Philosophy of life through the lenses

By Ranga CHANDRARATHNE

Prasanna Vithanage's entry into Sinhala cinema marks a seminal stage in the evolution of contemporary Sri Lankan cinema. Vithanage has devised his own grammar and syntax in cinema which is essentially Sri Lankan yet appealing to the complex sensibilities of international cinema. The overarching influence of great filmmakers such as Lester James Peries, Satyajit Ray, Kurosawa and pioneer filmmakers of the European schools such as Krzysztof Kielowski and Andrei Tarkovsky on Prasanna's application of media, particularly, in a Sri Lankan context tackling sensitive social issues at micro and macro levels, earned his films worldwide acclaim and making them truly cultural ambassadors in the international arena. Looking at his corpus of cinema commencing with Sisila Gini Gani (Ice of Fire) to Akasa Kusum, one does observe his signature diction and the humanist approach towards the subject.

One of the significant characteristics of his application of cinema is his awareness of the contemporary issues and the sensitive way in which he deals with them. For instance, his films dealing with the conflict such as Purahanda Kaluvara and Ira Madiyama (August Sun) cinematically codifies one of the darkest periods in the contemporary history of Sri Lanka. Rudimentarily, Purahanda Kaluvara offers critical observations of the conflict from a perspective of villagers who have become involuntary party to the conflict due to abject poverty. Ira Madiyama (August Sun) chronicles the plight of the generation of Muslims who had been forcibly evicted from their traditional homeland in the North by the LTTE. The film Machan deals with the issue of migration. Machan which Vithanage co-produced was directed by the Italian, Uberto Pasolini.

Akasa Kusum deals with the personal tragedy of a female film star. However, the sub-text of the film is primarily concerned with the social consequences of the evil spirits lurking in Sri Lanka's sordid underbelly (drugs, illegal abortion, prostitution and blind ambition) and the quest for personal realization in hopeless conditions.

Vithanage is also known for working with and attracting the best in the industry. His long standing artistic relationship with classical cinematographer M.D. Mahindapala and post-modernist composers Harsha Makalanda and Lakshman Joseph de Saram have contributed greatly to Vithanage's unique interpretation of the world he sees. An unsettling cinematic view he possibly shares with the likes of Andrzej Wajda and Istvan Szabo.

In his six films so far, Vithanage has displayed a sincerity that is almost completely lacking in the mainstream of Sri Lankan cinema today. He refuses to gloss over the vices and the conundrums of a modern society in conflict, and enters into a genuine study of its individuals and their relationships with the time and the space they reluctantly find themselves in. He has up to now, steadfastly refused to bow down to the politics of the day, or the whims and fancies of commercial appeal, and will thus become one of the very few filmmakers who are likely to be relevant in years to come, remembered for the enduring artistic qualities of his films and his sensitive portrayal of the troubles of his generation.

In an exclusive interview with Montage, Prasanna Vithanage spells out his life and times in cinema...

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