Spoilers ahead…
Read the full review on Film Companion, here: https://www.filmcompanion.in/pariyerum-perumal-movie-review-baradwaj-rangan/
P
ariyerum Perumal (The God on a Horse) is the name of both Mari Selvaraj’s film and its protagonist (Kathir). Pari — for the purposes of this review, let’s call him that — is a lower-caste youth from a small village. He finds himself a fish out of water when he joins the Government Law College in Tirunelveli. Jothi Mahalakshmi, aka Jo (Anandhi), is an upper-caste classmate — she’s also upper-class. But she’s blind to these differences. She just sees a diffident boy. She helps him English, a language he doesn’t know and the language the lecturers at college conduct classes in. She becomes a friend. She begins to have deeper feelings. She invites him to her sister’s wedding. (The wedding hall is named after her, so you know how wealthy she is.) There, her father (Marimuthu), takes Pari by the hand and leads him to a room. You know what’s coming. You’ve seen it in several class- and caste-based films — Balaji Sakthivel’s Kadhal, for instance.
But two aspects stand out. First, the father. He doesn’t go: How dare you be friends with my daughter? His reaction contains more fear and sadness than rage: Do you think it’s wise doing this? If you continue, my people will kill not just you but also my daughter. Is it a veiled threat or a father’s desperate plea? Marimuthu’s carefully shaded performance brings out this dichotomy superbly. He doesn’t seem to hate Pari, but he’s bound by society. Second, it’s what happens when angry youths from Jo’s community break into the room and begin to beat up Pari. In a film like Kadhal, we register the victim’s pain. Here, we see his helplessness, his humiliation. It’s emotional. Kathir gives an extraordinary physical performance, but in close-ups, he takes us into Pari’s soul.
Continued at the link above.
Copyright ©2018 Film Companion.
Baradwaj Rangan 
San
September 29, 2018
“It’s not an ending, really. It feels more like a beginning.”
Perfect.
Loved your review for this movie. You have given words to lot of my thoughts. My movie watching experience is complete only after reading your text review!
As you mentioned, I was extremely pleased that this movie was not about black and white. There were so many shades. Textured characters.
Really happy for Kathir. I have been rooting for him since I watched Kirumi. His performance in this movie helped me transfer into this world. I was sucked into the film. Experiencing the emotions that Pari was going through.
And that is why Anandhi’s performance (also her characterisation) was a problem for me too. I could not entirely buy that her character was real and belonged to this world. (How can she be so much ignorant about the circumstances around her? Baffles me! Maybe it might have helped, if they had established that she did her schooling in some city? A residential school? Vijay Devarkonda’s interview comes to mind, hmm) But definitely not a deal breaker.
@BR, I have a question for you. “The scene harks back to a horrific (and I mean, horrific) death at the film’s beginning.”
Do you feel that they had to show it in that way? That level of horrific was required there? That too in the first few scenes of the film. Don’t you feel that a significant number of people will feel too horrified (for the lack of a better word 😛 ) to carry-on watching the film with an open mind?
The fact that it was followed by light-hearted college sequences, did help a lot. But still!
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Akash Balakrishnan
September 29, 2018
I felt that same as San. The opening with a horrific death by a TRAIN outside the village reminded me of Pather Panchali and led me to believe that his exposure to the world outside and the slow death of his innocence is the film’s primary conflict (Add the introduction of caste and the extremes that it can push one to). And thus, I took it for a movie which wastes the first half only to hook us with an interval. Given that the going on’s were somewhat predictable with the oppresed vs dominant factor, I spent the first half resisting the loose writing and enjoying a couple of details about Pari’s life. And I took that his ambitions, and the way he jumps over the desk when his professor mentions his quota made me believe he was a rebel. Thus, I didn’t understand the first half of the second half. But I was startled when the thing about his father, his identity and his self acceptance came in. I loved this film. But in an odd way. And yeah, Anadhi felt close to the loosu ponnu stereotype. This movie is an intriguing take on the oppressed experience, IMO.
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Rengan
September 29, 2018
Wow! Looks like Pari is not the only oppressed person here! Well, well, well….! But of course!😄
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Vivek narain
September 29, 2018
The title reminds me of ‘Sailor on horseback’ and his dog Buck. The call of the wild where Buck triumphs and the call of the pen where London triumphs, are the fiction and fact that inspire the coming generations.
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Sutheesh Kumar
September 30, 2018
BR, what’s with so many brackets in your reviews off late. (It’s very distracting, kills the flow)
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brangan
September 30, 2018
Sutheesh Kumar: Thanks. Will watch out for it. Can you point out a couple of places that really bothered you?
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vijayanrs
September 30, 2018
Even you may call this comment as a ‘ generic’ template comment Just like Ranjith’s movies. But still its pertinent and worth mentioning here
It is not ‘upper and lower castes’. But it is ‘oppressing and oppressed castes’.
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brangan
September 30, 2018
Vijayanrs: I see what you are saying (this current terminoligy sounds very lopsided and classist). But the media still uses the term and I thought it was part of how this is discussed.
https://m.timesofindia.com/city/bareilly/lower-caste-youth-brutally-thrashed-for-having-affair-with-obc-girl/amp_articleshow/66000148.cms
Can you point me to an article that advocates the usage you mention? Thanks.
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Name Field MT
September 30, 2018
BR: Ignoring the “upper caste reviewer” comment (which is disgusting AF), can you please clarify why you chose to relate the blue colour of Karuppi to the animal spirit of Native American as opposed to Ambedkar movement as mentioned here.
https://twitter.com/Idly_kunda/status/1046035204442181632
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brangan
September 30, 2018
Name Field MT: I think one should generally ignore these comments, but since you asked… I was talking about the surreal/dream-like scene where the dog “saves” Pari. It reminded me of so many stories of Native American “spirit animals” — that stand in for a marginalised community — coming back in a form of a dream or as a saviour, etc. I was not talking about the colour at all, but what the dog DOES in this particular scene (and in college, entering the classroom, etc.)
IMO, the colour aspect of the Ambedkar-ite movement is more prominent in the ‘Naan yaar’ sequence. But then, what do I know, right? 😀
Also, since you posted the tweet, let me ask: Just because Rohit Vemula isn’t mentioned in the review, I have “failed to understand” that the principal’s dialogue is about that? I thought the para about KR Narayanan and this line (“where Pari becomes the voice of the oppressed”) hinted at real-life underpinnings. But again, the experts are all on twitter, right? 😀
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brangan
September 30, 2018
See here, for instance:
https://whatismyspiritanimal.com/spirit-totem-power-animal-meanings/mammals/dog-symbolism-meaning/#SpiritDog
“Should your proverbial tribe come into trouble Dog spirit will stand by your side”… and so forth.
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anon
September 30, 2018
TN is a diseased state. They won’t leave you alone till you move lock, stock and barrel to Bombay BR.
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Sutheesh Kumar
September 30, 2018
BR, this review itself, please count the number of brackets. I don’t know if it’s a new kind writing device, may be it helps you cram relative or tangential information or emphasise a point, but it takes away from the free flowing style you had earlier.
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Sutheesh Kumar
September 30, 2018
As much as Pariyerum Perumal speaks out for the oppressed, and against the oppressor, it doesn’t set up easy opposites. We get textured opposites.
Loved the way you composed this though.
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Enigma
September 30, 2018
Agree with anon, TN is a crap state taken over by the DK lunatics. Sensible people have to leave that shit hole.
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Aadhy
September 30, 2018
Damn, this is some movie. Still reeling from the impact as I collect my first thoughts. BR, the flaws that you’d mentioned didn’t matter to me as they came across in a different way to me. Let me explain :
“Jo is a weak link….Her scenes (the one where she breaks her bangles, the one where she reveals she loves Pari) belong in another movie. ”
Jo is someone raised in an affluent family, someone who’s always had her way with things. She’d never been instructed or barked orders at. She’s only seen people take orders. Although she’s caste-blind and all that, when she’s ragged by seniors, there’s an inbred ‘how dare you command me to something’ kind of anger that pours out, out of which she breaks her bangles.
