Ryan McNeil
Note: TIFF 2018 marks the first time I’m taking in selections from the TIFF Short Cuts Programme. In lieu of a full reaction piece that I usually post for a festival selection, I plan to underline what the film is about, and offer a brief thought or two on where the experience of watching the film took me. Enjoy! – RM
That’s just how it is
A short documentary takes us to India to learn about the cycle of abuse the women there endure, and the unlikely ways that circle remains unbroken.
Weddings always feel like something of a contradiction. Formal, lavish, sometimes even dissolute celebrations of two people beginning a phase of life many see as the toughest.
That description should apply double to cultures where the celebrations include one-or-more days’ worth of blurring colours, rhythms, dancing, food, and ceremony. Hours become days in the name of something that may not end joyously for the two people at its centre.
In THE CIRCLE, one such wedding takes place, and in the midst of it, the bride shoots the camera a look. The expression is challenging – it’s accusing.
“See this? All of this? You know what it’s celebrating and what will come after. You gonna say something, or just keep dancing?”
Much of Jayisha Patel’s stunning documentary echoes that contradiction. Time and again, we see bright colours against drab backgrounds – brilliant oranges in the women’s clothing, or the lively green of freshly shucked peas all against browns and greys.
Time and again we see lively promise wrapped in bleak surroundings. It’s as if it’s always been that way. It’s also enough to make one wonder how much it might to force a change…or if anyone has the strength to face the accusation.
CIRCLE plays TIFF 2018 as part of Short Cuts Programme 4