Forsaken Land, The Review

Average Reviews:

(More customer reviews)It's an excellent movie although somewhat slow. It's not to be confused with a factual overview on the nature of peace in Sri Lanka. It's merely a story of a family during the so called peace. People who want to get some insight into the various phases of the 30 year civil war incl. a phase of peace had better grab a documentary or a book.
It's a very stylistic film - who says that's the preserve of some directors and not some others - and narrated purely from the point of view of a Sinhala soldier's family. In fact the Tamils, the other major community in Sri Lanka, do not enter the story at all. That's why it should not be confused with a commentary on the ethnic strife in Sri Lanka.
What the director wants to 'say' is ambiguously conveyed. Perhaps this ambiguity is at the heart of things. It's a very ambiguous time - neither war nor peace. The director also makes use of very specific devices like a folk tale to situate a particular point in the film.
It's a deeply moving film.

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Following 20-plus years of civil war, a cease-fire treaty has been reached between the Sinhala government and the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam. In its attempt to ensure that the cease-fire isn't breached, the Sri Lankan army's presence is felt everyday, conveying the strange sense of a country suspended in a state of being simultaneously without war and without peace.
In a far corner of this war-torn no-man's-land, serviceman Anura (Mahendra Perera) shares a small home with his wife Latá (Nilupili Jayawardena) and his unmarried sister, Somá (Kaushalya Fernando). Anura works by day as a guardsman, sharing his post and rifle with Piyasiri (Hemasiri Liyanage), an older man who takes the night shift. On one fateful day, when the army delivers early morning, life-altering orders to Anura, Latá's frustration will mount, and Somá will retrace the tragic consequences of Piyasiri's painful past, as told to her in the guise of a little girl's fairy tale.
Poetic and haunting, this remarkable debut from director Vimukthi Jayasundara asserts a powerful new voice in filmmaking and stands as a breakthrough for Sri-Lankan cinema.
Special Features:- Theatrical Trailer- Dolby Digital 5.1 soundtrack- Enhanced for 16x9 Tvs- Optional English subtitles- Scene Selections- Booklet: Interview with the director

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