I saw the trailer of this movie a few months back and was impressed by the cinematography, and decided it was a "must see" movie. The guy and girl on the bike really did it. I had also read the book and loved it. Nihal De Silva is an amazing author in my opinion. However, the response to the media by Ashan Dias at the premier left me thinking he was shallow with no sense of the character. Which got me a bit worried about the movie..... But I was optimistic.
Convincing my equally enthusiastic colleagues we went to see the movie on 19th Nov.
After 5 mins I knew the movie was a big flop! All the gun fight and bombs at the beginning really spoilt it, and way the driver and female army officer got killed was really pathetic. The captain started shouting and growling to show his superiority and the woman seemed scared about it. Not at all what the book portrayed. The captain was war hardened soldier, strong character yet sensitive, the woman was a LTTE cadre, who would have no qualms killing him.
The movie couldn't bring out any of the sensitivities that we felt in the book. It made it out to be a cheap love story. The lovers seem to exchange romantic looks from the begining, where as they were supposed to be two strong individuals who believe in their own cause and mission, who were thrown together.
The helicopter scene reminded me of an animated cartoon version of tour of duty. This was just one of the many "unreal" situations that were present. Clean clothes, hiding behind trees in plain view of check points, trying to scare a leopard with a six inch knife.
Ashan Dias's words "camping & shit" echoed in my ear during the scenes where they cooked meat over the fire in the jungle. He really didn't seem to have understood the character. Had he ever read the book i wondered.
And the last scene, OMG, why did they have to go to the extent of showing a scene of 9yrs later. I think its a real insult to the intelligence of Sri Lankan of film goers.
It left my friends and me thinking, maybe its a good thing Nihal De Silva is not alive today to see his story turned in to such a cheap movie. A damn waste of a good book!
5 comments:
hey...
this might seem a bit weird... but i was wonderin if you could put your email addy up so we can talk about somethin...its about your review of alimankada... and i have a feeling you would enjoy talkin to me abt it :) no pressure, just wondered if you'd be interested in hearing some attempts at justifying some of the things you'd criticized...which i might add, are perfectly valid criticisms, just that i wanted to add my two cents worth :)
ciao for now.
Ash
dear Mr. Blogger. i write as a passionate cinema goer and will assure u that nothing herein stated is prejudicial to any party, (and in case ur wondering, i happen to have degrees in English and Law, hence i may be able to match ur intellect, contrary to ur opinion). sri lankan cinema is in an abyss of stagnation, and it has been for a while, and will continue to be so, unless and until film makers other than ranjan ramanayake come and try to salvage it... which is what mr. rutnam tried to do. and if ur going to insult the whole thing, i suggest YOU try to make a better movie. really.
as for the barrage of insults hurled on ashan dias, let me tell u that he is by far, one of the most talented actors i have seen in theatre and i will vouch for his star-class acting prowess at any forum.(mark my words, he will bring glory to sri lanka as no actor has before). and for ur information, i think as a chartered architect doing his Masters at present, he has a bit of intelligence, u see.
so please, in future, try to make ur reviews slightly less unjustifiably caustic in future...
thank you.
Sonali W.
I haven't seen any of Ashan's stage performances, so I'm not going to dispute his talent in anyway. I'm merely talking about his performance in Alimankada which I thought was very disappointing.
I would like to say to Sonali W, (btw its Ms blogger), what are the sinhala movies you have seen in the recent past? Have you seen "Machan" or "Akasa Kusum"? They are artistic movies, with some very good acting. It amply showcases the talents of our local directors and actors.
I believe that our actors and directors get away with bad acting and direction due the lack of constructive and honest criticism. We have to build up a strong reviewing public, who does not EXCUSE anyone. That is the only way to improve Sinhala cinema and theatre. I strongly believe that is the way forward.
i barely wached the movie alimankada and i have to the say i really enjoyed the movie.. all the actors did such and amazing job, especially the two main actors.. a job well done and kudos to both of you :]
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