Ayesha Dharker as Malli
Title/Year: The Terrorist, 1998
Director/Birth Country/Year born: Santosh Sivan, India, b. 1964
Budget: over 1 million Indian rupees (INR)
Gross: $140,021 (in USA, 2000) and presumably more worldwide
Synopsis: A 19 year old girl, Malli, is a militarist revolutionary, part of a terrorist organization in Southern India, in the Tamil region. Her older brother was killed in the cause when she was younger. She is appointed a suicide mission in order to assassinate a VIP government leader. Throughout her training, she comes to realize living may be more important than dying.
Narrative/Visual Keywords: suicide bomber, assassination, first person POV, dramatic irony, India, revolutionary, Tamil Tigers, civil unrest, close ups, racking focus, slow shutter speed, flashbacks
Character/Arc: A young staunch revolutionary willing to sacrifice her life for a cause looks inside of herself for life's true meaning, her pregnancy, which alters her own perspective of her role: to live or die in the name of war.
Political/Social Commentary: The question of the morality of suicide bombers is the main subject of discussion. The film was inspired from the assassination of Rajiv Gandhi in 1991, who was 9th Prime Minister of India from 1984 to 1989.
Camera/Lighting techniques: Natural lighting, mostly steady camera shots, filmed in real rainy conditions
Historical Relevance/Recognition: The film won awards at the Cinemanila International Film Festival (Manila, Philippines) and at the Sarajevo Film Festival, as well as other nominations, which brought the film international acclaim. Actor John Malkovich redistributed the film in 2000, the film therefore reaching a larger Western audience. In 2005, film critic Roger Ebert added the film to his Great Movies list, writing, "I admire "The Terrorist" because it sidesteps the ideology, the question of which side is right and which side is wrong, the political motives, the tactical reasons and simply says: Here is a young woman who has decided to kill and be killed for a cause. Look in her eyes, listen to her voice, watch her as she lives for a few days, and ask yourself what motivates her, and why. Every time I see the film, I feel a great sadness, that a human imagination could be so limited that it sees its own extinction as a victory."
Notable Collaboration: Santosh Sivan was also cinematographer on the film, as well as co-screenwriter. Ayesha Dharker stars in the role.
Fun Facts: The real assassin was Thenmozhi Rajaratnam, who killed Rajiv Gandhi and 14 others in May 1991. She used a belt bomb. The conflict between the Indian government and the Tamil Tigers (Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam) came about when Rajiv sent peacekeeping forces to the Southern region in order to quell resistance.
POV
From the start of the film the perspective is from a revolutionary's, to fight for prolonging resistance. The film's point of view changes, revealing Malli's shift from a warring soldier to someone questioning her own motives, despite her own leaders' support for her suicide mission. The POV is singular, showing a gradual change in Malli's attitude towards her own mission, thus giving the audience a lesson to learn: that war is optional.
Identity
A young woman whose loyalty to the Indian resistance is questioned when she realizes she's pregnant and that life may be better than death. She's essentially brainwashed by her male compatriots, led to believe that assassinating a government official is a righteous act. The role of gender could enter the discussion, seeing how Malli is a woman who realizes she is pregnant, which may change her attitude towards the mission. However, a man or woman regardless of their gender would be extremist enough to be a suicide bomber.
Morality
The film may suggest that morality is relative; that to be a killer in the name of a cause is just as right as a choice not to assassinate others by means of a suicide bomb. The film does favor a liberal point of view (that life is a better option), and juxtaposes these political opposites greatly for dramatic effect. Who are we to say that a foreigner's destiny is right or wrong? Should it even matter? Consider Malli's situation, observe her path. She is young, perhaps naive, but firm in her belief in the resistance movement.
Morality is viewed a certain way from other characters. For example, the man who owns the house and property speaks in loose ideologies and parables to Malli. He prays for her suicide mission to go well, indicating a religiously justified association. This may suggest that personal beliefs of the living are more important to themselves, and is blind to the principles of morality.
Morality is viewed a certain way from other characters. For example, the man who owns the house and property speaks in loose ideologies and parables to Malli. He prays for her suicide mission to go well, indicating a religiously justified association. This may suggest that personal beliefs of the living are more important to themselves, and is blind to the principles of morality.
Memory
Flashbacks play a key role that influence the audience to believe that war is an unkind situation. When Malli is greeted by the little boy on her way to the new campsite, he tells her of his past, that his home village was burned and his family and friends murdered. The memories Malli has of a comrade dying before her eyes indicates that she is more resolute in her revolutionary stance, but this contrasts greatly with her more enlightened view of her role in the world near the end of the film.
http://www.cinela.com/english/month/120203/cinela1202.htm
http://www.imdb.com/title/http://www.cinela.com/english/month/120203/cinela1202.htm
WOW, very unique choice in film Mark. Quite interesting to hear about the story of Malkovich redistributing the film and what Ebert has to say about the film as well. Nice choice.
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