When Min Jin Lee published her multi-generational saga Pachinko in 2017, it took the literary world by storm. It landed on 75 best-of lists, was a finalist for the National Book Award — and made it into the ‘must read’ recommendations of former US president Barack Obama. The sprawling saga of sacrifice, oppression and resilience … Continue reading
The library at the British Council has been left open after hours for a photo shoot. Actors cluster around tables near the entrance, debating their choice of costume and using a dark window as a makeshift mirror while they apply make-up. All the lights are on – illuminating the rows of bookshelves and the listening … Continue reading
Moviemakers have coaxed Sri Lanka into costume more than once—that’s her masquerading as a small Indian village that needs Harrison Ford’s whip-cracking assistance in Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom (1984), and there she is again, looking like Thailand and the site for The Bridge on the River Kwai (1957). In Tarzan, the Ape Man(1981), you’re supposed to mistake … Continue reading
Shanaka Amarasinghe arches a single eyebrow. When the occasion calls for it, Ashini Fernando and Tehani Welgama exchange pointed looks and grin wickedly. Unfortunately, Chamath Arambewala isn’t here to join the rest of the cast but director Thushara Hettihamu volunteers to put words in his mouth. This week, I’m one on four with the actors … Continue reading
When Ferdinand Reille, aged 11, whacks Bruno Vallon in the face with a stick, he breaks two incisors. The kerfuffle in the playground forces the boys’ parents – Alain and Annette and Véronique and Michael – into the same room to discuss possible reconciliation. However, an encounter that begins with coffee and clafoutis quickly deteriorates: … Continue reading
It opens with a funeral. Hundreds of thousands of mourners dressed in black swirl around a solitary casket. Their voices raised in grief seem to fill skies, cloaking all of Buenos Aires in sorrow. They are heard loudest in the villas miserias and louder still in the elegant homes of the Argentinian elite. They cry … Continue reading
Smriti Daniel 