Also, I think she’s purposefully cute-ifed because of her angelic traits. At first, I thought this was just a cheesy word thrown around during the couple’s courtship period. But when Pariyan starts listing out his devadhais , this acquires a broader meaning, Every devadhai has made him rise above oppression. They form the rungs of a ladder in an oppressed man’s rise to equality. She closes her eyes while confessing her love to him, not wanting to look at his eyes, unmindful of what feelings he has for her. Almost like ‘I want to be present in your life even if you don’t really love me’ , apart from the obvious meaning that she’s blind to the caste differences. She leads the whole final scene. brings her dad and Pari together, lets them to have a conversation by leaving the spot, stands up first and makes them walk together while she’s walking in the middle, binding them together. The frame slowly moves forward to capture the two glasses of tea with the flower in between. The way she’s made to look bleached, sari (she mostly wears salwars), flowers and all that, also is intended in making her a bit ethereal, or the ‘love’ angel.
And a drunken scene in the second half feels out of place.
If you’re referring to the scene where Pari gets into a fight with Jo’s cousin, I thought it was needed to build the dynamics between them. The cousin is the one who urges Jo’s dad to finish Pari off. Apart from his disapproval of their relationship, his personal equation with Pari-the fact that a lower caste guy could lay a finger on him, gives him further impetus for his future actions, including the horrific scene where he disrobes Pari’s dad. One thing lead to the other, building the anger/tension in the movie, as you mentioned.
We get three scenes that show Pari struggling with English.
I agree with this. It was the same thing happening again, though a takeaway from these scenes for me was Jo witnessing these repeated humiliations made her feel she must help out this guy, since there was no meet-cute moment that made them talk.
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Vidya Vineet
September 30, 2018
For a person who “ignores these comments”, BR sure shows a lot of irritation. Wonder why!😉
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brangan
September 30, 2018
Hmmm… irritation? I thought that was just an explanation. “Ignore” as in, I wouldn’t go out on twitter and engage with anyone. On the blog, though, someone asked a question and I responded.
This, too, is an explanation. Not irritation.
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Vidya Vineet
September 30, 2018
This IS an explanation, I agree. But in your reply to Name Field MT, I sensed a sort of irritation at two places. One at “But then, what do I know, right? 😀” . The second one was “But again, the experts are all on twitter, right? 😀”. You did put a smiley in both, and maybe you were intending it as a way of humouring your critics, but while reading for the first time, it came off as an irritation to me, hence my comment. The smileys seemed artificial, if you get my drift. Anyway, my comment was just in a lighter vein. I was simply amused, that’s all.
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Dominique (@AbbakkaHypatia)
September 30, 2018
“What if the Dalit boy belonged to the upper-class, and the upper-caste girl was poorer?”
Just wanted to point out that this happens in Laila Majnu. Butt is a low caste surname. The boy is low caste. And she with her middle-class but highly influential father is high caste. Yes, there is caste among muslims also.
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Vidya Vineet
October 1, 2018
@BR: This article does not advocate the oppression usage, but it uses lower/upper caste very minimally.
https://blogs.economictimes.indiatimes.com/cursor/draining-the-cesspools-of-caste-oppression/
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Rengan
October 1, 2018
Anon, Enigma: If DK is lunatic, then what is the BJP and its supporters? Not all, but some of them are plain saffron-clad fascists! If you are one of them, and only then is TN a diseased state for you, and you should indeed leave! For others, TN is a safe haven.
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meera
October 1, 2018
BR… I haven’t seen the movie and I actually saw the video review first before reading through the written one. One qualm I had was… in the very beginning you say that PP is from a lower caste … how do you determine it is lower? Lower to what? Maybe this usage should also be carefully thought out… oppressed makes sense but Lower and upper are prob terms we should intentionally avoid using… just something to mull over
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meera
October 1, 2018
Just read through the rest of the comments… BR looks like you are already in the thick of it 😰
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Rengan
October 1, 2018
Ah! So you are biased too, BR! You willingly display a comment that talks about one political party, but delete a comment that talks about another party! Fine! Don’t display my comments! I would expect nothing less! Remove this too! I don’t care!
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Rengan
October 1, 2018
Good to know that you are not biased, at least! Must be a problem in my device!
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brangan
October 1, 2018
Rengan: I seem to have missed that comment. It was not in spam either. Can you repost it? I do not censor comments unless the case is dire.
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Rengan
October 1, 2018
No, that was my mistake, BR. Did you not read my next comment? You have indeed posted both my comments. Thanks.
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praneshp
October 1, 2018
I’m glad they shot the karuppi scene and song the way they did. It hooked me into the movie well enough to not get disinterested in the Jo moments.
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Rengan
October 1, 2018
BR: Btw, I think my first comment on your blog warrants explanation. The “But of course” in brackets while mentioning the professor with vermillion on his forehead prompted me to comment, as you are no doubt aware. I don’t know whether you took the scene personally as an unfair attack on the brahmin community, or just as a cliche. I hastily interpreted your bracketed phrase as the former, but now I have my doubts. If you meant it just as a cliche, then my comment was totally unwarranted, and I apologise.
But even if it was the former, I feel now that I should have given a detailed explanation, given the issue is a sensitive one. I hope to rectify my error with this comment.
Nevertheless, I have this to say: There are indeed people like the professor in real life belonging to the brahmin community, who oppress others, bringing a bad name to even well-meaning people in their community. I am not saying such people are not present in other communities, but they definitely cannot replace the actions of the former. While the professor in the film could well have been from any other oppressing caste, I think the same cannot be said in real life, what with myself being a victim of one such incident. When I see such scenes, I am reminded of such real-life acts. I strongly feel that directors like Mari Selvaraj also feel the same, hence the cliche in their casting/staging such scenes. It is pain, BR, not opinion. You may also have felt pain while watching the scene, but please know that the root cause of that pain is not the film, but these real life antagonists. I hope your reviews would reflect this pain the right way, leaving no room for ambiguity, especially when the film in question does the same marvellously!
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Enigma
October 2, 2018
@Rengan, I do not support any political party. Whilst bigotry of one variety (against religious minorities) is called out, there is complete silence in regards to bigotry against Brahmins in Tamil Nadu.
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Venky
October 2, 2018
“there is complete silence in regards to bigotry against Brahmins in Tamil Nadu.” Yes, sometime back, I wrote a Reader’s column, where I explored few questions around the angst of Left and right. More recently, I wrote this in my LinkedIn blog (Yes, I don’t make a distinction between my work and the rest) https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/யர-பரமணன-who-brahmin-venkataraman-ramachandran/
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Rengan
October 2, 2018
@Enigma: What you say is true to some extent, but more often than not, the reason for bigotry against brahmins lies within the brahmin community and the BJP. To give a recent example, BJP leader H Raja’s comment on Periyar’s statue resulted in the cutting off of the sacred thread of some innocent brahmins by some miscreants claiming to be from DK. While both sides have to come forward and reconcile, the onus is more on the brahmins, especially the trouble-causing ones, to set things right. Otherwise this brahmin-bashing will never end.
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doctorhari
October 2, 2018
This is a film that needed to be made and a voice that needed to be heard. That the director has taken care not to demonise the heroine’s father is truly praiseworthy. That terrific, understated climax scene between the heroine’s father and Kathir was especially beautiful and thought provoking.
