In This Corner of the World / Thondimuthalum Driksakshiyum

Ever since I watched this movie during that long flight, its been looping around in the mind for quite sometime now. Writing about it may in a way help in getting rid of it, I thought.

I've always loved Anime movies - not just because of the superior art, but also because of the story telling, the nuances of the whole experience as well. The Studio Ghibli movies were , as for most people, the favorite and have read about 'In this corner of the world' multiple time in the past year or so. Though have the movie available at home, never got around to watch it.

The story of Suzu, a little girl who lives through the war years in Japan, near the city of Hiroshima, at first sounds very cliche but once the movie starts, it is difficult not to invest yourself in her life. The movie starts in the late 1930s and end after the atomic bombing of Hiroshima.

We start knowing Suzu as a 8-9 year old and she takes us through the various moments of her life. She gets married to Shusuku - whom she hardly knows but slowly starts to love him as the movie progresses. Shusuku, himself is a very kind person and everyone in his family loves Suzu. We are taken through Suzu's everyday life - her challenges, taking water from the pipe in the early morning and climbing the hill to the house, the soul sucking cooking she does through the day and in the midst of it all, she finds time somehow to do a little pencil drawing as well.

As the war progresses, she finds innovative ways of cooking with the little rations, deals with the air raid bunkers and the loss of her right hand and her niece Harumi in a bombing and just is resilient to live her life through it all.

There is also a little tale of Ketsu - who loves Suzu (it is not clear whether Suzu ever loved him) and comes visiting her and spends a night with her. They spend it talking, drawing etc. and Shusuku comes out as a bigger person with some unassailable love for his wife.

What I loved is the characterization of Suzu. Though she looks fragile and talks naively, she grows to be a very strong woman. You see the transformation happening in the way she handles the ration shortcomings and the innovative ways she manages the household. There is a never-give-up spirit she has which is very hard to avoid to notice and you keep cheering for her through all those adversity. Then again, there is a profound sadness that hangs around her but she is always hopeful.

The movie - this I've not seen in many movies - has a certain humanity in the way it deals with everyone. The scene when she starts seeing brushstrokes during an air raid transformed into something of an impressionist drawing basically tell all we need to know about Suzu.

It is difficult not to think of life as something of a gift and have some of Suzu's enthusiasm towards it creep into your soul after watching it. Probably one of the best animes I've seen.

Thondimuthalum Driksakshiyum

The standard movie formula of a good guy, bad guy and a crime to solve is what is taken for a ride in this amazing movie. I was hooked with that short 5 minute love episode which starts the whole movie with such a charm, which never really vanished through the movie.

Charm - may be a wrong word here. The story is simple - After an inter-caste marriage, the lead couple flee their native to go to Kasargod to start life anew. In the bus, Sreeja's chain is stolen and she catches the thief in the act. Now all three of them - Prasad, Sreeja and the thief - are in the police station. What happens there is the entire movie.

The movie is a story of survival. Everyone struggle to survive against all odds - Prasad and Sreeja, with all the opposition for their marriage, they want to start a new life with that chain as the collateral. The thief - Faahad Fazil, showing why he is probably the best young actor in Malayalam cinema - is never named but is trying to get out of the police station in one piece. The SI, the head constable are all trying to save their jobs and find a way to close the case.

In a way, there is not much of a story - what we see is a vignette of life of these 4 characters during a short span of time. The normalcy of the daily life turned around by a simple act of thievery and which gets complicated with the thief having his way around by simply trying to manipulate everyone is the core drama of the movie.

What is lovely about it is the way the characters are etched, the little quirkiness in their actions, the compassion they develop for each other - even for the police - the struggle to survive against the odds are all very human and you end up confused as to whom to cheer for.

However, the movie ends in a positive note for everyone and solves the knotty issues of retribution and punishment neatly. What makes the movie stand out is the way you can feel the craft of the movie being taken to perfection you don't see much in Indian cinema. The story remains paramount with the characterization done without flaws.

It is not an exaggeration to say that Dileesh Pothan understands the craft very well and is probably one of the important directors in Indian cinema.

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