May 14, 2015
Vara: A Blessing –
Bhutan, 2013
Khyentse Norbu’s Vara:
A Blessing is one of those films that could easily have become something we’ve
seen a thousand times on the silver screen. It could effortlessly have become a
tragedy about a woman forced to flee persecution, and at times it is just one misstep
away from turning its heroine into the kind of female character that western
audiences used to Hollywood tales of empowerment have seen countless times.
That it avoids both of these pitfalls could be seen as a minor miracle, yet I
believe it does so because to do otherwise would be utterly false to the
characters and the situations that they find themselves in.
The film’s lead character is a spunky young woman named Lila
(Shihana Goswami), and for the first half of the film, she exhibits such an
energetic love of life that she could easily be confused for a character in a
Disney film. There are even scenes of her dancing by herself in the middle of a
rather lush forest, and like Disney’s heroines, she talks aloud as if the forest
were alive with talking animals and trees filled with guardian spirits. The big
difference of course is that Lila believes she is talking to the Hindu supreme
god, Krishna, and the playfulness that fills her enthusiastic words reminded me
of the way a young woman might speak the first time she falls in love. This may
seem strange to some, but in a culture that frowns upon contact between young
people of the opposite sex and pretty much prohibits dating in one’s youth,
perhaps it is only natural for a young woman to behave this way when she is
finally alone and unconfined by cultural restrictions. At one point, she even
speaks of dedicating herself to Krishna only to be reminded by her mother that
prospective husbands don’t often propose to the wives of gods.
The film is set, though not filmed, in the Indian
countryside, in a land with little in the way of life’s modern conveniences. It
is an area where making a living is hard and where one’s best efforts often
yield just enough to get by. One of the things I found most interesting about
the film is the way it details the three classes that can exist in places like
this. First, there’s the upper class make up of landowners. Their life seems to
be quite easy. Below them in rank are those people fortunate enough to find
employment with the upper class or those in official positions. At the bottom
is everyone else, and those viewed as being higher than them believe it is
their right to treat the lower castes however they see fit. Numerous times we
see them commit acts that in any other place would likely put them in jail or
at the very least earn them a stern reprimand or fine. Here, though, a member
of the two upper classes has no qualms with beating a complete stranger for not
being able to walk straight while carrying a heavy load on his shoulders or for
bathing in the only lake for miles.
The first half of the film is primarily about Lila’s
friendship with the apprentice of a local sculpture named Shyma (Devesh Ranjan),
and I was moved by how much this characters is the opposite of Lila. This is a
young man who has every right to be angry - vengeful even, yet he holds onto
the slimmest of hopes that with one act he can change his fate. That act
involves using Lila as a model for sculptures of the goddess of art and
knowledge, Saraswati, an act that is strictly forbidden in their community. The
resulting sculptures he hopes to sell in the city, a place that he talks about
not returning from once he gets there. Lila is initially reluctant to pose for
him, but his promises of secrecy and her youthful rebelliousness convince her
otherwise. Perhaps she even hopes to be part of the reason for his happiness
and freedom. At the same time, the local landlord also takes an interest in Lila,
and his character fluctuates between decent and socially awkward to such as
degree as to make viewers slightly apprehensive about him.
Given this set up, it is only natural to think the film is
going along the path of so many other films involving love triangles. In fact,
I half expected the film to be about Lila’s choice of one of these two men over
the other. Instead, however, the film ratchets up the danger for all of the
characters involved. At one point, Lila and the landlord sit next to each
other, he with an arm around her, she with her head leaning slightly against
his chest, and all I could think was how much was wrong with the scene. It was
a moment in which love is faked out of need and the other gets but a pittance
of appreciation and is content to make do with that for life. Such are the
things people do when love is unrequited yet too powerful to walk away from.
As I watched the film, I was also struck by how much empathy
I had for all of the characters in it. In a way, they are all trapped by a
social system that has the power to strip away more than a little of their
humanity. The rich seem to have lost the ability to empathize, those in their employment
have sacrificed their connection to those around them in an attempt at
self-preservation, and the poor have long ago stopped believing that they
control their destiny. And yet here is also a tale in which an opening appears,
and as horrible as the circumstances are, there is a chance for a better life
for a few of the film’s characters. I’m not sure true happiness will
necessarily come as a result of it, but it is better than the alternative.
In the end, Vara: A
Blessing is a movie about contradictions and desperation. Lila is a free
spirit in a world in which it is dangerous to be one, Shyma is a dreamer in a
world that discourages them, and the Landlord (Pankaj Pawan) is a decent man
struggling to remain decent in a world that offers him opportunities denied to
so many others. Even the film’s chief villain is a character that deserves at
least some pity, for his actions reveal a man who has lost every bit of the
moral compass that he once had. In one scene, we see him imply the absolute
worst of Lila, yet this is a man who loves his own daughter so much that he is
crushed by his inability to continue to send her to school. His character
demonstrates just how far people will go to keep their position in life even
when doing so robs them of their humanity.
The film does not avoid every cliché, but it utilizes those
that it relies on to great effect. I consistently found myself in awe whenever
the film veered in unexpected directions, and the film’s conclusion is an
exercise in cinematic realism. Rarely has so much been accomplished by words
whispered in someone’s ear, yet out of earshot of the audience. I have no doubt
that some viewers will question the pace of the first half of the film, yet I
believe its slow-goings are intentional. It lulls viewers into a sense of false
confidence. This is not a land of make-believe and easily obtained happy
endings. Here, people need help; in short, they require a blessing, and Norbu’s
film provides just that. (on DVD in Region 3)
3 and a half stars
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