However, there were many things, I felt could have been done differently to make this film even more impactful and real. As someone born and brought up in the milieu this film depicts, and as someone who has seen these caste discriminations upclose, the constant humiliation of Kathir came off as over-the-top and unrealistic for me. I especially couldn’t buy the heroine’s brother and his actions – except perhaps as a cinema villain. He undresses Kathir’s dad because he has a mane and speaks in a feminine tone? And all the others watching do nothing? Even the scene where Kathir is brutally assaulted in the marriage came across as a bit exaggerated for me. I agree that such violent, caste-septic people are there definitely, who commit horrendous crimes for the sake of honor etc. But here the depiction is as if everyone in that household is vying for Kathir’s blood, which I can tell you is not the case in real life. Mostly the discrimination gets expressed through an unthinking word, a denigrating gesture so on, which itself is deeply hurtful to the receiver.
All that lessened the impact of the film for me. But again, Mari Selvaraj indeed needs to be appreciated for atleast attempting to humanise the oppressive caste, unlike, say, the film’s producer, in whose films they are outrightly demonised.
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Subhadra
October 2, 2018
Hats off to your review BR. As someone rightly pointed out, movie consuming experience doesn’t end without reading your reviews and peeking into your mind. Thank you for that.
I agree, can we start bringing in the change in English vocabulary – oppressive/oppressed castes.
Oh the Brahmin bashing cliche, I would just embrace it as a slight prick on the conscience of the community that has meted out injustice from Nandanar to boy next door on varying degrees.
It’s always about class, folks. It’s not about caste.
Be it OC/BC/MBC, they have no problem in celebrating and embracing a Westerner (who’s staple food is beef), but have problems with oppressed caste native people.
One Reason: Poverty
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Enigma
October 3, 2018
@Rengan, the H. Raja statement is a recent incident right? Bigotry against Brahmins has been there for quite sometime. However I am in agreement with you in regards to the need for reconciliation and for Brahmins to take the first step. But I don’t think that the DK and certain Christian missionary forces will allow.
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Rengan
October 3, 2018
@Enigma: Yes, its a recent incident, but just as the bigotry against brahmins has come a long way, so has the brahmin atrocity(Again, not all!). It started much before the likes of Periyar opposed it, and is still continuing. Neither DK nor BJP is going to help as long as the general attitude of people remains the same. Reconcillation has to come from the common man on both sides. The situation is such that one drop of poison is sufficient to ruin every effort in the right direction.
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Rupa
October 4, 2018
A long time reader and lurker, this is my first comment here! I have been thinking about this movie a lot..
The ‘breaking her bangles scene or the idea behind it could have been played, staged and placed better but what I feel about it is this..She, belonging to a privileged group, has the privilege to disobey, behave ‘arrogantly’, rebel, assert herself and doesn’t have to immediately worry about the repercussions. The fear/need to back off and avoid trouble is not on her mind; she is free that way. With Pari, it’s always been on his mind.
She symbolises the upper caste/class which is oblivious to the suffering of the oppressed classes, while still living alongside them.
The English scene – it took that many times for Jo to take notice and help him out. The first time .. She too laughs when the teacher berates him. She plays along with the system and is insensitive at this point..Only when he outrages, she takes it seriously enough to offer to teach him English.
And when she does, she keeps using English words(where she says numbers in english) when she knows he doesn’t know English. He has to make her repeat it in Tamil to get her to understand this.
In the scene where she proposes with her eyes closed, she being oblivious of his reality, she doesn’t ‘see’ beyond what is apparent. She wants to be with him, but not with this version of Pari which is rebelling, being aggressive and assertive. She wants him to be how he was when he used to be sitting in the back bench! She can’t understand this new Pari and why he is behaving this way. This new Pari is inconvenient to her. Much like how Dalit aggression is viewed as an inconvenience and dismissed. The fact that upper caste/class should not be inconvenienced is of ultra importance than Dalits getting their freedom.
So much to say here!
Even towards the end I feel she still doesn’t ‘find out’ what’s behind Pari’s life-long grief, when even her openly casteist father showed some kind of acknowledgement and understanding to what Pari was saying and feeling and displayed some shame and empathy.
I see the evil old man as the caste system itself. He is old just like the caste monster. In him we get to see how the caste system oppresses, discriminates, manipulates, deceives and kills in plain sight.
Pari lives, rises and looks at him in the eye and incapacitates him. Pari will not accept this any longer. The need to avoid trouble will not be on his mind anymore. The fact that the old man/the caste system is incapacitated is more important because it is Pari’s triumph over him. He still is not dead and gains consciousness but is not powerful anymore. Pari has risen.
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brangan
October 4, 2018
Rupa: Thank you for de-lurking for that superb comment. Wish you’d write more in these parts.
I, however, saw/read Jo a little differently — not that she is “oblivious” to caste but that she is genuinely casteless. Which goes with her “devathai” position. She speaks what she wants, does what she wants. Even in the midst of family, she freely talks about Pari the way she would about a female friend, without hiding her affection for this boy. Her innocence and insistence tempers Pari’s anger.
I thought this conceit was quite beautifully imagined.
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Rupa
October 4, 2018
Thank you, BR. I love the discussions that happen here..I hope to participate more 🙂
Yes, I do think this was nicely done and the complexities of this structure was brought about well.
I feel she is casteless too but one of the kinds of casteless. She is not the kind of casteless that is aware of caste and understands what caste is and does and then rejects caste. Owing to her privilege, she just doesn’t know the reality of caste. She is both casteless and unaware. As days go by, as the dialogue happens, may be when confronted with the actions of caste, she will fight too. When she told her father about Pari’s father’s incident or in the other situation, she is with him/cares about him but these are only general injustices/issues to her that Pari is going through. Doesn’t know the reality of it.
One day she will make the effort and understand and this is what Pari hopes for too, I think. That she will understand his life and that he will be able to live his life like how she does. In that proposal scene, when she says she wants the old times back, Pari is hurt too that she doesn’t see it yet. Not even ‘opening her eyes’ to see his plight and is pushing him to be the old Pari.
Nevertheless ,yes, she is a devathai to Pari; she is the one because of whom Pari was able to at least begin to make himself heard by the truly casteist father/folk. He couldn’t have made his voice heard by the people, who uphold caste, without her. Without this window, that barrier may have never been broken. For now, this will do to at least begin the conversation.
I think all this reflects the position where even (casteless, well-meaning) upper-caste don’t really understand or know what oppression really means and that it is more than just injustice. Where these casteless upper-caste don’t understand why the oppressed masses are not warming upto them. Even though his life is complicated and he is hurt, Pari is here consoling Jo, instead.
Yogi is also kinda casteless in a way that he is not unaware of the caste system etc but he doesn’t practise caste discrimination, I think(at least not with Pari). (If I’m not wrong, I think I heard he was an upper caste guy as well?) He is also one ray of hope for Pari and his fight for freedom.
I liked the detail about Yogi Babu’s character as well. The guy who wouldn’t talk back to the teacher or lies that he knows English and tries to just fit in with the rest, stood up for Pari and gave it back to the teacher when Pari was getting shouted at for having drunk and come to the class. The old Yogi would just have pulled Pari out of the class without talking back I think. (Maybe I’m reading too much into this, IDK). But I like that.
As for the pond scene – That was really tense for me and I was fidgeting! Pari notices them coming, he tells his friends that they should leave but they keep talking for quite some time, and the guys were getting closer. I however liked the touch that they didn’t immediately get up and leave. They finally left but I was still uneasy and felt this was not over somehow. This tension kinda burst with what happened with Karuppi. I couldn’t shake it off.
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Aadhy
October 4, 2018
Rupa, terrific comments, especially your last para :
As for the pond scene – That was really tense for me and I was fidgeting! Pari notices them coming, he tells his friends that they should leave but they keep talking for quite some time, and the guys were getting closer. I however liked the touch that they didn’t immediately get up and leave. They finally left but I was still uneasy and felt this was not over somehow. This tension kinda burst with what happened with Karuppi. I couldn’t shake it off.
