Life And Death Of A Rebel (Tamil, 2016) | Short Film Review

It is very tough to make a short film that just has a soliloquy running close to 15 minutes. In that vein it is quite an achievement that the team have more or less been able to sustain the audience interest. The short film opens with a lovely local football sequence whose charm is amplified by the choice of music. Then the film moves onto appealing to the philosophical side with some brilliant dialogues. Sample this, “A terminally ill patient suffers more at the hands of his loved ones than the disease itself”. However, one has to say that this Into The Wild kind of mode that the film morphs into, does not quite impact the way the film did. In spite of Ashok Selvan‘s alluring characterization and mammoth effort with various looks, as the dialogues are not in the native language of Tamizh there is a disconnect.

Technically, the film is rendered rich through extraordinary visuals due to the landscape as well as some adept camera work by Akbar Basha. Whatever glossy visual the camera may show if it is not backed by good music the overall product will fail to have the impact. Even non-narrative documentary films like Koyaanisqatsi & Baraka needed the music to convey the inherent message. In that context, Vishal Chandrasekar is the lifeline of this short film as he brings out his best to suit the Himalayan scenery.

Overall, this seems to be a very personal effort from the team to emphasize how travel can be a healer and the monotony of day-to-day life leads one to want to break free of its clutches. However, in spite of the brilliant technical work the film’s impact suffers due to the language chosen.