Koozhangal

"Pebbles," a film by PS Vinothraj is a cinematic story that is analytical and sensual at the same time, a small narrative and abstract allegory and he meditates on the most sublime cinematic level on his story, the characters and the landscape. Vinoth's accents are mainly based on the rhythm of the day, landscapes and animals, visible for example in the opening scene. It is followed by the introduction of Ganapathy, sweat drips as every forward step he takes boils him alive. He drops by the school, interrupts the class and glances over to spot his son. This is not a dad trying to be hip and cool Infront of the teacher. The camera rummages to introduce us to Velu, he stands shaken, looking up with fear. He is pulled out of the classroom; next shot we see Velu maintaining a distance and walking behind his father. Coated in rage and sweat, Ganapathy turns to Velu and asks, "Do you love your mother or me?"

Velu stands in silence and is questioned again, he maintains the usual stare looking at his father who has pulled him out to accompany him to his in-laws' village and bring back his mother, who has left him to escape his abuse. What follows next is a road trip of Ganapathy and Velu on foot and the film manages to transcend drama and pain by speaking in silence, in the language of visuals. It is confronted with the clash of emotions with the harsh realities of the desolated landscapes. One has the feeling of experiencing the action from the perspective of the characters on the one hand, and on the other hand, by removing them, the harshness of the scene is emphasized. The characters are given space to sweat and the scenes are prolonged in length which is too pedestrian. It is haunting as the grim reality of the plot is deliberately multiplied by the inclusion of landscapes that are as hostile to life as possible. However, the silence is not particularly bad for me, as the film stages its story with masterful restraint. Vinoth allows for emotions, actually narrates and delves into endless deserted shots, which - one must say - never seem artificial and is very organic till the last frame where an old lady is inside the pit to collect a pot of water while others wait, the chances are less but life goes on.

The Cinematography is obviously so masterful even with a simple plot it is based on visual components in such a way that monotony the action only gains quality through the concrete form in Jeya Parthiban and Vignesh Kumulai's work. Another major highlight is the Sound design by Hari Prasad, it works so well. For the most part, it is accompanied by the ambient sounds of a deserted wasteland - birds chirping, trees rustling, the splash of water from the pot inside the bus, baby crying, rats squeaking, a girl throwing dried leaves high into the air, an airplane, TVS xl bike, a puppy playing with coke bottle, a snake slithering on the surface. The elements are out in full force and the result is a soundscape both epic eventually growing into something disturbing. Mention of the soundtrack necessarily means discussion of Yuvan Shankar Raja and his minimalistic score. It lays silent, or at least practically invisible, during the runtime only to erupt all of a sudden. The score in the penultimate scene showing a beautiful bond with Velu, his little sister playing with the puppy is of the highest order.

But the great strength of the film is probably the acting, the standout performance comes from Ganapathy excellently played by Karuththadaiyaan, he nailed as the abusive father and reveals a lot of toxic masculinity with rage. Velu is extraordinary, his gaze is filled with despair and longing for hope as he is part of his father's toxicity, misogyny and you know the rest and it's like every other day for him. My favorite scene is when Velu picks up shards of glass from a broken mirror and reflects the sun rays on his father's bare back while sucking on the pebble to keep saliva going, it is a brilliant scene, an innocent act of rebellion.

Overall, this film is not high on entertainment, and I'm very hesitant to recommend it to everyone due to its pacing which is its greatest asset. In the fast-paced smartphone generation to sit through "Pebbles" is a big yawn and I'm so glad that director Ram, Yuvan Shankar Raja and Rowdy Pictures stood by Vinoth and backed his vision. I couldn't be more excited for Koozhangal to represent India as it will be competing in the International Feature Film category at the Academy to be held in March 2022. Since there are not many reviews yet, I shared my thoughts on this gem and I hope this movie can harvest as many awards as it can, hopefully the Oscars (eventhough the competition is tough).

That said, I'm glad that the future of Tamil indie cinema is in good hands with talents like P. S. Vinothraj, Kamalakannan, Arun Matheswaran, Vijay Jayapal, Arun Prabu Purushothaman, Thiagarajan Kumararaja, Jayaprakash Radhakrishnan, Balaji Vembu Chelli, Leena Manimekalai, Arun Karthick, Manoj Leonel Jahson and Shyam Sunder.