This was exactly what I felt, a constant dread that something’s coming, the uneasiness was in the air, in the way the score was silent. By the time the train whizzed past, I froze in horror. The title card slowly shows up to the music of an oppari , with the karuppi video montage following immediately – one of the best opening stretches in Tamil cinema. Equally impactful was the dark & existential Naan yaar video.
But post the movie, in the last three days, the video of Engum pugal thuvanga is not leaving my head. It contains one of the most moving depictions of father-son bond, and also the life of an artist whose art is not considered respectable by the society, including his own son. Kathir is simply brilliant in the way he looks at his dad’s performance. The people around him seem to enjoy the performance. His look is the one of embarrassment, but we also see a bit of mild admiration.
stood up for Pari and gave it back to the teacher when Pari was getting shouted at for having drunk and come to the class
This is true. Another bit of a brilliant writing stroke here is how a seemingly harmless attendance call harks back to the humiliation Pari faced at the wedding. Yogi babu does a proxy for him to save him but Pari gets all fired up when he learns about that. He keeps asking the lecturer “‘why shouldn’t I come?” and you immediately know what’s running on his mind.
Also there’s a nice touch when Pari gets beaten up by his fake father at the principal room. Pari goes into shock even after the principal lets him go. The beatings from the fake father (also upper caste) reminded him of the blows from the wedding from other upper caste men.
Sad to see there’s not a lot of discussion about this movie in this blog. Even if you aren’t a fan of its politics, there’s so much to discuss about the writing and cinematic aspects of it.
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TheManWithTwonames
October 5, 2018
What a film! I’m still stunned. Great acting, and direction. I haven’t seen villians this scary without resorting to ott acting for a very long time. And also, what a soundtrack!! Santhosh killed it with the karuppui song. The oppari chorus haunts me in my dreams. Great work.
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Rupa
October 5, 2018
Aadhy 🙂
Hmm I think it could be that not many have caught the film yet because it’s a limited release? And I really hope they do.
About the drunken-beaten-up scene – I thought it was a mildly light hearted bit where Pari is just shocked at the irony of the liquor aficionado really over acting about his drinking.
I have quite a few thoughts about this sequence; I’ll write back when I’m able to squeeze in some time..
And Engum pugal thuvanga —
Indeed! Kathir was superb in this stretch. Pari is embarassed; at the same time is feeling plenty guilty about looking down on his father. When he gets pulled into trouble, he is told to bring in his father again. This time he only wants HIS father to come. He has now learnt to accept his father for who he is. He doesn’t like people looking down on him and has realised he can’t do that to his father. He has to respect himself and where he comes from first. He didn’t do that when he brought in the fake father..
And Pari’s father is a darling father! Engum pugal thuvanga and the scenes involving the father and where he is running for his dignity are gut wrenching. Everything felt so first-hand. After the song, when Pari goes towards him, he doesn’t sit but the father gets up. It felt like the father gained respect in Pari’s eyes too.
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Rupa
October 6, 2018
Or did it? I do not fully get why it was done that way? This bit did feel slightly abrupt though..
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Gautham
October 9, 2018
@Aadhy
I saw the principal room scene as a suggestion that there are sections of people who beat/beat down while honestly believing they are doing them a favor. The problem with this section being that they remain too “in character”.
I, like BR, read Jo as someone untouched by caste – the ideal for either group to strive for.
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Ravi K
October 9, 2018
Brangan wrote: “I, however, saw/read Jo a little differently — not that she is ‘oblivious’ to caste but that she is genuinely casteless. Which goes with her “devathai” position. She speaks what she wants, does what she wants. Even in the midst of family, she freely talks about Pari the way she would about a female friend, without hiding her affection for this boy. Her innocence and insistence tempers Pari’s anger.”
While she genuinely does not treat people differently because of their caste, she lives with the privileges of being from a dominant caste, and therefore has the luxury of being “casteless.” The lower caste people in the film would rather live castelessly and not think about caste, but the upper castes will not allow that.
doctorhari wrote: “As someone born and brought up in the milieu this film depicts, and as someone who has seen these caste discriminations upclose, the constant humiliation of Kathir came off as over-the-top and unrealistic for me. I especially couldn’t buy the heroine’s brother and his actions – except perhaps as a cinema villain. He undresses Kathir’s dad because he has a mane and speaks in a feminine tone? And all the others watching do nothing? Even the scene where Kathir is brutally assaulted in the marriage came across as a bit exaggerated for me. I agree that such violent, caste-septic people are there definitely, who commit horrendous crimes for the sake of honor etc. But here the depiction is as if everyone in that household is vying for Kathir’s blood, which I can tell you is not the case in real life. Mostly the discrimination gets expressed through an unthinking word, a denigrating gesture so on, which itself is deeply hurtful to the receiver.”
I think Selvaraj depicts caste discrimination in this manner because it’s more visceral than the subtler forms of discrimination, though I would like to see a film depict it in that subtler, everyday manner. Even the scene in which Jo’s relatives undress Pari’s dad did not seem unreasonably over the top to me, because it wasn’t out of line with the kind of things they’ve done.
The only major issue I had was whether or not Jo would really be that clueless about her family’s caste prejudices. She tells the family all about Pari, as if it never even occurred to her that they would object to her being in love with him. Her egalitarianism would have meant more if she knew her family’s position in society in relation to Pari’s, and decided that it didn’t matter. The movie wouldn’t have to be specifically about her pushing back at her family, but showing a little bit of her not being completely unaware of what’s going on would have added an extra layer to her character.
A movie like this really has to stick the landing, which I thought it did. Pari’s speech at the end was wonderfully punchy and didn’t feel preachy or like it was the director, not the actor. And the staging with the hole in the window, wow! Cutting occasionally to the aruvaal added suspense as to whether or not Jo’s father was listening, or if he would use this as an opportunity to kill Pari. The struggle and violence up to this point, combined with the conversation at the end, suggests that while it is possible to change people’s minds about caste discrimination, it won’t come without a struggle, and even then everything isn’t suddenly wonderful. It’s hopeful but not overly so.
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Aravindan R (@rnadnivara)
October 10, 2018
What I liked about Pariyerum Perumal is that it neither glorifies people of one caste nor demonizes the other. Unlike, few caste-pride movies.
And, Kathir is a revelation!
To me, PP and Merku thodarchi malai are the top 2 films of this year.
The climax of both are restrained, mature and powerful!
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Shyam
October 28, 2018
I had a slightly different take on KR Narayanan’s death news. The media focus when talking of Dalits is about the achievers, politicians and others who make it to front page news. Loss of innocent Dalits never make it to news, let alone headlines. This is reinforced in a song line as well – ‘Arasanendru solvorumundu, adimayendru ninaipporumundu’.
Also I would like to pick your brains on the last scene – two glasses of different color drink, but equal in level. Standing for people of different caste/color etc being equals. Could there be anything more to it, given the poignancy of it all? The director has said in an interview that he will not explain it by himself in words.
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Shyam
October 28, 2018
One scene which I found was pretty off in the movie: in the bar where a Brahmin (displaying a poonal) provides him an alcoholic drink. The director has never named any caste in the movie (don’t remember even hearing the word ‘jaadhi’ at all), yet this scene is an explicit portrayal of a Brahmin. 1. Do you think the director nodded here? 2. Is the scene a hat-tip to the fact that at times, circumstances force the oppressed to commit mistakes, which then get blown out of proportion?
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Daisy
November 4, 2018
Watched this powerful powerful movie last night on Tentkotta and my heart is so heavy. Absolutely loved your review. I also felt the same way about the heroine. Somehow the loosu ponnu type impression/acting of the heroine did not feel right in this gritty movie. I was wondering how someone like a Aishwarya Rajesh would have played the heroine’s role. I sort of could see your/ Rupa’s take on the heroine being truly castless but nevertheless it is hard to digest that someone who grew up in a small town down south could be like that.
