Dheepan: Undermined By Disregard For Detail & Talent
By TU Senan –April 20, 2016
TU Senan
Dheepan has both collected the Palm d’Or at Cannes and caused controversy among Tamils. This is particularly so among Tamil writers given that the leading actor is a well-known writer in Tamil. From the point of view of the Tamil literary circle, there are many truths that need to be told about this movie. With that aim and perspective this review is written to shed light on few points – so look away now if you expect an ‘objective view’.
In a way the real story is about an opportunist but clever director and one extraordinary artist. Shoba Sakthi (Antonythasan Jesuthasan) plays the leading role as an ex-LTTE militant who continues to the fight to ‘protect’ – this time an adopted family. But in real life Shoba is no ordinary artist. His short stories have defined modern Tamil literature and he is one of the most highly praised short story writers of our time. Even those like us, who oppose some of Shoba’s political views, have enormous respect for his artistic talent. But Dheepan is the sort of a story, I am sure Shoba himself would consider, average.
From the off, the film is packed with mistakes. There are mistakes of both fact and storyline. The story of the main character appears to be set in 1989, and then merges into the events of 2009 without any characters aging. The ambiguity found in the directors’ style may help to hide these facts from some audiences. However, it also fails miserably in terms of the casting of other actors – the translator, the female lead, etc.
Of course, it is not just a story of a Tamil family, but an attempt to depict the ‘universal’ life of an immigrant fleeing war and what they face in France. And it’s also a love story. Violence in the immigrant community in the Paris suburbs is inherently connected to state oppression, racism, lack of services, joblessness, etc, etc – none of which features in Dheepan. Almost every aspect of the state and the ‘native French’ characters are portrayed ‘naively’. Not that the French people are anti-immigrant, but the uncritical portrayal in the film successfully hides key factors that contribute to the alienation experienced by immigrants.
