Customer Reviews

The Terrorist [VHS]

5 star:		(15)
4 star:		(6)
3 star:		(3)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

This is a starkly sad and beautiful film by the Indian filmmaker Santosh Sivan, in the Tamil language with English subtitles. It was shot in 17 days on locations in Kerala and Madras with a cast made up entirely of nonprofessional actors on a small budget. The theme, however, is large.

The lead character, Malli, exquisitely played by Ayesha Dharkar, is a 19-year old woman who lives in a terrorist camp, fighting for her unnamed country. Her eyes are large and her expressions innocent and strong and even though we see her actively participating in an execution, she wins the audience's heart immediately. She is honored by being chosen to become a suicide bomber. A very important person will come to the town, she will put a garland around his neck, and blow him and herself up by pushing a button which will ignite the bombs strapped to her body. But will she really do it?

When she leaves the guerilla camp she is led through minefields by a young boy named Lotus. We glimpse the horror of the war through his eyes and his boyish bravery. Then she is taken on a boat to spend a few days with a elderly farmer named Vesu who doesn't suspect her mission. As she dresses for the final event, she is torn with conflict. By subtle complexities in her acting, the audience is drawn in to Malli's dilemma. However, the director sometimes gets a little too arty, with too many close-ups with raindrops on her face. And, in order to show every single emotion, the action of the story moves too slow for my taste.

However, the beauty of the film lies not as much in the actual story, but in the director's ability to put a human face on terrorism. The mood is somber, the cinematography beautiful and the emotions of the individuals caught up in the drama are captured well. I recommend this video for serious film buffs only who are willing to incorporate sadness and starkness into their movie-going experience. Others will find it too harsh.

The Terrorist is an unconventional film, providing a beautiful, quiet, almost meditative look into the mind and heart of a woman rebel about to commit a suicide terrorist act. Almost every week now we can read about similar bombings in the Middle East or elsewhere. Most of us probably read the headlines and recoil in disgust at the violence, while some individuals may perceive the events as courageous acts of freedom fighters. The genius of this movie is that it does not promote either but instead focuses on the interior life of a very real human being.

The film is photographed beautifully primarily in lush areas of India. The actors are all unknown and are excellent in their innocent portrayals. The film was supposedly made for the ridiculous amount of $30,000 and thus there are no special effects or grand action sequences -- which I found refreshing. Instead the camera explores the faces and feelings of the characters which are sometimes intense, always interesting.

I found the main character fascinating. She is in some ways an inexperienced girl, but in others a courageous adult who has seen much in her life. She is shown to be both a trained rebel/killer and a sensitive woman. I became more and more anxious for her as she approached the day of the assassination and her death.

In response to some of the criticisms of the movie: I liked that details surrounding the rebellion were not given as this was not a movie about a particular rebel movement but about the conflict inside a generic rebel who is devoted to her cause but is also growing in appreciation of life. I did not find the main character self-absorbed, but instead growing in awareness of herself and of the world in response to the unique situation she finds herself. Also there are no signs of trouble during the 2nd half of the movie because she has traveled two days away from the source of the uprising to the mainland where the assasination is to take place. It would have interesting to not show the ending of the movie, but leave it up to the viewer to decide if she chose to carry out the terrorist act or not, but I loved the ending that was shown; suspenseful, inspiring but not contrived.

In summary, this was a visually wonderful and emotionally absorbing film that I believe will gradually gain much acclaim.

For all its title, this Indian film is not in any way political; though it is clearly inspired by the assacination of Rajiv Gandhi in 1991, by a girl who strapped a bomb around her body, the location of "The Terrorist" remains vague. But that makes a point because the film concentrates an orphaned girl Malli's pyschological change from a soldier fighting in the jungle for cause, into something she never thought of before, something with humanity.

The film neither defends nor accuses the terrorism (whatever you may define it) and those who are involved in it. The director wisely avoids including any reference to political climate, and sets his forcus upon the girl who believes her cause, and for that purpose, could be ruthless to kill a man. She is chosen for the 'human bomb' soldier to assacinate one statesman, and when she knows that, she quite happily starts the preparatory course for the mission, saying the words of gratitude before the commander.

