FRI, FEB 21
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Watched
A Death in the Gunj
Movie by Konkona Sen Sharma · 2017
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Konkona Sen Sharma's directorial debut, A Death in the Gunj, presents itself as a quiet, evocative exploration of a small town, a family reunion, and the inevitable unfolding of hidden universal anxieties, around a central figure.
The film drifts gently through the lives of its other characters, much like the languid rhythms of a summer in rural India. A film of this nature, I would say, requires not just an appreciation of its pace but a deeper, more sensitive attunement to the undercurrents that move beneath the seemingly placid surface.
edited
❤️
In the manner of Ray’s cinematic oeuvre, Sharma’s camera lingers, patiently observing, giving each moment time to breathe but not to rest. The mundanity of everyday life, the seemingly trivial conversations, are punctuated with a creeping sense of dread as we follow our lead, Vikrant Massey, in the role of Shutu, a young man suffocated by the expectations of his family. His hopelessness and anxieties are all too familiar and taken to the extreme, in a cruel linearity of events that drive home the point that the universe has never been on anyone's side.
There is no rush to the climax, and the film doesn’t force the viewer into a reaction. It just takes you along for a silent ride.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?…
The film is actually based on a short story written by Konkona's father, Mukul Sharma. It was inspired by his experience in McCluskieganj, Jharkhand.
Sharma and his then-wife, director Aparna Sen, had bought a house there, where a planchette session went wrong, and ultimately led to the mysterious death of a participant, a Mr. Chris Tripthorpe.