SankaraDirector and scriptwriter: Prasanna JayakodyCast: Thumindhu Dodantenna, Sanchini Ayendra, Nilupa Heenkendaarachchi and KA Milton Perera
CAIRO: The struggle between the material and the spiritual takes center stage in Sankara, the Sri-Lankan offering to the competition section of the Cairo International Film Festival.
“The title of the film can t be summed up in one word, film director Prasanna Jayakody told The Daily Star Egypt, “. the perceptions of both the material senses and the spiritual side of human beings, all translated into pure spiritual insight.
As one of the viewers put it, the film was a nice surprise from a country that people here don t know much about, much less its cinema industry.
Through the story of young monk restoring a Buddhist mural and battling with his own earthy desires in the process, the film utilizes visual elements more than dialogue, which is kept to a minimum.
Director Prasanna Jayakody used the colorful mural, the skillful performance of the actors, an unconventional soundtrack and visual symbolism to get the message through.
Ironically, the mural that warns against the consequence of giving in to material desires bares many graphic drawings. In a parallel controversy, the monk derives inspiration for substituting the missing drawings from a young a girl who lives next to the monk.
Other visual symbols, highlighted by a soundtrack that depends more on natural sounds rather than musical instruments, provide a necessary backdrop and explanations to the largely silent film.
Although some symbols couldn t be fully understood or detected right away, others hit you in the face.
In a psychological plot, the monk gives in to a character of his imagination.
Embodying desire, the unnamed imaginary man does what his guilty conscience prevents the monk from doing: stare a bit longer, fantasize about the girl and take the necessary actions to elongate the monk s visit to the temple.
Although the slow pace of the film could be boring at times, the question of who would win, the monk or his imaginary character, keep the simple story interesting to follow.
