Arguably the true heir to Satyajit Ray, Adoor Gopalakrishnan is regarded as one of India’s most outstanding filmmakers and Rat-Trap was the first film to bring him widespread international acclaim.
Remarkable for its focus on characterization and detail, Rat-Trap is set in rural Kerala. Its story concerns Unni, the last male-heir of a feudal and decaying joint family. His inability to accept the socio-economic changes of a new society result in his gradual withdrawal into a metaphorical rat-trap sprung from his own isolation and paranoia. The decline is vividly told, with colour and music used as a striking and significant constituent of the film’s thematic development. —Second Run
One of the most lauded directors in India, Adoor Gopalakrishnan has often been hailed as the filmmaker who has done the most to carry on the cinematic legacy of Satyajit Ray. The influence of Ray can be seen in his subtle, humanist, and carefully composed films — all of them set in Kerala, the province of Southern India where he was raised — but over the course of his career he has developed a style all his own, rooted in the rhythms of traditional Kerala village life but addressing issues of politics, religion, and personal responsibility that are universal in scope. He was born in 1941 in the village of Adoor, into a family that practiced the traditional Indian dance drama known as Kathakali. He began acting on stage as a child, and eventually attended the prestigious Film and Television Institute of India. His first feature, One’s Own Choice, about the travails of a young rural couple who run away to the city, was heavily influenced by Ray’s style, but he began to find his… read more
A brilliant illustration of the disintegrating feudalist society of Southern India that I think beautifully and subtly manages to create a devastating story that crescendos with its finale. The beginning and ending parallel is really just breathtaking.
superb movie,story about how one person traps himself in a situation from from which he cant get out due to his immaturity,there is a scene in which landowner makes fun of low level job a guy is doing in foreign place,thats scene alone shows what he is and then not allowing his sister to marry,insisting on hot water etc etc ,also a doc i watched in which adoor explaied color scheme of the movie,true master
The synopsis provided here is totally wrong....the landowner does not lose his sanity, he only becomes helpless because all his life he has done nothing throughout his life but has lived off others who toiled for him....when the house is deserted, he becomes as helpless as a rat...thats why the title rat trap...the occasional drowning of the rat is also a metaphor for what is to come later..
