Master Index of Archived Threads


The Photograph (2019, India)

* * * *

0 votes

* * * 1/2

0 votes

* * *

0 votes

* * 1/2

1 votes

* *

0 votes

* 1/2

0 votes

*

0 votes

1/2

0 votes

* * * * 1/2

0 votes

* * * * *

0 votes

Edgy MD Aug 28 2019 09:27 AM

A struggling street photographer, living with multiple roommates and pressured to marry by the grandmother who raised him, finally sends her a letter to announce his engagement, and encloses a picture of a young woman whom he had photographed, but who ran away before collecting her photo or paying him. Grandma decides to head to Mumbai to see for herself, and so the plot is set in motion. [FIMG=600]https://m.media-amazon.com/images/M/MV5BMjMzNDMzMTU0NV5BMl5BanBnXkFtZTgwNDI5NTYyNzM@._V1_.jpg[/FIMG]

whippoorwill Aug 28 2019 02:15 PM Re: The Photograph (2019, India)

Sounds cute, as long as no wedding iccurs

Frayed Knot Aug 28 2019 02:16 PM Re: The Photograph (2019, India)

In what scene does Ringo appear?

Edgy MD Aug 28 2019 04:24 PM Re: The Photograph (2019, India)

=whippoorwill post_id=20184 time=1567023308 user_id=79] Sounds cute, as long as no wedding iccurs

Unfortunately, not much of anything occurs. Some of the key plot turns occur offscreen, to the point where you wonder if large pieces of the film were inadvertently cut, while what occurs onscreen is often long awkward silences.



Writer/director Ritesh Batra had previously succeeded with this less-is-more approach in The Lunch-Box (which also featured Nawazuddin Siddiqui), and both films have a touch of magic-realism, but Lunch-Box left more of the narrative onscreen, and allowed you a better sense of the characters. These two remain largely veiled. Apart from a noticeable age difference, they couldn't have any chemistry with each other because they are each too detached to have chemistry with anybody.



There are hints at the broader themes — the persistence of the caste system, Muslim-Hindu relations, the pressures of Indian education, the secularization of both faiths in the increasingly cosmopolitan India, and the looming specter of the rape culture of the country — but you just brush these on the sleeve as you pass them in a crowd, never knowing if it was intentional, and they are no more resolved than the main plot.



The grandmother was a mean old loud-mouthed crone, but she may have been the best part. At least she created action. If you haven't already, see Lunch-Box instead.