Wednesday, October 16, 2024

SISTER MIDNIGHT**** - BFI London Film Festival 2024 - Day 8


SISTER MIDNIGHT is a strange, weird, mordantly funny, Indian arthouse film written and directed by Karan Kandhari. It stars Radhika Apte as a young bride called Uma who spends her claustrophobic days in the small shack she shares with her shy and bewildered husband.  The feckless young couple are about as successful at coupling as the King and Queen in MARIE ANTOINETTE and Uma is singularly unsuited to being a housewife.

It’s not entirely clear when the film takes a turn into surreal fantasy but let’s just say that Uma’s unhappiness expresses itself physically in the most twisted and wonderful fashion.  But what raises the movie above mere comedy is that it shows how Uma finds companionship and solidarity from her fellow women - whether best friend Shitel or the local hijras. The message of the film is that men are simple fools, society is full of bigots, but there is solace in sisterhood and self-acceptance.

I loved everything about this film - from its Western and Indian needle drops - to its precise framing and camera movements (very Wes Anderson) - its sparse script - and its hilarious and fearless lead performance from Apte. Kudos to all involved.

SISTER MIDNIGHT has a running time of 110 minutes.  It played Cannes and London 2024. It does not yet have a commercial release date.

No comments:

Post a Comment