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| PORKKALAM
MOVIE REVIEW |
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| Review
by : Behindwoods review board |
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Starring:
: Kishore, Sathyan, Tinu Anand.
Direction:
Saroj Kumar
Music:
Rohit Kulkarni
Production:
A Barani Minerals Production |
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Porkkalam
can be called an experiment,
a brave one. The director has
started off with a vision and
remained faithful to it all
the way. The only problem is
that the vision is one that
is hard to sell. The director
seems to have focused more on
the technical aspects of film
making, choosing to go for a
style that is rarely adopted
in Kollywood. In a recent interview
he said that the entire film
was shot in desaturated color.
Now, you have to watch the movie
to know what that means.
Porkkalam tells the story of
man who stands up to a whole
gang of bad men to rescue a
woman who had come to him for
help. There is nothing much
to elaborate upon the story.
What makes it interesting and
different to an extent is a
fact about the male protagonist
(Kishore) that is revealed only
in the second half. The revelation
is bound to surprise the audience
and the director must be commended
for holding the cards close
to his chest without appearing
unconvincing. Once the fact
is opened to the audience the
pieces that evoked curiosity
in the first half seem to fall
into place to make a plausible
picture.
But as said above, the movie
is more about technical |
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aspects than the main plot. The director
has chosen to go for a grayscale look throughout
the movie. There are also many points where
there is a high degree of contrast between
the background and characters on screen.
The camera angles too, mainly the bottom
angle shots, are not staple to commercial
Tamil cinema. But, the most striking feature
of Porkkalam is the pace at which the scenes
move. The scenes literally inch forward,
testing the patience of the viewer at many
points. By saying that the scenes move slowly
does not mean that the screenplay is slow.
It seems to be the pace at which the frames
move. There are times when the audience
would want the reels to run faster for some
pace to be induced into the movie, albeit
artificially. It is almost as if we are
watching things in semi-slow motion. Sometimes,
the narrative seems more suited to the graphic
novel medium which is yet to gain popularity
in India. Overall, the technical treatment
that has been given to the movie gives a
partial surreal feel.
Kishore has carried off his first lead role
with responsibility. The ‘certain
fact’ that his character has and the
means he used to overcome the difficulties
posed by the ‘fact’ have been
well performed. Though it might not appear
all that realistic that a man saddled with
such a ‘fact’ can rise above
the odds to fight off so many men, Kishore
has still managed to do a fair job, credit
is also due to the director. Sampath is
his usual menacing self as the antagonist
while Biju Menon, Lal and Ponvannan appear
in brief roles. Newcomer Smitha does not
get much to do.
The action scenes do not appear over the
top despite the nature of the movie. The
director has rightly acknowledged the frailties
of the human body – anyone who gets
hit hard once with a solid weapon does not
come back to fight; which makes things believable.
The only glitch is in the climax fight,
where Kishore battles everybody with an
axe slashed at his back whereas his opponents
fall just like a pack of cards with a single
blow.
In keeping with the tone and feel of the
rest of the movie, even the fight scenes
appear to be slow encounters. There are
absolutely no commercial additives in the
form of romance or comedy, the director
has stuck to the main track right through
the length of the movie. A song or two make
their appearance (music by Rohith Kulkarni)
briefly but are cut out soon.
Overall,
Porkkalam seems to be a movie where the
director was more intent on giving a new
technical experience rather than an absorbing
storyline. The technical brilliance of
the film can only be felt in theatres
with sophisticated facilities which are
just a handful. Once the film crosses
Tambaram, the audience would get to watch
only a dark product on screen. This would
work disadvantageous for Porkkalam.
To
be fair to Bandi Sarojkumar, he seems
to have delivered what he intended to.
But, the problem here is that the semi-slow
motion nature of scenes, the surreal feel
and ‘desaturated color’ do
not make for particularly entertaining
viewing. But it is possible that a few
of the technical aspects used here might
be seen more often in Tamil cinema henceforth.
Verdict:
Technology overrides content
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