The repeated scenes depicting the hero’s struggle with English had a powerful impact on me. I went to a medical college and we had students who came from Tamil medium who in addition to whatever other barriers they had to overcome, had to also now overcome this huge language barrier. I have seen many a classmates burning the midnight oil, struggling to study with a Tamil to English dictionary in hand. I wish my 18 year old self could have more considerate, more thoughtful and helpful.
I am from a lower caste, not a Dalit married to a Brahmin. I probably, till college days was like this heroine, sort of untouched by the caste system, even though in my ancestral village I had seen, segregated dwelling for the lowest class of people right across my grandparent’s place.
I was by education, financial status better off than my husband. Still, when I faced discriminations at in-laws place (people inviting us newly weds over and making eye contacts amongst themselves to make sure I don’t enter their kitchen, or inviting us to a restaurant so that they don’t have to serve food to me in their kitchen, not even coming to our wedding, my dad arranging Brahmin caterers at the last minute for the wedding out of fear that my husband’s side of family wouldn’t even eat, my MIL asking a relative of mine to not enter her kitchen, my fil joking about how Manjal Pathirikkai would not look right bcoz of how my grandfather’s name…), based on caste, I don’t know how I managed to not voice my opinion and keep it all inside me. Whatever discriminations I faced, are minuscule compared to the struggles that the oppressed class has to still go through. Somehow, as seen in the movie, my husband’s side of family is able to openly voice their opinions on caste, how hard it is for their class to make it life now!!! I hope, like how the ending showed, I am able to have a conversation,however meek it might be with my inlaw’s family, when caste topic comes up and somehow make them understand the irony of the place of privilege from which they are speaking from. Maybe perfect timing would be when I see one more offensive WhatsApp forward 🙂
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raawaahas
November 5, 2018
The director Mari was so thoughtful throughout that we need to regard the characterization of anandhi as a conscious thing. Jo, I think, was consciously written as genelia-ish loose ponnu character as a metaphor for all the “loose” public that is incredulously unaware of the caste intricacies and claims to have “moved on” from caste. My anger was most concentrated on Jo, who seems to be the raison d’être for all the chaos and yet is content to live in her own bubble and doesn’t ask the questions that need to be asked. May be Mari is angry on the naive, casteless urban population that is silent towards both overt caste atrocities in the interiors and covert increasing caste consciousness among itself
Plus people still like Genelia-ish loose-ponnu both in real and reel. That’s how we fantasize our ideal girl to be-Without any agency and even if there is one (like the bangle breaking scene), the agency is an unaffecting tantrum.
One question that keeps haunting me is can’t the Pariyerum Perumals fall in love? Is it beyond them? Can’t they afford to be “distracted” by love?
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Vivek
November 11, 2018
Just caught it on Amazon Prime, so naturally had to drop by.. As a movie it was quite affecting and did leave that aftershock that great movies leave behind (Subramaniapuram or even 96 recently)… I love this new wave of caste aware oppressed movie makers, though I really wish they had the gall to make it real….wonder why even the bravest of the lot are shy about naming who really oppresses them, putting a random Brahmin guy as a symbol and all is OK and easy but why don’t these movies talk about the castes that are actually killing Dalit folk (Thevars, Nadars etc)…What are they worried about?
Black movies are absolutely uninhibited in naming and shaming white privilege and laying the origins of oppression squarely at the door of christian white men. Wonder when caste movies will do the same…Maybe it’s do with who is financing these movies..
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mdwbala
November 11, 2018
What a stunning movie.just got released in prime…beautiful textures and hell a lot of details though not thrown at your face about the mechanics of how the system works…We get to hear about the problem of the privilege not acknowledging their own privilege…I presume Jo was made to capture that..Her choice to be casteless and refusing to acknowledge parian’s status n position , creating his own predicament…I also loved the ironies, where the movie opens with the native Hound dog (is it a chippiparai) s hunted down for no crime of her , the old man who kills s a mason who actually build temple…and did he die…or may be they never die…
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Daisy
November 11, 2018
@ Vivek- If Devars, Nadars etc are named, in the current Indian protest at the drop of a hat climate, there would be no chance for a movie to be released. Probably a Netflix/Prime series might be the best option.
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Arun Pradeep
November 13, 2018
Great review, thanks. I couldn’t understand one thing though. Why did you choose to call Kathir’s character as Pari, when it’s Pariyan?
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V
November 14, 2018
Thanks to Amazon Prime, I got to watch this movie today. I initially had my grouse with the loosu ponnu characterization of Jo, but after reading the comments Im beginning to understand the sub-text. However Anandi did play it vacuously – much like the other Jo from Kushi (who is referenced in the first scene with the heroine). Jo, as a character was casteless & a devathai – ok. But Anandi seemed to be clueless about her role & that did not seem intentional.
An interview of hers would probably go like “Jo is a veryy bubbly girl ..”. An Aishwarya Rajesh or even a Rinku Rajguru would have helped the film better.
And Santosh Narayanan – how does he get it right always? While other music directors aim at giving chart-busters that may or may not service the film in which they are featured, Santosh weaves his music into every film’s soul. Outside the milieu of the movie, the song may or may not be well received – but within the movie – they become its life.
(PS: I used to consider the circle I move in, to be casteless or atleast less caste conscious. This was shattered by the comments I got when I mentioned I plan to watch Pariyerum Perumal. It was a shock to me that the word Pariyerum could be twisted to form a casteist slur (or the name of an oppressed caste – whichever way you see it) & thought, perhaps the Director had deliberately kept the title so. As someone rightly pointed out in the comments above, most of us may have stopped wielding the machete on the oppressed, but our words and thoughts still have a tinge of insolence to them)
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Rahul
November 17, 2018
The character of Jo and her studied cutesy persona made perfect sense to me. It shows how dalits are getting hammered by upper caste who hate them with a vengeance on one hand and cute woke Tharoorian liberals like who believe that if they close their eyes(literally in this case) caste would vanish.
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Rahul
November 17, 2018
By the way , reason why I mentioned Tharoor is this article
https://www.theweek.in/columns/shashi-tharoor/being-caste-conscious.html
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Tambi Dude
November 18, 2018
https://www.deccanchronicle.com/nation/crime/150316/81-honour-killings-in-three-years-in-tamil-nadu.html?fbclid=IwAR3yNDo2S1-n2HX4I5CpE4ytPGfNn-tGbO1XKnm8BfZ7F7kxYkMACbRhIAU
https://www.thenewsminute.com/article/newly-married-tn-couple-found-dead-near-waterfall-ktaka-caste-killing-suspected-91674
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Sanjay Kumar
November 19, 2018
If Ranjith’s idea of annihilating caste is by confrontation,Maari is taking a more reconciliatory or Biblical path i mean like the Jesus way of forgiving and moving on!
Historically reconciliatory path has not been very emancipatory and i just don’t find this philosophy of Mari endearing. The caste violence and the systemic oppression where discrimination is more mental than physical like by breaking one’s spirit by subtler forms was however well staged and Kathir did one of the better remarkable performances this year. When it is the lower caste men or boys who bear the brunt of dishonor killings,it is bit too much to expect them to hold an intermediary caste girl’s naive ideas about her father to not be shattered.
Maybe he has his own ideas of possible solutions to this millenia old evil,but not sure whether it will really work when seen under empirical evidences which seem to be contrary to his ideas.
I still find Pa Ranjith kind of movies more emancipatory and hard hitting against the caste discrimination than more “nuanced” ideas of Mari.
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jaschek
November 20, 2018
Caught it the second time on Amazon prime. I have to confess at the outset that I am a Pa Ranjith fan.
