Beautiful analysis. I felt similarly about the poignancy of the scene in which the washed-up-man momentarily “becomes” Prabha’s husband. For me, the scene works because of what preceded it. Prabha’s work as a nurse is imbued with caretaking, often of an intimate kind involving touch and physical consolation. In my reading, her performance of CPR on the dying man – connecting with him lip-to-lip, in a way that is otherwise reserved for romantic encounters – activates a sense of affective capacities and imaginings that make it entirely plausible that she would then have a conversation with her absent husband. It’s as if that mouth-to-mouth procedure both resuscitated the man and reminded Prabha of the transformative power that physical intimacy holds – a power that she has only been able to wield professionally, not personally, for far too long.
You may have changed my mind about the final scene. I also adored most of the music in the film, but found the final triumphant/saccharine song, coupled with the sweeping zoom-out from the beach, to strike a bit too positive/resolute of a note given all of the chaos that had preceded the scene and, as you mention, all that would inevitably follow the characters’ departure from the beach. But perhaps, as you mention, the problems to come need not dampen the monetary reprieve of that moment, which is worth celebrating precisely for its smallness and fleetingness.
Thank you for recommending this film, which I had not heard about before. Do tell why you disliked "Queer" because I thought it would be your type of movie, though the first half dragged somewhat.
Oh, I don’t really want to put the energy into making a coherent argument about it, but definitely not my type of movie. (I was actually asked to review it, but decided I would rather invest energy thinking about something I thought was successful, like the Kapadia. Do see it when you can!)
Beautiful analysis. I felt similarly about the poignancy of the scene in which the washed-up-man momentarily “becomes” Prabha’s husband. For me, the scene works because of what preceded it. Prabha’s work as a nurse is imbued with caretaking, often of an intimate kind involving touch and physical consolation. In my reading, her performance of CPR on the dying man – connecting with him lip-to-lip, in a way that is otherwise reserved for romantic encounters – activates a sense of affective capacities and imaginings that make it entirely plausible that she would then have a conversation with her absent husband. It’s as if that mouth-to-mouth procedure both resuscitated the man and reminded Prabha of the transformative power that physical intimacy holds – a power that she has only been able to wield professionally, not personally, for far too long.
You may have changed my mind about the final scene. I also adored most of the music in the film, but found the final triumphant/saccharine song, coupled with the sweeping zoom-out from the beach, to strike a bit too positive/resolute of a note given all of the chaos that had preceded the scene and, as you mention, all that would inevitably follow the characters’ departure from the beach. But perhaps, as you mention, the problems to come need not dampen the monetary reprieve of that moment, which is worth celebrating precisely for its smallness and fleetingness.
Thank you for recommending this film, which I had not heard about before. Do tell why you disliked "Queer" because I thought it would be your type of movie, though the first half dragged somewhat.
Oh, I don’t really want to put the energy into making a coherent argument about it, but definitely not my type of movie. (I was actually asked to review it, but decided I would rather invest energy thinking about something I thought was successful, like the Kapadia. Do see it when you can!)