production, but “we overcame them and we are not unhappy”, he says, pointing out that he didn’t change any part of the film.
Chandran Rutnam: A timely film
The film’s plot revolves around the romance between Anglican priest Fr. Mathew Peiris (played by singer Alston Koch) and Delrene Ingram (as Daphne played by stunning former Miss Sri Lanka and Bollywood actress Jacqueline Fernandez), both married to others and a double-murder most foul, with exorcism rituals and hints of sexual abuse thrown in. The beautiful Church of St. Paul the Apostle, down Kynsey Road in Colombo 8 was the backdrop for these heinous affairs.
The English title ‘According to Matthew’ puns on Christian symbolism and adds a twist to the ‘Gospel by Matthew’ (one of four canonical gospels) written by a disciple of Jesus Christ.
Having gone through all that and feeling somewhat disappointed at the treatment meted out to him as a film-maker, Mr. Rutnam is very proud that he did it – for all around the world, the clergy of various faiths have been using their ‘uniform’ or position to sexually abuse children.
“Our film shows that we must not trust everyone explicitly and that we have to be vigilant. We trust and honour our pastors and our clergy, but we need to be careful as parents not to submit our children to atrocities committed by some of them, as the Pennsylvania scandal shows,” he says, adding that thus ‘According to Matthew’ is not only an important but also a timely film.
Delving into the character of Fr. Mathew Peiris, Mr. Rutnam says he had both a good and bad side. He wanted to help people. But he evaluated such people and while helping some he also exploited those he could help and abuse.
Referring to a small technical glitch, this film-maker says that earlier he was not happy with the sound, so he went back to Hollywood and did a ‘re-mix’. He also took into account comments from people who saw the earlier preview. “So, the delay was not a bad thing for me – in fact, it was good.”
Mr. Rutnam is sure that if there is a good movie, people will flock to see it whether it is a Sunday or poya or whether the country is restive or not. There is no season for a good movie.
As he awaits the public’s response, he already has his next “big” project on the table. He will be doing a movie in Assam, India on ‘Toomi of the elephants’ based on Rudyard Kipling’s ‘Jungle Book’ .