a movie review of jhola

Movie Review: Jhola

by Samaanta | Apr 11, 2019 | Blog | 0 comments

Nepali movie ‘Jhola’ is a movie made on a popular book by the same name by literary figure, Krishna Dharabasi. The plot set on the Nepali society of the time about a century ago. The movie directed by Yadav Kumar Bhattarai features  Garima Pant , Desh Bhakta Khanal, Deepak Chhetri,  Laxmi Giri , Pralhad Khatiwada in main roles. The movie made on the banner of Media for Culture Pvt. Ltd. was made after an extensive research on the topic for about 7 years. Based on the novel, Late Deepak Alok had written the script of the movie – keeping the core of the book intact. The movie can be categorized as a historical art movie.

The movie presents the height of violence against women in ancient Nepal – Sati tradition. In ‘Jhola’ an young woman (Garima Pant) is married to a man 40 years senior to her. When her husband dies, Garima is kept to be burned alive with the dead body of her husband. She escaped the fire and hides in a cave. You can watch the movie to know what happens to Garima and how her small son helps her.

STRENGTH AND WEAKNESS

Although there are places for improvement, the scenes in the movie seem realistic and historical. The movie depicts the environment of East Nepal at the time of 100 years ago. The movie uses long shot to present realistic views of the time. The movie features traditional tools like dhiki, janto, madani, ranko, diyalo and so on.

The young people could get a glimpse of our past and the old people can feel the time they have went through in their childhood. So, both young and the old can enjoy the movie. In addition to Sati tradition, the movie also touches slavery (Kamara Kamari) tradition.

The cinematography is one of the best aspect of the movie. The director has also taken care to present the ancient environment. Most of the lighting during the shooting were also made by traditional lights like ranko, diyalo and fire place light. The dress used by the characters were also sewn by hand.  Background music was also composed of leaf music and traditional tunes. The director says that none of the artists have done make up. To make the characters natural, they had carried cow dung, dug in fields, carried water and the natural dirt was used to make the characters real.

Garima Pant and the child artist have done a very realistic acting. Other actors have also justified their character. In a report, Garima got sick after the shooting of the scene in which she runs away by swimming in the river. Garima told that throughout the shooting she didn’t take a bath or applied makeup.

The director Yadav Bhattarai is a well known name in directing Nepali music videos. After directing about 900 music videos Yadav decided to make the movie on the story he read some 11 years ago. He read the book in BS 2059 and got the permission to make movie on it in BS 2063 from Dharabasi. The script writer Deepak Alok had died four years prior to the release of the movie.

‘Jhola’ is a historical movie to get a glimpse of the time of our fore fathers. The movie is a mirror of violence against women in ancient time. Apart from the entertainment, the movie offers insights into history, culture and tradition. ‘Jhola’ has it’s share of shortcomings but, it is a good historical movie. If you like fight, singing and dance, and fun in movies – this might not be the one you would love to watch.

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Tuesday, September 11, 2018

A Specimen of Movie Review on ‘Jhola’

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A Review of the Movie 'Jhola'

Title of the movie: Jhola

Director: Yadav Kumar Bhattarai

Producers: Raj Timalsina, Ram Gopal Thapa and Sushil Shah

Starring: Garima Panta, Desh Bhakta Khanal, Sujal Nepal, Laxmi Giri and Deepak Chhetri

Genre: Social

Duration: 90 minutes

Language: Nepali

Release Date: 7 December 2013

‘Jhola’ is a Nepali film based on Krishna Dharawasi’s short story “Jhola”. It has depicted Nepali society about the Sati tradition that was prevalent until the 1920s. The film has beautifully presented the issues of violence against women. “Has Nepalese society really passed through such inhuman tradition?” is the question every youngster wonders about.

The plot develops with the death of Garima’s husband in which she has to immolate herself upon her husband’s death, typically on his funeral pyre. She is supposed to be burnt alive with the dead body of her husband according to the tradition. However, she escapes the fire and hides in a cave. The help of her son fascinates the audience.

