JOAN ANDTHE VOICES Armenian director Mikayel Vatinyan’s debut screens in Flash Forward


»Review, p18


THETEMPLE Skilful satire from Indian film-maker Umesh Kulkarni is showing in the Window On Asian Cinema section


»Review, p18


KOREAN CINEMATODAY Pink


Dir Jeon Soo-il. S Kor. 2011. 97mins Production companies Dongnyuk Films, Mountain Pictures International sales M-Line Distribution, www.mline-distribution.com Producers Jo In-sook, Park Joong-rae Screenplay Kim Gyeong, Jeon Soo-il DoP Kim Sung-tai Art director Kim Geon-woo Editor Jeon Soo-il Sound Lee Sung-chul Main cast Lee Seung-yeon, Seo Kap-sook, Park Hyun-woo


Korean director Jeon Soo-il’s eighth feature, Pink, set in a rural fishing community slated for demolition, is a muted but forceful portrait of two enigmatic women. One of Jeon’s stronger works,


Pink will be embraced by festivals, though its commercial prospects with local and international audi- ences look limited. The film opens with the first meet-


ing between a middle-aged single mother Ok-ryeon (Seo), who owns a bar and cares for her handicapped son Sang-guk (Park), and an emo- tionally reserved woman Su-jin (Lee), who she has hired to run the bar. While serving customers and


looking after Sang-guk, Su-jin slips hesitantly into her new routine, but is periodically haunted by flashbacks to traumatic experiences from her childhood. Meanwhile, Ok-ryeon resists the admonitions of her police- man lover and heads a local effort to demonstrate against the planned redevelopment of the community.


In an aesthetic sense the low-


budget film shares much in com- mon with Jeon’s previous work, which includes the award winning With A Girl Of Black Soil (2007) and San Sebastian title I Came From Busan (2009). Here too, his focus is on alienated, lower-class characters who grapple with inner trauma and external threats to their livelihood. Nonetheless, the director de-


emphasises the drama and clouds our perception of what the characters are feeling. In this sense, the viewer is challenged to piece together the emotional states of the characters. Revisiting themes of trauma,


sexuality and the conflict between hope and despair, Jeon paints a vivid portrait of a community that has been largely abandoned and whose existence itself is under threat. The film’s title derives from the


name of the bar, which is identified by a pink signboard with no letter- ing, evoking in an ironic way the spirit of la vie en rose.


NEW CURRENTS Watch Indian Circus


Dir Mangesh Hadawale. India. 2011. 101mins Production company Sundial Pictures Sales TBA Producers Chirag Shah, Mahaveer Jain, Anil Lad Screenplay Mangesh Hadawale DoP Laxman Utekar Production design Ashwini Shrivatav Editor James Joseph Main cast Tannishtha Chatterjee, Nawazuddin Siddiqui, Virendrapratap Rathore, Suhani Oza


Tannishtha Chatterjee’s radiant per- formance stands at the centre of Watch Indian Circus (Dekh Indian Circus), the poignant story of a des- perately poor family’s efforts to take their children to the circus. The second feature (and first


Hindi film) by up-and-coming director Mangesh Hadawale, whose Marathi-language Tingya won awards in India, Watch Indian Cir- cus is a simple story well told, which will appeal to a broad audience. Set against the backdrop of a


regional election, the plot centres around Karajo (Chatterjee), who promises to take her daughter Panni (Oza) and son Ghumroo (Rathore) to a travelling circus that has arrived in a neighbouring town. Unable ordinarily to afford such a


luxury, the family plans to use some money given to day-labourer hus- band Jethu (Siddiqui) at a vote-buy- ing political rally. However when he also accepts a mobile phone from a rival candidate, thugs from the


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other party beat him up and take both the phone and his money. Unable to face her heartbroken


daughter, Karajo resolves to take the two children herself, using any means possible. Chatterjee, who appears opposite


Martin Sheen in the upcoming Bho- pal: Prayer For Rain, exhibits a wide range of emotions in a charismatic and heartfelt performance. The film is as much about family


dynamics and sacrifice as it is about reaching their goal, and in this sense Chatterjee’s performance holds the film together. Virendrapratap Rathore and Suhani Oza as the son and daughter are also outstanding. Though the film contains a few


musical sequences, Hadawale keeps the focus on the story and proves to be adept at teasing drama out of simple exchanges. Simultaneously, the film registers a quiet outrage at the social inequality and lack of empathy which makes the family’s journey so difficult.


October 2011 Screen International 17 n


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