Before you decide to watch this movie on DVD, there is something you might want to know. The subtitles are in difficult to read font and are yellow, and at times, they are a bit hard to read. It's hard to imagine that the people distributing the film would do such a haphazard job of captioning the film--and it's a shame.
The plot of this film is a lot like the Anne Bancroft/Anthony Hopkins film, "84 Charing Cross Road" in that it is told through a very long series of letters back and forth between the male and female lead. Despite having a very strong attachment, the male and female leads go for many years without seeing each other! Muyage is a woman living in Japan. Snehamoy is a Bengali man living in India and most of the film is shown from his perspective. They are pen pals and through the course of the film they exchange many letters which are narrated for the audience. Over time, they fall in love but cannot do much about it, as they are both poor. Yet, because they are so painfully shy, they do not see anyone in their own country. Eventually they hit on the idea of getting married--though they still have not actually met...and even after their marriage (there is no actual ceremony) they do not meet! Years pass this way as they exchange letters and grow separately...yet together.
Problems arise, however, when a widow and her young son move in with him and his aunt. After all, this widow is the same lady that the aunt tried to get Snehamoy to marry years earlier. She, like Snehamoy, is painfully shy...but you can also very slowly see something might be blossoming between them...very, very slowly. And, you can also see the young boy beginning to bond more and more with Snehamoy--seeing him as a bit of a father figure. In the meantime, Miyage becomes ill--so ill that Snehamoy is worried she will die, so he takes off time from work and runs from doctor to healer to try to get them to diagnose a woman living 3600 miles from India (trust me, I recently measured it)! What will become of these nice people?
Overall, I was very impressed by the very slow and deliberate pace of the film. It was obviously a labor of love, though some might be a bit put off by the very restrained and emotionally constricted acting. It is a film about people--not about action or great displays of emotion. As a result, I assume many, if not most viewers (who are unfortunately boobs) probably will not enjoy the film very much and much of the film's beauty and artistry will be lost on them. Yes, I am apparently a snob and assume the worst of many viewers--especially teens and the chronically dumb. But, if you are willing to watch such a film, give this one a try. It's original (despite its similarity to this other film) and engaging...if you give it a chance. Just be forewarned, this film, at times, is rather heart-breaking--it's not a predictable romantic feel-good film. Seriously...think about this before picking this film.
By the way, there was one aspect of the film I did NOT love. Seeing the male lead apparently masturbating in one scene was kind of yucky. No, they didn't show this but it was clear this was occurring. I did, however, like a scene soon after this where you THINK this is occurring...but it isn't. That's pretty clever.
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