Adoor Gopalakrishnan’s Mathilukal is based on an autobiographical short novel, of the same name by renowned Malayalam writer, Vikom Muhammad Bashir. Mathilukal is Bashir’s memories of jail life during the early 1940s, when he was imprisoned by the British Government for “anti-national” activities.
Confined to the narrow space of a prison cell, Bashir falls in love with a woman in the neighbouring prison compound. They are separated by a high wall so that they never see each other and have to devise ingenious ways for communicating. Narayani, Bashir’s love is presented as a female voice and never appears in person in the film. —cinemaofmalayalam.net
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