And Malli is sent to an old farmer's house under false identity, in order to wait for the order, but there she encounters the events that influence her way of thinking. For the reason that is gradually revealed in flashback sequences, her strong will starts to falter. In fact, Malli is given a chance to choose her life, which is to be suggested in the end.

Shot all with natural lighting, and except the leading actress Ayesha Dharkar, with all non-professional actors, the film shows the impressive contrast of darkness and light. Santosh Sivan, acclaimed photographer of India, gives his second feature as a director, and his skill for capturing the natural light is brilliantly shown here, with finely realized images of green, wet jungle. Though the film does not tell us anything particularly new about terrorism and its participants, its cinematography surely sneaks into the (possibly imaginary to some extent, but realistic) world of them.

But, the greatest treasure of the film is the lead Ayasha Dharkar, whose natural beauty never leaves the memory of ours the instant she looks deep into the camera. Her wide eyes are as expressive as anything I have seen on the screen recently, and if for her acting only, the film deserves your time and money. Actually, you might have seen her already in a certain Hollywood blockbuster film called "Episode II" (no kidding), but George Lucas seems to have missed it. A real shame. (About where she was, read on till the end.)

John Malkovich, when he was chairman at Cairo Film Festival, loved the film so much that he decided to lend his name to introduce the film worldwide. So, Japanese poster of this film has a line "John Malkovich Presents" and his enthusiastic feelings are only natural. "The Terrorist" may put off many prospective viewers because of its topic and title, but the film deals with more personal matter, about which we should think for once. And again I say, the lead is so compelling that you never turn your eyes from her.

The director Santosh Sivan later joined respected Indian director Mani Rathnam's film "Dil Se" (1998) as a photographer. The film, which became a top 10 hit in UK, uses the same topic in a very different way. If you have a chance to see it, don't miss it.

Oh, and about her role in "Episode II": yes, Ayasha Dharka played Queen Jamillir, present Queen of Naboo where Natalie Portman's Amidara meets her.

There is a very subtle, but important message in this movie. This girl, Malli, had been brought up in a terrorist atmosphere since her parents and, later, her older brother were killed in the Tamil struggle in Sri Lanka. That is literally all she knew.

I once met a trained Iranian terrorist who was sent to India to blow up an airliner. However, there was a delay in their plans, and he fell into extended contact with a Christian woman. She was so loving and so kind to him, completely opposite of what he'd been taught in Islamic Iran, that he began to doubt his mission to kill innocent people. Eventually, he converted to Christianity and moved to the United States. This movie is the same story, except that the kind person was Hindu.

Malli simply could not reconcile what she saw and felt while staying with this loving man, one who tenderly cared for seven years for his comatose wife, with what she'd been taught in her terrorist training camps. Maybe it is true that love conquers all! At least, especially in the light of Islamic terrorism to prevalent today, this movie raises such issues. Does love always work? Or, can terrorists use one's loving gestures against them? Traditional values, especially religious familles, would find this topic to be a lively and, hopefully, fruitful discussion.

I loved the movie The Terrorist. It is a non-Bollywood Indian film that doesnt altogether escape the somewhat cheesy nature of some of these movies, but it remains extremely emotional and dark throughout. The main character struggles between her duty to her "country", the rebels she fights with, and sacrificing her life to take the lives of others (namely the leader of the Government, this sort of assassination has really taken place in India in the fairly recent past). She seems to really begin to understand the beautiful, fragile nature of life when she meets a little boy who is to be her guide. The movie is not too violent and I would recommend it to a mature PG-13 audience.

The major attraction of this film for THE MAN WITH THE KINOAPPARAT is the sound design. Any serious sound guys out there, you need to read this book as a text book.

The person who picked this particular film up for distribution in the US is an amazingly familiar name to those serious film these people; John Malkovich!

Well, I did not expect you to know this but it is the truth! At the initial screening at NUART theatre, the tie and suit guys fled so fast that one could easily gage the ultimate uniqueness of the film just by looking at the speed of these guys!

It is a fascinating journey into the shady area where ethics and higher ideals clash/where animal nature and intellect clash, depends on the way you would like to phrase it!

