Othayoth Baby is now O. Baby. The movie starts by telling the story of O. Baby and the people around him, who have been living as laborers for the Thiruvachola's since the time of their grandfathers.
Tiruvachola Papi Valiyamuthalali is the last word in that town. Pappi is an example, we can see a lot of pappis in many places in hilly Kerala who rule as a capitalist by holding the land that is not even with a pattayam. Authority and system are in their hands as they have money, men and influence.
The Thiruvacholas have taken control of five big mountains including Chekuthan Mountain. A forest so big that not even a shot can come out. Pappi boss once tells Baby that "Othayoth people were our greatest strength when we cut through this steep mountain". It is still the same today. Baby, who is a laborer, is more efficient than anyone else in the household in terms of stewardship, price information, and accounting of the estate's crops.
Despite this, Baby is also a victim of a kind of ownership mentality that has been conditioned by the long-standing capitalist-worker perspective. Baby's mind and vision is that even the charcoal that falls in the forest is owned by the boss.
I have not seen many films that weave the forest into the narrative and portray it so beautifully. The forest looks mysterious to an outsider, at the same time the forest is familiar as home to the ones who live inside. The duality of presenting the vastness of the forest definitely felt something unique about the storytelling. The director says this subtly by placing Stanley on one side and Baby's Vellayan on the other.
The background music is very minimal, and the graph only pops up where necessary. This treatment supports the film's realistic approach well. A movie that was my personal favorite before this was "Marshland", exceptional Cinematic frame + minimal background music was the key and I love that one treatment. As similar, O. Baby is also in my personal favorite list.
The story of the ChekutthaanMala is not told anywhere in the movie, but the script's sleight of hand reveals that it can convey the mystery to the audience with just a couple of dialogues. Many such examples can be seen in many places in the film.
Descendants of the Aborigine karuppan appuppan are Basil and Molly, who are Catholics today. Today there are no young ones left among them to follow their adivasi community and keep the elder's sword. The movie also tells us about the downfall of an ancient community which is losing its relevance due to religious conversions, existence struggles and other circumstances. As mentioned earlier the movie leaves us with questions about who actually owns the forest, the mountain, the ivory that decorates the table of the capitalists.
On the surface, O. Baby belongs to stories between two classes, Basil and Minnie's love and the conflict it creates among the people around them. In a society where honor killings are still being carried out in 2024, O. Baby brings up a subject that is still relevant today, deeply discussing the roots of class, caste and slave-owning attitudes.
I found O. Baby to be a very rooted international level movie with enough layers yet remaining to read. A detailed screenplay along with several underlining sub plots. Visually, Narratively One of my favorites in recent times.
Tiruvachola Papi Valiyamuthalali is the last word in that town. Pappi is an example, we can see a lot of pappis in many places in hilly Kerala who rule as a capitalist by holding the land that is not even with a pattayam. Authority and system are in their hands as they have money, men and influence.
The Thiruvacholas have taken control of five big mountains including Chekuthan Mountain. A forest so big that not even a shot can come out. Pappi boss once tells Baby that "Othayoth people were our greatest strength when we cut through this steep mountain". It is still the same today. Baby, who is a laborer, is more efficient than anyone else in the household in terms of stewardship, price information, and accounting of the estate's crops.
Despite this, Baby is also a victim of a kind of ownership mentality that has been conditioned by the long-standing capitalist-worker perspective. Baby's mind and vision is that even the charcoal that falls in the forest is owned by the boss.
I have not seen many films that weave the forest into the narrative and portray it so beautifully. The forest looks mysterious to an outsider, at the same time the forest is familiar as home to the ones who live inside. The duality of presenting the vastness of the forest definitely felt something unique about the storytelling. The director says this subtly by placing Stanley on one side and Baby's Vellayan on the other.
The background music is very minimal, and the graph only pops up where necessary. This treatment supports the film's realistic approach well. A movie that was my personal favorite before this was "Marshland", exceptional Cinematic frame + minimal background music was the key and I love that one treatment. As similar, O. Baby is also in my personal favorite list.
The story of the ChekutthaanMala is not told anywhere in the movie, but the script's sleight of hand reveals that it can convey the mystery to the audience with just a couple of dialogues. Many such examples can be seen in many places in the film.
Descendants of the Aborigine karuppan appuppan are Basil and Molly, who are Catholics today. Today there are no young ones left among them to follow their adivasi community and keep the elder's sword. The movie also tells us about the downfall of an ancient community which is losing its relevance due to religious conversions, existence struggles and other circumstances. As mentioned earlier the movie leaves us with questions about who actually owns the forest, the mountain, the ivory that decorates the table of the capitalists.
On the surface, O. Baby belongs to stories between two classes, Basil and Minnie's love and the conflict it creates among the people around them. In a society where honor killings are still being carried out in 2024, O. Baby brings up a subject that is still relevant today, deeply discussing the roots of class, caste and slave-owning attitudes.
I found O. Baby to be a very rooted international level movie with enough layers yet remaining to read. A detailed screenplay along with several underlining sub plots. Visually, Narratively One of my favorites in recent times.