I remember when Visaranai was released and most of us were celebrating the movie, writer Charu Nivedhitha called the movie ‘Torture porn’. this movie was almost tragedy porn to me. Pariyan has so many demons and why was his father character added to it is beyond me. To add another song ? to pull some more heartstrings ?
His scenes with the principal and his father are directly lifted from one of Nalan kumarasamy’s short films on Nalaya iyakunar.
Except for Jo’s father every character was either black/white. And Jos acting benchmark was her namesake’s.
My biggest grouse was how women were only devathais, every director who makes a puratchi film seems to forget women. Even the lone female character of any note, is a law student who probably would study about Prevention of atrocities act, is dumb.
The scene when Pariyan is pushed in to the ladies room was cringy. women running around the room with no intent. Reminded me of the scene from Om shanti Om when Shah Rukh a struggling actor gets some screen time. Now contrast that with the scene from Kaala where Puyal picks up a stick instead of her pants.
The movie was great by kollywood standards, but to evoke tears the tragedy card was overplayed in my opinion. It didnt help that I watched Ee Mau Yau the same morning, a great movie with out a Yogi Babu or even a Santhosh Narayanan.
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Sanjay Kumar
November 21, 2018
I remember when Visaranai was released and most of us were celebrating the movie, writer Charu Nivedhitha called the movie ‘Torture porn’. this movie was almost tragedy porn to me. Pariyan has so many demons and why was his father character added to it is beyond me. To add another song ? to pull some more heartstrings ?
Maybe you are ignorant or want to sound cool when you make this haughty rant!Just read what happened to the couples in Hosur,or shankar kausalya horror stories and if you still think it was some sadistic titillation that Mari indulged in,then you are part of the problem!
When subaltern and oppressed speak about their experiences,at least hear them at the bare minimum even if you think,that they are doing all this to pull your entitled heart strings! Sorry sir, their lived experiences is a far more important events in our society than what you think or do not think about those
PS:”..I am a Pa Ranjith fan” in the opening sentence was supposed to be some armor to shield the prospective criticism that you anticipated? anyways nobody cares about it
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jaschek
November 21, 2018
@Sanjay Kumar though you have quoted what I wrote, you chose to highlight only a part of it. I have said Pariyan has enough demons to fight and remember I have not commented one bit on the essential thread of the plot.
This page is a movie review and I have only commented on the “Film” if that isn’t very clear to you. It was my opinion on the movie and definitely not my stand on Honor killings. You seem make too many assumptions about my intentions or what I think from the few words I wrote.
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Sanjay Kumar
November 21, 2018
You seem make too many assumptions about my intentions or what I think from the few words I wrote.
Whose fault is it then?You can hide behind “deliberate interpretation” strawman,and not be worried on what you wanted to convey?Your intention is appreciated,but if not conveyed unambiguously it will be interpreted.Here it is the effect of what you wanted to convey which matters and not want you intended
You seem make too many assumptions about my intentions or what I think from the few words I wrote.
and who decides that buddy? that’s why i said you sound like an entitled “…” who seem to decide that the oppression has to be calibrated as showing it in its full flow or in raw form will affect you badly! Believe me none of us with privilege get to decide that and it tramples on a space which dalits have been fighting for centuries to rightfully occupy and own! Please allow them to tell their stories and listen to them with compassion
That’s how safe spaces for every person on earth is built and not by mocking or questioning their struggles
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brangan
November 21, 2018
Sanjay Kumar: As far as I see, jaschek saw the film, felt that it overplayed the tragedy card compared to the P Ranjith films he/she prefers, and that did not work at all. I don’t agree with jaschek there (I thought that Puyal scene from Kaala was cringy as hell, more of a placard than a moment), but that’s what movie-watching is about, right?
Are you saying that one is obliged to view a film with a charitable disposition because it’s about… Dalits or lesbians or tribals or dyslexic children (or some subculture/topic we usually don’t see much on screen)?
That’s a form of condescension, right? A film has to work on its own for the viewer.
The critic Jonathan Rosenbaum had this to say about 12 Years a Slave: “12 Years a Slave is an arthouse exploitation gift to masochistic guilty liberals hungry for history lessons, some of whom consider any treatment of American slavery by a black filmmaker to be an unprecedented event”
He did not mince words because the film is about blacks and slavery. That’s what makes each opinion so special, because they tell us as much about the person as about the film. If everyone thought and felt and wrote the same way, the world would be a very boring place 🙂
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Sanjay Kumar
November 21, 2018
BRangan: I didn’t mean that subaltern films are beyond reproach or criticism,in fact i didn’t like the solutions that Maari is putting forth to overcome caste discrimination. My only crib is how from a position of privilege one can command depiction of someone’s very personal experiences as either “poverty porn” or “torture porn” or ” porn”>! Interestingly you did not find this condescending enough, but choose to pick mine as one 🙂
I would rather have a dull,boring and not so eventful life and the mundaneness of social justice many times over than to fetishise over diversity of opinion even if the only effect of it is to express one’s ignorance,bigotry and prejudice or all, while all it does is, not add anything worthwhile to issues at hand!
To neatly compartmentalise as art/opinion over validity of those positions comes across to me as some sort of cognitive dissonance!
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brangan
November 21, 2018
Sanjay Kumar: I guess that term (torture porn) is such a part of film jargon now that I got what the commenter meant without it sounding offensive (to me). Armond White called ’12 Years a Slave’ torture porn. Newsweek called ‘Red Sparrow’ torture porn.
Also, I didn’t find your comment condescending. I felt that such “a way” of looking might be condescending.
As for the latter part of your comment, I don’t see a caustically worded comment as “ignorance,bigotry and prejudice” — but then this art-vs-life is a position one has to take individually, I guess.
I feel it is possible to be non-ignorant, non-bigoted and non-prejudiced and still find an issue-based film dismissable — because the FILM did a bad job of doing what it set out to do, and not because I am not sympathetic or clued in to those issues/causes in real life.
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Rahul
November 21, 2018
This is a point i wanted to make on the Kaala discussion, but did not get time. A political movie is kind of a genre movie. Sometimes characters are metaphors and it does not affect my viewing if a certain type (caste/class/race) of characters are shown as all black/white.
Would you look for nuanced characters in a John Wick for instance? The film may or may not work for someone but I think there should be an effort to understand the grammar of the movie.
@Jaschek – “why was his father character added to it is beyond me”
My interpretation was the evasion of (dalit)identity. What could be a more stark repudiation of your identity that you can at the very least ATTEMPT to do apart from gender? As against what you cannot which is your caste.
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brangan
November 22, 2018
Rahul: I agree largely with the first part of your comment. A political film IS a kind of genre, but not necessarily black/white. Then it becomes more of a propaganda film, like the early Soviet films — but even that should be seen within the context of its genre. But within this broad “rule,” each film has to do what it sets out to do — and that’s still an individual call.
About the father character in PP:
I think this is one of the film’s many masterstrokes. This is really a coming-of-age film. It’s about a young man coming face-to-face with a lot of unfair things and NOT conquering them or rising about them, BUT coming to grips with them and understanding how things are and making his peace with things (even if, beyond the end of the film, he may rise up and declare war).
So the father character — the way I see it — is a representation of the “inner” torments. A coming-of-age tale has both external and internal conflicts, and how brilliant to show that this young man has “ostracised” his father for something the latter could not help (for just being who he is), just like the boy himself is ostracised by others for something he could not help (for just being who he is).
Brilliant… and may I say, nuanced 😉
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brangan
November 22, 2018
BTW, got this superb comment on the FC site and wanted to put it here…
Philip Marlowe: Liked the movie, especially the fact that they didn’t make it a tragedy, as is the norm.
