Review: Paradise (Prasanna Vithanage)

“The premise of the film is to bring Ammu’s detrimental yet unconscious actions to the forefront, rejecting the notion that they should be dismissed as mere accidents. This brutal and revealing realization underscores the urgent need to reimagine and redefine the traditional roles of husband and wife in light of the new norms of a highly consumerist society.”

Paradise, the highly acclaimed latest cinematic venture by renowned Sri Lankan filmmaker Prasanna Vithanage, recently premiered worldwide. In this review, I hope to delve into the profound depths of his artistic vision behind the film. Celebrated as a trailblazer in Sri Lankan cinema’s third generation, Vithanage is known for challenging conventional norms and exploring the complexities of human subjectivity, with a particular focus on female perspectives and societal structures.

The main protagonists of Paradise, a young Malayali middle-class couple named Keshav and Ammu, travel to Sri Lanka for a short, budget-friendly getaway, seeking the lush greenery and true paradise the country has to offer. At first glance the couple appears calm, seemingly accepting each other’s existence. Most importantly, Ammu’s silent and serene demeanor suggests that she is a very agreeable wife, until she completely surprises the audience in the latter part of the film.

The young couple enters the ‘paradise’ during a period of intense political turmoil in Sri Lanka. The film was shot amidst this crisis, with the director showcasing the originality of the narrative by bringing this fictional couple to life within the context of the real situation. The country is experiencing a collapsed economy, with a severe shortage of fuel and electricity. As a result, all economic activities, including daily household tasks, have come to a standstill. The entire nation, regardless of social class, has been plunged into a state of despair, with people grieving, fighting, and demanding that the government and authorities restore their shattered consumerist lifestyles.

Against this backdrop, the Indian middle-class couple is eagerly awaiting a call to confirm a project that promises them greater financial rewards and economic stability. The first plot twist occurs on the very first night of their vacation, when they are robbed of their phones and laptops, shattering their plans and expectations. This incident transforms their holiday into a cat-and-mouse game between the thieves and the police, revealing the corrupt and inhumane bureaucratic system of the country, as well as the enduring power struggle inherent in a marriage, something that has become more prominent than anything else in contemporary society.

Grand narrative

Before delving into the main premise of the film, it is interesting to analyze the stunning natural Sri Lankan landscape through which the couple travels. While on vacation, they are mesmerized by the beauty of nature and the story intertwines with the Hindu myth of Ravana, a narrative commonly shared between Sri Lanka and India. As the couple explores various historical sites related to this myth, they paradoxically spend most of their time on their phones and engrossed in work on their laptops.

In Sri Lanka, as well as in other parts of Asia, both the captivating myths and the region’s natural beauty profoundly impact its people, drawing them into a world of larger-than-life narratives. It is evident that many well-recognized films and literary works from this region often convey personal experiences against grand narratives. The stories from this part of the world have been presented to and seen by other parts of the world through an anthropological lens. Contemporary life, with its struggles and conflicts, has been portrayed primarily without much personal character detail, situated within the context of significant historical narratives.

Cultural backwardness

Aside from its multiple layers of narrative, the main premise of the film as I perceive it sheds light on the collapse of the concept of ‘marriage’ in contemporary consumerist society. As one of the oldest institutions of human civilization, the ‘family’ has now been utterly shattered and its agency profoundly challenged. This transformation primarily arises from the changing role of women—once considered the foundation of the family institution—who through the global women’s empowerment agenda have now become the sole ‘devotees’ of consumerism. In the second decade of the twenty-first century, it is evident that the South Asian region has become economically modern, with regional expansion in information technology, advanced capital accumulation, and a shift from printed money to digital currency dominating the economy, among other developments. However, to support this economic modernity, cultural and political advancement is crucial, but these areas remain very backward in this regard.

One major reason for the backwardness in cultural advancement is the inability to differentiate between historical myths and reality. It is crucial for any nation to explore the historical myths of the past to harness their potential for cultural advancement, which directly influences the lifestyle of contemporary society in accordance with its economic progress. The failure to distinguish between these two factors has hindered the socio-cultural development of the region and the subjectivity of South Asian women is deeply influenced by these larger-than-life historical mythologies.

Collapse of ‘Marriage’

Over the past few decades, women’s empowerment has emerged as a crucial socio-political agenda globally, particularly in Asia, where discussions about women’s involvement in economic development have come to the forefront. Consequently, the presence and importance of women’s engagement in the economy have been progressively recognized, and contemporary society now strongly advocates for the empowerment of femininity. This shift has had a significant impact, as the consumerist system welcomes feminine qualities while sidelining masculinity.

However, these gradual changes, while boosting the economy and benefiting individual households through the empowerment of women, have often overlooked the importance of socio-cultural advancement. As a result relationships between close partners, such as husbands and wives, have transformed into rivalries, turning a once supportive connection into an obstacle to each other’s progress and freedom.

In this context, analyzing the subjectivity of Ammu’s character in Paradise we can see that she is portrayed as a silent, agreeable wife who undergoes a shocking transformation into a ‘husband-killer’ in a surprising plot twist at the end of the film. This shift sheds light on her accumulated unconscious rage throughout her marriage, which is ultimately triggered by a human bullet that ends her husband’s life.

Throughout the film Keshav’s dominant behavior in decision-making, both in social and personal matters, is prominently displayed. In contrast, Ammu’s silence is often interpreted as agreement, reflecting the expected behavior of South Asian women. A surprising turn of events occurs during a riot, when Ammu fires a bullet at Keshav, prompting the audience to reconsider the untold story behind her silence—one that she herself is both unconscious of and puzzled by. Her unconsciousness regarding her own detrimental action is highlighted in the final scene, where Ammu is leaving for the airport alone with a tour guide. During their conversation Ammu expresses that she doesn’t really understand what happened; she simply pulled the trigger. While both the tour guide and the audience clearly witnessed her firing the gun at Keshav, the tour guide in his statement at the police station claimed that it was merely an accident.

For me, the premise of the film is to bring Ammu’s detrimental yet unconscious actions to the forefront, rejecting the notion that they should be dismissed as mere accidents. This brutal and revealing realization underscores the urgent need to reimagine and redefine the traditional roles of husband and wife in light of the new norms of a highly consumerist society.