A HEAVEN ON EARTH, (Bollywood) Viewed at Florence Indian Film Festival, River to River, Dec. 2010
Declared the Best Feature in the week's competition was Deepa Mehta's latest offering "A Heaven on Earth" , a more appropriate title for which would have been "An Absolute Hell On Earth". Deepa, a Canada based offshore Indian filmmaker, has been turning out critically acclaimed award winning Indian films since 1991, but this story of a beautiful mail-order Indian bride who comes to Toronto to marry a despicable Punjabi psychotic named Rocky, and is subjected to nothing but brutal abuse by both him and his hateful mother, is arguably her worst film ever. A magic love potion, given the hapless bride by a black Jamaican co-worker to change her husband's attitude, brings on (apparently) some sort of hallucinatory encounter with Rocky, who now inexplicably loves her tenderly. But the "old Rocky" sees this hallucination (or whatever it was) as a marital betrayal, and the poor girl is subjected to the good old Cobra Test to prove her fidelity. It so happens that a healthy Indian Cobra lives in their Canadian back yard and she has to reach into its nest and grab it, to prove the purity of intentions -- if the snake doesn't kill her outright she will be accepted back into the fold to resume her role as the family punching bag.
The only saving grace of this study in sadism, mixed with ridiculous metaphysics, is a gripping performance by one of Bollywood's prettiest leading ladies, Preity Zinta, in an uncharacteristically somber role, but looking prettier than ever. The selection of this horrid piece of domestic depredation as "Best film of the week" can only indicate that the selection committee must have been dominated by a team of hard-core Italian masochists. Earlier I said this was "one to watch for". Having now watched it dutifully, I would have to revise that and say this is one to avoid like the plague.
ALEXFARBA FILM WEBSITE: http://www.alexfarbafilm.com
Declared the Best Feature in the week's competition was Deepa Mehta's latest offering "A Heaven on Earth" , a more appropriate title for which would have been "An Absolute Hell On Earth". Deepa, a Canada based offshore Indian filmmaker, has been turning out critically acclaimed award winning Indian films since 1991, but this story of a beautiful mail-order Indian bride who comes to Toronto to marry a despicable Punjabi psychotic named Rocky, and is subjected to nothing but brutal abuse by both him and his hateful mother, is arguably her worst film ever. A magic love potion, given the hapless bride by a black Jamaican co-worker to change her husband's attitude, brings on (apparently) some sort of hallucinatory encounter with Rocky, who now inexplicably loves her tenderly. But the "old Rocky" sees this hallucination (or whatever it was) as a marital betrayal, and the poor girl is subjected to the good old Cobra Test to prove her fidelity. It so happens that a healthy Indian Cobra lives in their Canadian back yard and she has to reach into its nest and grab it, to prove the purity of intentions -- if the snake doesn't kill her outright she will be accepted back into the fold to resume her role as the family punching bag.
The only saving grace of this study in sadism, mixed with ridiculous metaphysics, is a gripping performance by one of Bollywood's prettiest leading ladies, Preity Zinta, in an uncharacteristically somber role, but looking prettier than ever. The selection of this horrid piece of domestic depredation as "Best film of the week" can only indicate that the selection committee must have been dominated by a team of hard-core Italian masochists. Earlier I said this was "one to watch for". Having now watched it dutifully, I would have to revise that and say this is one to avoid like the plague.
ALEXFARBA FILM WEBSITE: http://www.alexfarbafilm.com