Filmmaking, artistry and authenticity at its best! I watched it breathless knowing that it would not get a national theatrical release. It was that good. Don't hesitate, go for it.

"O comrade be vigilant. You can sleep after death. Until then, fight on." So says Malli (Ayesha Daharkar), the intensely beautiful protagonist of Santosh Siva's remarkable film, "The Terrorist."

Actor-producer John Malkovich was at the Cairo Film Festival in late 1998 when he found this gem of a film amid the usual mediocre film festival fare.
"The movies we saw were not terribly good, but then few movies are," he said in a NY Times article back in January, 2003. "Roughly two thirds of the way through our film marathon, an Indian film called "The Terrorist" began. Costing roughly $50,000 and shot in 16 days with no lighting, "The Terrorist" is a small masterpiece of economy, grace and precision."

The Cinematographer of over forty films, director Siva ("Roja," "Indira"),won two prizes for his film at Cairo: Best Director and The Golden Pyramid for best film of the festival. "The Terrorist" is Siva's first feature film and a masterful piece of work, for within its frames he manages to give political extremism a human face.

"The Terrorist" was inspired by the events surrounding the assassination of Indian Prime Minister Rajiv Ghandi, in 1991. The film focuses on the making of a suicide bomber marching towards the end of her young life.

Malli has spent most of her nineteen years in revolutionary training. An unemotional killer, she interviews for and wins a coveted suicide bomber job. The target, described only as "the VIP," is to be assassinated in a week. However the grueling path to the VIP's murder allows Malli to reflect on her past, and come to grips with her own emotions for the first time. The people she meets affect her in a new way and the memories of her one and only moment of true love causes her to rethink the path she has taken.

In the opening frames of this remarkable film, we are shown the execution of a traitor by his fellow revolutionaries. The hooded executioner puts a pistol under the chin of the victim and the camera cuts to a close up of the executioner's face. We hear the sound of a shot, as blood splatters across the killer's white muslin hood. The executioner quickly pulls the hood off to reveal the beautiful young face of Malli, the nineteen-year-old girl who is to become the focal point and the conscience of the film. She wipes the blood off her face. The camera cuts to a close up of Malli with one of her comrades behind her brushing her hair.
"If I were a man I'd marry you," Malli's comrade says. The camera then cuts to what begins a searing series of sequences involving water. We see Malli's hood floating in the river. The next cut is to a close up of a spoon stirring a glass of ice tea as the terrorist leader discusses the next big job. Throughout the film water plays a big part, usually when Malli meditates on her life, where it's been and what is left of it.

We learn, through interviews of the young revolutionaries, that Malli has quite an exalted background. Her father was a well-known nationalist poet, and her older brother, Ramu, was the first of their faction to "consume cyanide and die for the movement." We also learn that she has participated in "30 operations - all successful," as she says during her interview.

After the Leader of the group picks Malli to be the assassin, he gives her lunch and tells her she has to be a "thinking bomb," which is an interesting turn of phrase, since she is quite thoughtful and rarely speaks at all in the film. Her strong face, full wide mouth and enormously expressive eyes do all the talking for her.

Once she is picked, her journey across India to the place of her martyrdom begins. And it is in these breathtaking and haunting scenes that she begins to define herself and her place in the world. It is in these scenes that the film really shines.

"The Terrorist" is not a political thriller as we know it.
There is very little violence and what there is, is shown almost mystically off screen, using the actor's reactions to the violence. At one point a vehicle of some kind is blown up when it hits a land mine. We hardly hear it and if it weren't for the character's reaction and a few wisps of smoke that eventually fill the frame, we wouldn't have known what happened. The film is really about Malli and how her short violent past interferes with her future. Throughout the film director Sivan fills the frame with Malli's impassive face, forcing you to look deep into her soul. But it is not until the end where you begin to feel the terrible weight of her destiny, that the viewer can actually get a glimpse of the longing for something better that begins to surface on that amazing face.

The old farmer Malli lives with just before she is to assassinate the VIP is named Vasu (Parmeshwaran), and his relationship with Malli becomes the film's emotional core. The last four days of her life become unbearably suspenseful as she finds out something that will affect the final outcome and struggles within herself to find the strength to change her destiny.

