She silently screams in her agony. There is no such ordeal she hasn’t gone through in her life. She has seen ’em all. And there aren’t enough words in the world that could inspire peace within her. There is one such scene when Michael, a wandering musician, finds himself aghast, at a loss of words, he dispels her pain with music, in the only way he knows.
Arun Narain‘s short film Michael manifests the existential problems of exiles while steadily penetrating its contempt into the story without any exaggeration. This 30 mins Tamil short seems unconstrained and brilliant in handling the imposed limits for any short film. The promising nuances and the profound techniques, with which the film is going for, not only backs up the story but also upholds it. The storytelling method doesn’t fail to imbue curiosity. There are many aspiring filmmakers out there who just tries to fit in and falls short. Here, the team of Michael seems sincere in its efforts. Without any dramatic build up, GA Gowtham‘s editing keeps the pace of the film align with our minds.
Arun Narain, the director of this short, is from the school of Vetrimaran and it is evident in his storytelling method. He is definitely onto something. There are 3 intriguing segments in this one story and it’s impressive to see how the film has metaphorically handled those parts. It has all come together. Guitar in the Nest, Strings on Road and Last Hymn of Hope.
The film plays not just with its visual language but also strongly roots for the communication through dialogues. It is delicate and true to life at various moments, like the scene at the cafe when Michael approaches a guy and how that conversation takes a turn on things that Michael has believed in. The question, “Have you seen a refugee camp ever in your life?” slashes hard. Selvi, (or that’s how she wants to be called) flees her home, Srilanka, with her husband to seek refuge and finds herself as an exile in Chennai, a “nowhere-land” to her. To Michael, a wandering musician, when he sees Selvi, her tragedy is nothing more than a distressing news. When he begins to learn about her, he could imagine her plight. He realizes that music can’t just heal any pain and understands that some wounds need to be treated in a different, more realistic way.
The story begins at the night. A car, approaching in a distant with a broken headlight on a highway, has Michael in the car, in a befuddled state, with a Rowdy. Micheal is captured along with his guitar by the rowdy for money. It increases the curiosity of what’s next so effortlessly. He sees Selvi there who is also a hostage of this horrible person. Their paths cross but begins to travel together. Arun conveys this beautifully by capturing the flock of birds when they migrate in the early morning on the yellow sky. The same car with a broken headlight approaches in a distant. Now, the same shot is repeated in the dawn, only difference is, it carries hope along with it. A hope that reassures the fact that we live to fight another day. As Michael and Selvi begins to share their thoughts and perception about things that are offered to them by life so far, they develop the trust in each other, enough to yield in each other’s life in the hope of things would turn out alright. And you hear the line from the song in Kannathil Muthamittal “Vaazhvu thodangum idam, Vaanam mudiyum idam nee dhane”, when they both absorb themselves in poignant conversation. It simply means “The place where life begins, the place where sky ends, is you”, their hope.
Michael is ambitious and believes in the philosophy of “One language, One Soul“. The language, he believes in, is music. When Michael and Selvi flee the hostile atmosphere, he has to wreck his dear guitar, a guitar that he wills to hold in his hand like he would hold his girl. He finds love in things he uses. He loves his car and addresses her as his lucky charm. While he is thinking that when he would buy his next new guitar as he lost the one he had, It’s Selvi who addresses the empty stomach and hunger. It is great how Arun has staged their way of life and where their priorities lie. Along with Michael and Selvi, Music, by Ramshanker S, is another important character that upholds this film. Like the strings in a broken guitar, these 2 people unstrung themselves from the situation that kept them in shackles.
The strength of this short film Michael is how it has managed not to go with melodrama style. It keeps itself grounded and realistic. For a poignant story such as this, the cinematography upholds the entire set up. Even at some points, when the story lacks its punch, the cinematography, by Yamini Yagnamurthy, from the school of PC Sreeram, stands the ground and succeeds. Michael is definitely intriguing and promising to look for more from this team of filmmakers. Watch the film here:
