Sai and Shujath talk Cinema

There was one rather silly reason which made me think twice before renting this movie. The CD cover had a creepy resemblance to that of “A Streetcar Named Desire” - a movie which I could not really make sense of. The plot summary too did not say much. Still, I took the chance and fortunately I wasn’t disappointed at all.

The first few reels kind of surprised me as I felt like watching some Indian soap opera about scheming daughters-in-law. But as the film progresses it turns to be a very relevant drama about dysfunctional family dynamics mainly caused due to pent up frustrations, unnecessary feelings of guilt and repressed emotions. Paul Newman is a former football star and alcoholic who for some reason (revealed later) has an uneasy relationship with his wife (Elizabeth Taylor) and his terminally ill “Big Daddy” (Burl Ives). Taylor constantly vies for her husband’s attention and is also concerned about him losing his fair share of inheritance….which is eagerly ready to be lapped up by Newman’s brother and sister-in-law (who in turn employs hillariously pretentious ways to get her father-in-law’s attention). A series of events results in explosive confrontations between each of the characters where the “atmosphere of mendacity” is cleared up and each of them begin life afresh with a clear conscience.

What I really found impressive about this flick is its relevance in everyday life. I can vouch for it because I’ve seen such things happen. When one talks about “dysfunctional family” films in Hollywood, what comes to mind instantly are those in which the each of protagonists display some wierd and eccentric behaviour (normally but not always revolving around sexuality). I do enjoy those films but I cannot really relate to them. On the other hand in Indian movies a typical “bad” family is stereotypically depicted with loads of melodrama which again belies reality.

Coming back to this one themes like husband-wife mistrust and father-son estrangement are very believable….though you have to forgive some melodrama and cardboard characters given that this is a sixties movie. Paul Newman and Elizabeth Taylor deliver great performances. Ironically, the writer of the play (Tennessee Williams) on which this movie was based discouraged people from watching the film because director Richard Brooks did away with some controversial aspects of the source material (dealing with homosexuality).

Still, this movie worked for me as a great family drama - in the truest sense of the phrase. An average viewer too would enjoy this as there is always an element of mystery throughout which makes it quite interesting.