Director Sivan also wrote the story and was the cinematographer of "The Terrorist," and his images will stay with you long after many Western films have faded.

As Vasu says when telling the story of the optimistic seed and the pessimistic seed, "Man has to have dreams so that he can make them real."

This film does a brilliant job of juxtaposing those who have experienced "nornal" life and all it represents with those whose lives are fanatically devoted to the single purpose of war. The title character, a 19 year old Indian girl, has not known much about life as it is lived by common people. Instead she has dedicated herself to revolution and killing. Yet the scenes of her butchering her enemies play down the violence, as if to show that the focus is more on her own psychology of resisting rather than a typical American focus on the act of violence itself.

Eventually, she questions her intense and decidedly narrow focus as the film progresses, and she encounters people who live simple lives--i.e., with family and day-to-day concerns, who know much more than she does about living life for life itself, rather than living only for the purpose of dying at whatever time is appropriate for the eternal fight.

Life and death--a great theme for any film--is here handled so skillfully and with such insight that it is a truly gripping experience watching this movie.

One can read the story in other reviews so I won't go into that. Let me start with the things that I didn't like.I didn't like the ending.It would have been better if her final decision remained unknown to us or even to her.Also in the first part of the movie as she travels towards the village a couple of takes look like they would have been more appropriate for a videoclip. The political talk is also rather naive.Furthermore how is it that everything in the village runs so smoothly if the general situation is so bad ? This is part of a more general weakness:We never really learn what are the motives for the rebellion.Depending on what the movie reveals to us it seems that her own motive is just revenge.So it seems only natural that she's beginning to change her mind when her life becomes good.If we have no idea why the cause of the rebels was important in the first place her shift of view doesn't carry much weight.

Now to the good parts.The cinematography is really good.The movie has many brilliant ideas like instead of actually seeing the soldiers getting killed we just see the horror on the face of Lotus.Or the fact that we never see what the "VIP" looks like or learn his name.Or the old woman in her "frozen" position with her hand looking like she was holding someone.The look on her face says more than a thousand words.Parmeshwaran is great in his part.The music is quite good.

All and all worth watching.

With the current level of violence in the Middle East, one might forget that there were suicide bombers before 9/11, or that women also fill that role, or that there are suicidal zealots other than Arab Muslims. THE TERRORIST, a 1998 film from India, is a reminder of all three.

Malli (Ayesha Dharker) is a young Indian woman fighting with anti-government separatists. Her hatred, amplified by the death of her brother, compels her to volunteer for a special mission - to assassinate a government VIP with plastic explosive strapped around her waist after placing a garland around his neck during a public welcoming ceremony. To arrive at the appointed time and place, it's arranged that Malli leave her jungle training camp and temporarily reside with a benevolent, old farmer, otherwise unconnected with the plot, and his bedridden, catatonic wife. During her stay with the couple, Malli becomes aware that she's pregnant, the father being a wounded comrade-in-arms that she'd previously rescued from the river after an assault by government forces, but who was later captured and brutally killed. Malli is constantly haunted by their too-brief time together. In any case, the old man is thrilled and offers himself as the mother and child's guardian.

The reason one is apt to stick with this low-budget film to its conclusion is to witness Malli's decision. Pregnant with her lover's child, and offered a "normal" existence with the old farmer, does she have the commitment to the separatists' cause to push the red button? Will hatred negate maternal instinct? During a couple of dress rehearsals for the kill, it appears she does and it will. (Feminists are likely to be outraged at the callous manipulation of the young woman by her male co-conspirators, who, it must be said in all justice, never learn of her pregnancy.)

THE TERRORIST, as a production, might have been helped - for the benefit of foreign viewers - with scenes of India more interesting to those who haven't been there. As it is, one mostly sees only anonymous jungle, the farmer's house and grounds, and frequent shots of a river spanned being crossed by trains on a long bridge. And the soundtrack becomes annoying with a repetitive, ominous dirge that plays every time Malli is shown considering the choice she must make.

Although not as good as the recent PARADISE NOW (which takes place in Israel and the Occupied West Bank), THE TERRORIST is a worthwhile glimpse into the making of a suicide bomber.