PSIFF 2011: PEEPLI LIVE

Natha (Omkar Das Manikpuri) in Peepli Live.

Caste away

By John Esther 

Thanks to a lifetime of hardship resulting in hopelessness and a controversial government program, thousands of Indian farmers continue to commit suicide for money. The number of farmers who have committed suicide in India between 1997 and 2007 now stands at 182,936. That is about one suicide for every 31 minutes.

A fictional account of the capitalist crisis met with government response, writer-director Anusha Rizvi's Peepli Live tells the tale of two brothers, Natha (Omkar Das Manikpuri) and Budhia (Raghubir Yadav), who are about to lose their plot of rural land and want to take advantage of the government program.  

After the brothers decide which one will die, the story breaks out with the media, government, politicains and entrepenuers descending on the small rural village to see if a suicide will take place. Sadly humorous, everybody has an agenda. Votes, ratings and money are at stake and nobody cares if a nobody sends back the gift of life. 

A better writer than director, the strength of Rizvi's Peepli Live is the film's unsentimental portrayal of the poor. Far more Émile Zola and Shohei Imamura than John Steinbeck and Michael Moore, the films depicts India's lowest cast as ignorant and brutish, with adults and children prone to yelling, violence, excessive inebriation and self preservation at any cost. This honesty prevents sympathy for the self/society-doomed protagonist, which translates into a more complex look at the issues at hand.

India's Oscar submission for Best Foreign Language Film is about despair and doom. And while that may sound like a depressing time at the movies, consider that with its 104-minute running time, over three Indian farmers will have, on average, committed suicide during the film. 

Recommended.

(Peepli Live screens Jan. 7, 1:30 p.m., Palm Springs Regal 9; Jan. 8. 10:30 a.m., Palm Springs Regal 9. For more information: http://www.psfilmfest.org/

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FILM REVIEW: THE SICILIAN GIRL

Young Rita (Mariana Faja) grows up too fast in The Sicilian Girl.

Big mouth strikes

By Miranda Inganni

Inspired by the true story of Rita Atria, The Sicilian Girl (La Siciliana Ribelle), is a fictional telling of an extraordinary tale. Breaking the code of Cosa Nostra conduce, Rita (Veronica D’Agostino) chooses to avenge the murder of her family members by telling all to the authorities.

Growing up in a small town in Sicily, Rita is coddled and adored by her father (Marcello Mazzarella), but doesn’t receive the same positive attention from her monstrous mother (Lucia Sardo). After witnessing her father’s murder by a rival mob boss, Rita turns to her older brother (Carmelo Galati) for guidance, but he soon meets a cruel fate, too.

Only 17, Rita is more of a rebellious and determined young woman (as the Italian title states) than a girl. Despite keeping her father’s pistol, Rita is not powerful enough to take assassinating action; instead she keeps copious notes and journals on the activities of various mob families. When her mother throws her out of the house, Rita heads off to find the chief anti-mafia judge, Paolo Borsellino (Gérard Jugnot), whom she had encountered once as a young girl. She soon finds herself in a safe house with constant police protection and growing affection for the avuncular judge.

Sadly, the strong hand of the mafia has a wide reach and Rita is all alone in her world.

Directed (and co-written) by Marco Amenta, The Sicilian Girl unfortunately doesn’t do justice to the true story. On its own, however, the movie does its best to show the struggle of one person against her entire community and, indeed, a way of life that even her mother firmly supports. Despite strong performances by D’Agostino and Jugnot, the film is wrought with too many fade-in and outs along with Luca Bigazzi's cinematography, which tries too hard to be both pastoral and gritty. Nonetheless, the story of Rita is one of dedication and sacrifice and it is no wonder that the real Rita Atria is admired by many.



 

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FILM REVIEW: PEEPLI LIVE

Caste away

By John Esther 

Thanks to a lifetime of hardship resulting in hopelessness and a controversial government program, thousands of Indian farmers continue to commit suicide. The number of farmers who have committed suicide in India between 1997 and 2007 now stands at 182,936.  That is about one suicide for every 31 minutes. Since the farmers cannot pay off their land and the government provides aid to the families of indebted Indian farmers who have committed suicide, why not?


A fictional account of the capitalist crisis met with government response, writer-director Anusha Rizvi's Peepli Live tells the tale of two brothers, Natha (Omkar Das Manikpuri) and Budhia (Raghubir Yadav), who are about to lose their plot of rural land and want to take advantage of the government program. The question is: who is going to hang himself for the greater good?


After the brothers decide which one will die, the story breaks out with the media, government, politicains and entrepenuers descending on the small rural village to see if a suicide will take place. Sadly humorous, everybody has an agenda. Votes, ratings and money are at stake and nobody cares if a nobody sends back the gift of life. Will he do it?


A better writer than director, the strength of Rizvi's Peepli Live is the film's unsentimental portrayal of the poor. Far more Émile Zola and Shohei Imamura than John Steinbeck and Michael Moore, the films depicts India's lowest cast as ignorant and brutish, with adults and children prone to yelling, violence, excessive inebriation and self preservation at any cost. This honesty prevents sympathy for the self/society-doomed protagonist, which translates into a more complex look at the issues at hand. If a man and those around him are miserable, malicious loudmouths, is his suicide less tragic? If so, then within the context of the film it qualifies attitudes toward suicide, suicide for money, how bad is India's banking system, mainstream media, does a society get the government it deserves, etc.


The film's depiction of the poor is not to suggest it is a Wall Street editorial where the poor are a necessary good(s). The upper and middle class castes are hardly noble, either. They move in ways to preserve their self interests. The community is an afterthought. The government would rather pay for a suicide than use those same resources to prevent one. Even if an individual in Peepli Live does speak out against the plight of his countrymen and countrywomen, there is nothing to be done when the nation's policies are motivated and based on response rather than prevention. The plight of the farmers is just another incident of a global economy based on conflict.

Complex in the context, Peepli Live is about despair and doom. And while that may sound like a  depressing time at the movies, consider that with a 104-minute running time, over three Indian farmers will have, on average, committed suicide during that time. 

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