Two weak links I felt were, one, as baradwaj mentioned, the character of jo. Nobody can be this dumb. If the situation is as dire as the movie makes it to be, then she must have been hearing stories of horrible dishonour killings from childhood onwards. In her family itself, such murders must have happened. And then she behaves like this? The hero deserves a much much better girl then, and not this fool.
Second, the character of the killer is a deplorable ‘soab’ but director makes him appear like a samurai warrior hero with a code! Should have let that psychopath remain a psychopath, and shouldn’t have glorified his death.
Liked the central character’s performance. Music by Santosh is good. A good watch.
END OF COMMENT
The first point has been debated a lot in this thread, but the second point… I love how this commenter sees the assassin’s death as that of “a samurai warrior hero with a code.” Now that I think about it, it’s so true. I mean, that final visual image of him sitting cross-legged and “avenging” his dishonour… Brilliant take on that image.
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Rahul
November 22, 2018
BR, considering PP and whether it accomplished what it set out to do -In my opinion the director attempted to show how the dalits have to face hatred and oppression by or because of upper caste people even when they are well meaning. Having a positive upper caste character does not necessarily serve the directors purpose. Unless it is a character like Jo with her performative cuteness, stupidity and entitlement. The film has upper caste characters that are different shades of black. Whether it appears as a propaganda or not does not depend on having positive upper caste characters , IMHO. It depends on other things like the story, screenplay, a realistic representation of real life etc. In fact I think the upper caste friend was an unnecessary token character.
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brangan
November 22, 2018
Rahul: I was talking about Kaala and not PP. I mostly agree with what you say.
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Sanjay Kumar
November 22, 2018
I was trying to compare Kammatippadam with this film as both try to highlight the plight of dalits. In the former, the struggle is due to displacement brought about by globlisation and real estate cartels ever hungry for cheaper lands using all means to usurp lands from dalits who were empowered as part of land ceiling act of communist govt in 60s.
The very people used to terrorise their community to part lands to these sharks at throwaway prices find themselves ignored and used by these agencies and whose injustice is fought by his upper caste friend killing the manipulative RE head in climax.
There was so much wrong in this template that i rate (berate it rather!) along with Nayagan which glosses over caste identities or rather absence of this identity of the oppressed which is corrected by an upper caste protagonist-as some savior complex.
More importantly this ie., Upper Caste Protagonist to be a key commercial requirement as otherwise a largely savarna audience may not view dalits hitting them back as justice but as insult. In KMPDM we are never in doubt about the identity of Krishnan played by Dulqur Salman-from a nair/menon household,as in Malayalam films,their representation as heros are disproportionate to their population,which reasserts their enormous social capital
PP was refreshing that way,that Pari fights his battle and his demons,thus making it more empowering,albeit in the end,where he thinks dialogue with his oppressors is the way out! This was no easy task, considering how casteist our society is,that any depiction of a dalit hitting back or killing his adversaries would have resulted in theatres getting burnt down or even inciting caste violence! That Mari could do all this without inviting backlash instead getting aplomb is remarkable feat indeed
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jaschek
November 22, 2018
Oh my god what have I done ?
I will just paste bits of what Brangan has said to reiterate my point. thanks BR
“As far as I see, jaschek saw the film, felt that it overplayed the tragedy card compared to the P Ranjith films he/she prefers, and that did not work at all. I don’t agree with jaschek there (I thought that Puyal scene from Kaala was cringy as hell, more of a placard than a moment), but that’s what movie-watching is about, right?”
“I feel it is possible to be non-ignorant, non-bigoted and non-prejudiced and still find an issue-based film dismissable — because the FILM did a bad job of doing what it set out to do, and not because I am not sympathetic or clued in to those issues/causes in real life.”
Also @Sanjay you are again assuming my ‘position of privilege’, I did not like the ‘movie’ as much as I wanted to, but you did. That is all there is to it.
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hari
November 22, 2018
BR regarding “but director makes him appear like a samurai warrior hero with a code”, I think the director wanted to show “see here is a guy who is a psychopath but still how he goes and kills himself because he felt what he is doing is right”, the killer clearly states in an earlier dialogue that he is doing for “amman” or something like that when he is asked how much he will charge.
The question i have is, why is the brahmin drunk shown wearing poonal in the wrong side? Was it intentional or a faux pas from the creative team?
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Sanjay Kumar
November 23, 2018
BRangan: The critic Jonathan Rosenbaum had this to say about 12 Years a Slave: “12 Years a Slave is an arthouse exploitation gift to masochistic guilty liberals hungry for history lessons, some of whom consider any treatment of American slavery by a black filmmaker to be an unprecedented event”
Are you sure that it was by Jonathan Rosenbaum? is attributed to him, however upon clicking the author’s name, the link says“Page Not Found”
When you quote search it using google this comment is attributed to another critic called Anthony Krcmar
I am not sure still as to who made it, however for Jonathan to make that rather tasteless opinion about such an important movie about Slavery in US prior to the civil war, sounded very harsh and elitist, and i don’t think one should take Jonathan’s opinion as some gold standard when it comes to critiquing movies made about the historically oppressed ! Or even consider it as bold (as you seem to suggest on what basis, i don’t understand)
Instead i read two reviews of that movie from Black AcademiciansCarole Byce and Dana Stevens whose disagrements with the film was not about white male’s “guilt trip”.
This is Dana Stevens “(” I think there’s a grain of truth in Armond White’s characterization of 12 Years in his original review as relating to the genre of “torture porn” (though I disagree that McQueen’s purpose in using this approach is “to make white people feel good about their own guilt.”)”
To which i was reminded about this article which i read a while ago while trying to draw parallels between dalit and black movements and on how to critically view arts centering around their lives
“…TV talk shows (MSNBC’s “Melissa Harris-Perry”) to assert that race still matters; that our society is still shaped by structures of racial oppression; and that to use Nicole Fleetwood’s term, images of race still create “troubling vision” in our world and on our screens.[7] And so, today as before, black film criticism maintains its political mission: analyzing powerful images and images of power, both.”
It is not difficult to see how replacing blacks with dalits in Indian context is not out of place. Stuart Hall who proposed a theoretical framework on media and cultural criticism on Black Art should serve as some guide to this conundrum of criticizing art of subaltern without coming across as gross or elitist.
Beyond these theoretical frameworks, I personally would like to view their experiences with compassion rather than putting myself at the centre of their struggles and commenting on their depiction as either moderate or appropriate, or OTT.
Also I detest moral relativism or value neutrality as morality/ethics which guides our worldview (including watching movies), should clearly inform us about the right from wrongs, rather than keeping one in an impractical middle ground and concluding falsely that all opinions are equal. All opinions may deserve a hearing in a free world in public spaces, but that does not mean some ideas (racism,casteism,misogyny,bigotry) is legitimate or just!
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Rahul
November 23, 2018
I did not see a samurai warrior hero in that assassin. He did not seem to have a code of honor. He did not confront his victims but tried to get them through underhand means, when they were least expecting , and he was in a position of advantage. From a social justice point of view, it is parallel to the belief held by some that they are better than others just because their birth gives them a position of advantage.
Because of failure in his last assignment, he could no longer convince himself that he was superior. The only reason for living his pathetic life was taken away from him, and he ended it.
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Aravindan R (@rnadnivara)
November 27, 2018
Mari Selvaraj’s heartfelt speech about why he made Pariyerum Perumal, his inner-conflicts during direction, why the movie is not in an exaggerated tone, his helplessness about recent Hosur couple death. At https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wTTV4DyAJ4s
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ramitbajaj01
November 27, 2018
I was watching the movie with subtitles. After the Engum Pugazh Thuvanga sequence, when Pari goes upto the performer, and says, ‘Pa’, I was taken aback. What had just happened? Was it why the scenes were cutting with the backstory introducing the father? But both of them looked so different, how could they be the same? Maybe by focusing on the subtitles, I hadn’t compared the visuals properly. So, I re-watched the whole sequence, and was left gaping at the screen. Now it made sense why Pari was getting emotional watching the performance.
