written and directed by Ramin Bahrani
from the novel by Arvind Adiga
After plowing through a series of pretty but ultimately empty movies on Netflix, I finally found something a bit more substantial albeit problematic to watch and review.
White Tiger, a drama adapted from the novel of the same name by Arvind Adiga is the story of Balram played by Adarsh Gourav, a young man who hails from what appears to be on of the very poorest parts of India who makes it his mission in life to climb out of poverty by any means necessary. Over the course of the film, Balram's journey out of poverty involves lying, cheating, stealing, and eventually (spoiler alert) murder.
The film offers commentary not only on extreme poverty in India and the lengths to which people will go to extricate themselves from it, but also on just how deeply entrenched corruption is, especially among the privileged ruling class, and how it can consume just about everyone.
It strikes me that this movie strives to be for India what 2019's Parasite was for South Korea, and employs a vaguely similar narrative. Bong Joon Ho's award-winning film centered around a family of con artists who charmed and finagled their way into employment by a wealthy family, while in this film, Balram puffs up his resume to get a job as a driver for a rich warlord (Mahesh Manjrekar), and eventually ends up driving for his son Ashok (Rajkummar Rao) and his wife Pinky (Priyanka Chopra), who come to be the embodiment of how privelege, and in particular wealth, are a virtual guarantee of freedom from accountability.
As ambitious as this film's goal is, though, its execution feels heavy-handed and clumsy. It employs a stylized narrative, using a clunky exposition device that borders on breaching the fourth wall, a narrative that feels inherently humorous, and has, in the lead role, an actor whose appearance suggests a comedian, but the whole thing plays out like a straight drama.
I'm under no delusion that this film is aimed at entertaining; it is clearly about provoking the audience, but it is clear that the filmmakers try to sway the viewer's sentiments towards Balram and his quest to climb out of poverty, esepcially when beset by his corrupt oppressors. Whatever pretensions the filmmakers might have to the contrary, they clearly try to get us to root for Balram.
And this is where the movie fails spectacularly, especially in relation to "Parasite."
Gourav's Balram is the spiritiual cousin of the family of con-artists in "Parasite" who not only lie about their resumes but also get the existing staff fired, as Balram does with his fellow family driver who, he learns, is a closeted Muslim working for a Hindu who hates Muslims. Like the family in "Parasite" Balram is scheming, corrupt and willing to screw anyone over to get what he wants.
"Parasite" however, used a deft blend of humor, dialogue and the interplay between characters to great effect to get viewers to look past the inherently disturbing aspect of what the family in the film was doing. In contrast Bahrani has Balram talking to the screen for most of the film's running time when he's not interacting with his boss or having throwaway conversations with other drivers. Basically we know what's in his head because he's telling us what's in his head, and at times like this is feels as if Balram is appealing to the viewer to sympathize with his plight.
When the already dark film takes its final, truly sinister turn, the oddly abrupt conclusion feels largely unearned. Gourav, to be fair, turns in as sympathetic a performance as one could possibly manage with the script he's given, and with a better script might have sold me better on the film's real twist at the very, very end.
"Parasite" this is not.
6/10
No comments:
Post a Comment