Reviews

There are many things which feel scratchy, disturbing and vulgar, and yet those things exist within our surroundings. We cannot deny them but bear the pain to the gut. 'A prayer before dawn' is a kind of film, as Lars Von Trier would put it, like a rock in the shoe. It will make sure you sense the thistle till the end. French director Jean-Stéphane Sauvaire chose the memoir of William Billy Moore, 'A Prayer Before Dawn: My Nightmare in Thailand's Prisons' which depicts his life and experiences in a Thai prison, to transform into the film 'A Prayer Before Dawn'. The film had its world premiere last year at the midnight screenings of the Cannes film festival.

Précis

Billy Moore, a Liverpool born boxer, traveled to Thailand to give life a shot; hoping to give up drugs, and pursuing a restart as a boxer and stuntman. Ironically, he ended up in a brutal Thai prison for selling drugs; as the first scene of the movie depicts. Jean-Stéphane and his writers took the inspiration from the autobiography though they were interested only in the prison life of Billy Moore and his reincarnation.

The movie started with a sinewy attribute of Billy Moore, played by Joe Cole - best-known for his role in Peaky Blinders as John Shelby - and gingerly the movie feels with blood, sweat, rape, prison-fight and predominance. Finally, the medley of survival, Muay Thai and jail drama turned into a visceral and gore depiction, which demands a tough stomach for its audiences to digest the feel of the story.

Persona

In the film, Billy Moore rarely speaks; he listens and observes all the time. He observes with all of his instincts that finally leads him to the only path of survival, and that is boxing. Billy had to survive from the first moment he was dragged off to the jail and his prayer had begun. He had to witness the incidents like gang-rape, encounter murder and endure the seething breathing of his tattooed inmates. But he was silent until he gets the chance to get into the ring. Perception gap is worth spelling out as it is categorically harder to understand the grimness for anyone who has never been in the situation of Mr. Moore.

'A prayer' before dawn

During the darkest hours, seeking spiritual refuge and nirvana might provide the light and energy to the body and the decisive enlightenment to the soul; and this is vetted by many beliefs. 'Establish the Prayer after the declining of the sun to the dusk of night, and the recitation of Fajr. Indeed, the recitation of Fajr is witnessed.' - Surah al-Isra (Holy Quran, 17:78).

The movie, until it reaches the end can be considered as 'during the darkness', while Billy resembles a meditating monk. His mediation leads him to the path of a newfound spiritual journey. He had the chance to escape from the imprisonment, he also stepped up for it; but curiously he returned to the cave of his own darkness, and this time with a sharpened sense and wide-open eyes.

William Shakespeare should need no introduction; such is his influence on human history. The whole world owes him for his oeuvre and 'Hamlet' is one of his best-known masterpieces. The story has been told and retold a thousand times, through voices and seen through many lenses. Each version revealed a different perspective, a different angle; portraying newer aspects of the Danish Prince. Hence, it is befitting that one of the creative minds of our generation puts his version of this timeless tragedy on celluloid.

Anjan Dutt; a musician, an actor, a writer and a director, might have had his fascination nurtured about Shakespeare's kingdom during his English Literature days at Kolkata University. That fascination took a long time to materialize but when it finally did, Hamlet became Hemanta.

'Hemanta' was made in the backdrop of contemporary Kolkata. There, Denmark is Agradoot Pictures, a Kolkata based film production and distribution company and Hamlet is Hemanta.

Hemanta flew to Kolkata from New York to attend the success party of the film 'Dhawngsho', produced and distributed by Agradoot. There, Hemanta was shell-shocked after discovering his mother got remarried to his dead father's brother, Kalyan Sen (Claudius). Hemanta suspected 'foul play' and started to ideate to avenge his father's mysterious death. His childhood friend Hirak, a journalist, who was brought up by his father, joins him. Hemanta was intrigued by the elusive mobile texts and causes ancillary deaths of Olipriya (Ophelia), Yuri (Yorick), Pulak (Polonius), Raju (Rosencrantz), and Gupi (Guildenstern). His quest to avenge the death of his father successfully comes to an end and the film concludes with the deaths of Hemanta (Hamlet), his mother Gayatri Sen (Gertrude) and his uncle.

It has always been an arduous journey for any Shakespeare enthusiast to articulate the complexity of Hamlet in a different context especially when it comes to filmmaking and I believe, Anjan Dutt also had to go through this journey. His elucidation of the entanglement of characters and the conflict of their nature is well expressed through the captivating performances of Parambrata Chatterjee (Hemanta) and Jisshu Sengupta (Hirak). I also have to mention the outstanding delivery of Subrha Sourav (Yuri). His apparent quirky look and abstract feelings for Hirak finally evokes audiences to a voyage of love and suffering. The film's dialogues, specially written for Hemanta is one of the most enjoyable parts of this movie. And of course, the stunning encounters of Hemanta and his mother are outrageous and brilliant as the director stirred up the controversy through raising a question of whether Hemanta suffered from Oedipus Complex or not.

Anjan Dutt always tries to portray himself or his surroundings in his works. He loves to play with emotions and the wailing of besotted mind. In 'Hemanta', he illustrated his city and the people surrounding him; observing his wasted film industry as a voyeur.

What we did not have in Anjan Dutt's 'Hemanta' is the portrayal of the ghost of Hamlet's father. Though, the director credited himself as the ghost of Hemanta's father, his appearance in the film was merely an impression created through unimpressive lightwork.

The only song used in this movie is 'Sokolei Janey', penned and performed by Anjan Dutt himself; previously featured in his music album 'Unshaat', was untimely used that might distract audiences from the emotional catharsis.

'Hamlet' is possibly one of the most filmed story around the world but its portrayal in Bangla celluloid had been missing. Anjan Dutt is among one of the very few interpreters who attempted to show his mettle by making 'Hemanta'. Recently, Aparna Sen and Srijit Mukherji, both acclaimed directors, had put their efforts to adapt Shakespeare through their respective films 'Arshinagar', an adaptation of 'Romeo and Juliet' and 'Zulfiqar', a complex adaptation of 'Julius Caesar' and 'Antony and Cloepetra'. 'Hemanta' seems to be the better effort in comparison to the others Bangla adaptations of Shakespeare's work. Though 'Hemanta' is more like of an individualistic approach rather than a film adaptation, it is justifiable from the angle of the director's interpretation with personal intercession.

As a singer and also as a filmmaker Anjan Dutt is extremely popular in Kolkata and as well as in Bangladesh. So, it might be a good opportunity for the Bengali cinephiles to enjoy the complexity of Hamlet by riding on the vision of a Bengali filmmaker.