Later, when the college scene came, I was left trembling. Someone above has doubted the ‘reality’ of that scene, and that in general, people aren’t this cruel. I really want to believe this version.
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sanjana
November 28, 2018
Watched PP. Liked the film. Need a sequel.
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magnus1ram
December 26, 2018
Female lead was amazing. Did not feel out of place at all.
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Anuja Chandramouli
December 27, 2018
Yay! I finally caught PP on Amazon Prime. Such an amazing film and my mind is truly blown. I can’t remember the last time I had tears in my eyes at the very beginning of a film! The opening sequence was brutal and gut wrenching and I watched the rest of this critically acclaimed film terrified that terrible things were going to happen to Pari before they killed him like his dog.
The thatha character has to be the horridest villain ever. Every one of his kills turned my stomach. The fact that he would so callously use people’s kindness against them… And the way he offed that poor poor girl, the dude on the bus or the guy who tried to rescue his miserable butt from a watery grave!!
Loved the evolution of Pari… I loved how determined he was to make a better life for himself while striving not to devolve to the levels of bestiality that constantly oppress him. But that said I couldn’t help thinking that some of the things that happened to Pari (the peeing on him, the stretch with Pari’s father where Yogi Babu had conveniently taken off to pee, the girls in the loo acting as though he were raping them as opposed to cowering on the floor like a wounded animal) were overkill. As someone pointed out in the comments thread casteism manifests itself subtly which is why it has proved impossible to root out but those things are hard to dramatize for a movie audience. With regard to the father stretch, it was lovely how Pari confronted his own bias and prejudice even as he started standing up to those who would make a victim out of him. That was so beautifully done!!
The Jo character has been keenly debated here and I can’t resist adding my two cents… Can I just say that I am heartily sick of this crazy male obsession with cutesy, female innocence? And when it is evinced by otherwise brilliant directors who make films with nuance and texture it is doubly hard to take. I mean who are these weirdos anyway? How can a law college student be this clueless about the world around her? One would think she had never glanced at a newspaper headline in her entire life! Even her caste blindness seemed to come from a place of spoilt bratty self involvement and the doe – eyed donkey only helped him learn English on a whim because she wanted to be worshipped as a Goddess. Selvaraghavan’s did a far better job with the Sonia Agarwal character in Kadhal Kondein. In PP though Jo was a grossly jarring character in an otherwise remarkable film! I wish Pari had done the sensible thing and opted not to risk life and limb for this creature… She certainly did not seem to realize or care that she was endangering his future with her ‘innocent’ or shuteyed declarations of fondness and love. Blergh…
Even so, PP was a helluva film thanks largely to Kathir’s wonderful turn as the eponymous character. An actor to watch out for.
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ThouShaltNot
December 29, 2018
Comment by @Varsha on the Zero thread:
No, it is a lot simpler in this case. “Karuppi” was his brother’s pet dog and he used it for the movie. Breed of dog was not a factor.
But, in one of the interviews, the director refuses to affirm or reject the interviewer’s line of thinking about a scene in the movie. His rationale for refusal? He is reluctant to puncture people’s imagination and “let them down” with a window into every aspect of his thought process over the movie’s minutiae (paraphrasing him).
Through the horrifying manner in which the defenseless dog is killed, the director set off an emotional dynamite on the railway tracks. He shatters not just the protagonist’s heart, but the millions who have watched the movie now. The dirge that follows (Karuppi, en Karuppi…) blurs the identity between man and dog. Conflation is the point (naai illa di nee, ada naan illaya nee…). While there are elements within society that treat humans like dogs, here we see a group of people elevating a dog (through the dirge) to the level of humans, longing to grasp its pain at its precise moment of death. Rest of the story picks up from there.
As per the director, he sees Karuppi as “aanmaa” – a stand-in for the souls mercilessly killed on railway tracks. Cinematic virtues aside, this movie could have social impact. Time will tell whether one movie will be enough to quell mindless violence or squelch centuries-long prejudices.
Powerful dialog at the end :
Jo’s father : “… ippOdhikki ennaala ivvalavau dhaan sollamudiyum.. vera enna solradhu… paakalaam…naalikki edhuvaenaalum eppadivaenaalum maaralaam illayaa…yaarukku theriyum…”
Pariyerum Perumal: “enakku theriyum sir.. neenga neengalaa irukkara varaikkum, naan naaiyaa dhaan irukkanumnu neenga edhirpaarkura varaikkum, inga edhuvumey maaraadhu”
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Devarsi Ghosh
September 26, 2019
Watched a Tamil film after ages. I don’t know what’s up with Tamil films made these days, or at least the ones I have seen, but they are always 40 mins too long. The length makes sense in a story which is long-winded and filled with vignettes like Super Deluxe or Iraivi, but with this movie, so much could’ve been left out on the editing table.
Anyway, liked the movie, but loved SaNa’s work. He is my favourite Indian film composer right now. He’s just something else.
Coming back to PP, as many have mentioned here and so has BR, what was up with the Jo character? How can someone be so dumb/cute? Is it really the performance or the character on paper? The film had a lot of rough edges.
Another thing that perplexed me was how nonchalant PP gets in regard to Karuppi’s death right after he enters college. I mean the dog dies, PP’s shattered, we get the song, and that’s it. Then the next time we see PP is during the Naan Yaar sequence, and then again in the end on the railway tracks. The dog’s manner of death was something that I felt should have haunted PP from time to time. I wish the dog’s shadow loomed large over the film as it did over the poster. I wish he didn’t just appear during those two sequences and instead had a strong spiritual presence all throughout the long-long stretch when PP is getting humiliated and attacked daily…
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adits90
September 12, 2021
We call ourselves a liberal democracy. As a people, we’ve grasped the democratic part of it intuitively, even viscerally. Despite our obsession with gods and heroes in culture, politically we are aware of our power, and right, to dispose off politicians. With the liberal part of the phrase though, we’ve always had a troublesome relationship. We seem to identify ourselves and others via castes and communities, and our relationships are mediated by those group identities. Not only do we not respect individual rights and wishes, we also look suspiciously, occasionally react violently, on individuals who seem to threaten status quo or try to chart a new path.
I watched Pariyerum Perumal and Kaala recently, and, if only because of Pa. Ranjith’s involvement in both, couldn’t help but see them as companion pieces. And they seem to wrangle with one half each of our ‘liberal democracy’ predicament.
Kaala is about democracy. It is about a mass leader who empowers a group of people to ‘overthrow’ an unjust ruler. It celebrates the power of people when confronting Big Capital. However, it seems to stop at the point of resistance. People come together to defeat an enemy but nothing much changes when the enemy isn’t around. Funnily enough, Kaala is asked multiple times in the film how he plans to improve the living conditions of the slumdwellers and there is never an answer. They clearly articulate what they want from the development (“Toilets, Schools, Playground etc.”) but it is as if the leader and the followers seem clueless when it comes to charting a path for their development. It is a failure of the political imagination.
Pariyerum Perumal, on the other hand, exalts the liberal aspect. Here is an individual who has a clear understanding of the path he must take to progress. He repeatedly turns down the support of a group in the fear that he will then become a part of the whole. And that is his primary driving force- an astoundingly courageous need to stand by his individuality. Being part of a larger group might grant him safety and help him progress, but if its at the cost of his individual ambitions, he does not want it. While I cherished both films, I was completely awestruck by the audacity of Mari Selvaraj’s film.
Democracy is valuable but without the direction liberalism provides, all it would do is replace the tyranny of Monetary Power or Military Power with Majority Power.
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hari prasad
April 26, 2023
Of all movies Dharma could have remade , they choosed this…
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