I recently watched “All we imagine as light,” an Indian film that is currently in theaters and that drew me due to the beautiful photography shown in the trailer.
The film is about three women living in Mumbai whose lives are crossed by different personal dilemmas that fall into a commonplace. In simple, the story is very straightforward, but the interesting thing, of course, is how it is built through images and sound.
The movie plays with the concept of light in the city and nature visually and with the characters metaphorically.
(Spoiler begins)
I perfectly remember a scene where Dr. Manoj, after hinting at his affection for Prabha several times, asks her to talk alone to confess that Mumbai has nothing to offer but her love.
This timid confession takes place in a fixed shot at night, in a neighborhood square-ish, while both sit on two swings, avoiding eye contact. The light is very dim, but at that moment, Manoj experiences an enlightenment that later falls into darkness when his love is not corresponded.
The composition is divided vertically into two parts by the swing chains. She is on the left, and he is on the right. Manoj speaks to her with his head down, his nervous hands never stop moving, and he is only able to focus his gaze on Prabha when she is not looking at him.
The denouement occurs when he stares at her, waiting for an answer. Prabha becomes uncomfortable and asks to leave. Unfortunately, she is tied to the idea of marriage and is not willing, until then, to break a commitment that she keeps at a distance. She never denies him her affection. But unfortunately, she cannot give it to him. Prabha calmly gets up and leaves while Manoj watches, sitting, as his only hope fades away. The camera then focuses on Prabha’s back as she adjusts her sari and disappears into the frame.
(Spoiler ends)
The scene may be typical. But I loved seeing how it is almost entirely constructed by the actors and the dim lighting. The light is deposited on Manoj’s desire to be with Prabha.
For some time now, I have been paying attention to how photography and editing build the characters. Like a parallel story that is told only through the image’s composition. A good exercise that I have been practicing is to look at parts of scenes separately and try to discover what is happening without having more context than the frame. Youtube channels like Every frame a painting and Anatomy of a scene from the New York Times have helped me a lot in fine-tuning my way of looking at a film.
The translation of “The light as we imagine” to “La luz que imaginamos” seemed accurate. I would have liked to see it in the original language because there are several scenes where I think the dialogue would have been stronger. Especially in a scene where the narration of a poem takes center stage, but it wasn’t possible.
I highly recommend the film. I think it’s already available for rent on some digital platforms.
