A visually sublime and richly intimate exploration of womanhood and friendship in India, and an impressive sophomore feature by Payal Kapadia. All We Imagine as Light is both elliptical and humanistic, one in which Kapadia beautifully explores her character’s psyche and their setting. If anything, her work is starting to recollect the work of Satyajit Ray.
The film follows three nurses in Mumbai: Prabha (Kani Kusruti), Anu (Divya Prabha) and Parvaty (Chhaya Kadam). Each nurse came to the city for greater economic opportunities as they all come from smaller villages. Prabha and Anu both share an apartment, and both women are overstaffed and paid in their work as they struggle to pay their work. Annuals has to face gossip from her fellow co-workers at the hospital because rumors are spreading that she is having an affair with a married Muslim man. Meanwhile, the older Parvarty, who is recently widowed, faces eviction once her apartment building is under imminent domain, in which her late husband neglected to fill out her documentation form that would have allowed for her to get compensated for the property. In the narrative, each woman is left with some sort of uncertainty on their standard of living as they struggle with their own personal crisis when it comes to love and relationships as well.
Courtesy Janus Films
The film is separated into halves. The first takes place in Mumbai, as well as follow women in their workload and day-to-day routines. Taking a page from Claire Denis 35 Shots of Rum, the use of a brand-new rice cooker is used as a narrative device. The item was shipped from a Germany address, which is where Prabha’s husband is working from an extended work visa, who no longer contacts her. Prabha suspects that he is insulting her with the strange gift. Meanwhile, a doctor at the hospital takes a romantic interest in her and isn’t concerned that she is married. Prabha is trapped in a conundrum of embracing the future or being confined to the past. Each woman faces struggles romantically and financially, and it never feels manipulative or heavy-handed.
The second half of the film takes place in a remote village on the ocean. Parvaty decides to move out of the city and return to her home village. Both Prabha and Anu agree to travel outside the city to ease their anxiety and stress. The women use the ravishing setting to ease their minds from all the stress they each recently endured. This segment of the film is at its most hallucinatory, and Prabha ends up finding a strong purpose for her professional nursing skills during a crisis on the beach. The film segues from the dreamlike into realism, where Prabha is able to find some closure about her estranged husband. The film bosoms with many emotional turning points, one about how we can find moments in our lives to flee unfairness and injustice to pursue empathy and compassion, like the third act highlights. The result is quite woozy and liberating. At the end, All We Imagine as Light is an artful slice-of-life movie that shows the power of excursion and friendship.
ALL WE IMAGINE AS LIGHT is now playing in limited theaters. It opens at the Detroit Film Theater on 11/29 visit www.dia.org for more details
This looks very good.
Looking forward to this one! Can’t wait 🙂
Film deals with 2 nurses and a cook at an Indian hospital. The older nurse’s husband has gone to Germany for,work. The younger nurse is destined for an arranged marriage, but I seeing a Muslim boy. The cook is dealing with eviction from her apartment. Film looks at their relationships as what is expected from them in the Indian society. Wonderfully acted, beautifully filmed, Film will stay with you long after it ends