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Reviews
Funny Boy (2020)
Youth, taboo, and humanity in the midst of a race war
This film keeps no secrets. This is the life of Arjie, a young, gay fly-on-the-wallpaper finding himself during the heat of race war.
It feels like watching a theater production or a documentary: taking a very neutral perspective to each character, holding the audience at a distance. It's less of a story of "sexual awakening," more of a picture of the Sri Lanka civil war and the hostilities between Sinhalese and Tamil people. Homosexuality on the back burner, miscegenation up front. Most of the conflict is driven by the tragedy of love across racial divides-- his aunt, his mother, and himself.
The acting was great, especially the children and Shehan (Mannayake), as well as the blocking in each scene. I really loved the dual portrayal of Arjie as a young man and a little boy: a powerful framing showing how his older self reflects on past moments and how his inner child is affected by the present, and this was executed really well. The film was well written, drawing connections to literary giants such as Vidal, Wilde, and the book A Tale Of Two Cities. The question at the heart of the movie is: What place is there for love in a world of hatred? Can this desire be a betrayal of one's family and community?
The use of color was beautiful; the saturated grading emphasized the richness of the tropics. Green (tropical plants, Shehan's room) and red (Radha's boa and scarf) are both very evocative. The film is full of beautiful images, but it oft pursues that beauty over emotional intimacy. For example, wide shots during close conversations that make it difficult to tell who's saying what. Or, the first emotionally rich scene between Shehan and Arjie: the actors' faces are cast in the shadow of silhouette, when it would have been better to show us the emotional interplay on the characters' faces. Close-ups were also used on some characters during moments lacking in emotion.
The editing was sometimes incredible and powerful, and sometimes jarring jump cuts, *especially between scenes* (hence my comparison to theater). I loved the sweeping shots that give you a perspective of the character and their environment, but sometimes camera movement felt out-of-place, such as during a conversation when the uneven, handheld movement of the camera drew me away from the characters.
I would have liked to see more of Akka (Arjie's mother) and her relationship with her son and her community; I felt her character was lacking in deference to related conflicts with Arjie, his father, and Jegan, despite being so very in the midst of it all.
One great weakness is that many have mentioned how the Tamil characters were not Tamil actors or native speakers. It would have been a better movie for that, as you can sometimes feel the microseconds pause as an actor says something in translation. This is a movie made for Western audiences; as a Western audiencemember, I enjoyed it. I added an extra star to account for the homophobic ratings, as I find it unfortunate that art cannot be enjoyed for the sake of art.