Almost all the scenes seem realistic and historical. Traditional tools like dhiki, janto, madaani, etc. give a traditional look to the film. Similarly, traditional lights like ranko, diyalo and fire place represent ancient environment to the spectators. In addition to Sati tradition, the movie also touches Kamara Kamari (a kind of slavery) tradition. What a beautiful cinematography it is! I think costumes of the artists and the leaf music in traditional tunes touch the heart of every one present in the cinema hall. Garima’s natural appearance, her role and her acting are spellbinding and add to the beauty of the movie.

This is a must watch movie. Don’t miss it.

22 comments:

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Nepali Times

6-12 december 2013 #684.

Based on author Krishna Dharabasi’s story of the same name, the film begins when an old man called Ghanashyam (Sujal Nepal) leaves his bag for a night at the writer’s home. Suspicious, the writer checks the contents of the bag only to find an old manuscript which contains 11 short stories. As Dharabasi starts reading, he is transported to Nepal of the 18th century. We are introduced to a young Ghanashyam who lives with his mother Kanchi (Garima Panta) and his ailing father (Desh Bhakta Khanal). After her husband passes away, Kanchi’s life becomes a nightmare.

Expected to sacrifice herself on the funeral pyre, Kanchi enters almost a daze like state and goes from being a strong-willed, loving mother to a helpless widow. As she prepares herself for the ceremony and Ghanashyam comes to terms with being orphaned, the anguish of both mother and son becomes palpable on screen. While expertly depicting the pain of the protagonists, director Yadav Kumar Bhattarai also explores the tender relationship between a mother and a son, which imbibes Jhola with a soul that has been missing in most Nepali movies pre and post the success of Loot .

Although the Sati system was abolished decades ago, Jhola is still relevant to today’s Nepal where, unfortunately, cases of sexual harassment, violence against women, trafficking remain all too common. The film may not be technically sound or perfectly enacted, but it succeeds in leaving an impact and inspiring viewers to take a stance.

Sunaina Rana

www.jholanepalifilm.com

Jhola was screened by Zonta, an international organisation working to improve the status of women in Nepal, at QFX Kumari on 2 and 5 December.

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Movie/ Film Review: Jhola

  Movie Review on ‘Jhola’

Title of the movie: Jhola

Director: Yadav Kumar Bhattarai

Producers: Raj Timalsina, Ram Gopal Thapa and Sushil Shah

Starring: Garima Panta, Desh Bhakta Khanal, Sujal Nepal, Laxmi Giri and Deepak Chhetri

Genre: Social

Duration: 90 minutes

Language: Nepali

Release Date: 7 December 2013

‘Jhola’ is a Nepali film based on Krishna Dharawasi’s short story “Jhola”. It has depicted Nepali society about the Sati tradition that was prevalent until the 1920s. The film has beautifully presented the issues of violence against women. “Has Nepalese society really passed through such inhuman tradition?” is the question every youngster wonders about.

The plot develops with the death of Garima’s husband in which she has to immolate herself upon her husband’s death, typically on his funeral pyre. She is supposed to be burnt alive with the dead body of her husband according to the tradition. However, she escapes the fire and hides in a cave. The help of her son fascinates the audience.

Almost all the scenes seem realistic and historical. Traditional tools like dhiki , janto , madaani , etc. give a traditional look to the film. Similarly traditional lights like ranko, diyalo and fire place represent ancient environment to the spectators. In addition to Sati tradition, the movie also touches Kamara Kamari (a kind of slavery) tradition. What a beautiful cinematography it is! I think costumes of the artists and the leaf music in traditional tunes touch the heart of every one present in the cinema hall. Garima’s natural appearance, her role and her acting are spellbinding and add to the beauty of the movie.

This is a must watch movie. Don’t miss it.

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Directed by Yadav Kumar Bhattarai

The Sati system was abolished decades ago but Jhola is still relevant to today's Nepal where, unfortunately, cases of sexual harassment, violence against women, trafficking remain all too common.

Garima Panta Desh Bhakta Khanal Sujal Nepal Laxmi Giri Deepak Chhetri

Director Director

Yadav Kumar Bhattarai

Releases by Date

07 dec 2013, releases by country.

90 mins   More at IMDb TMDb Report this page

Popular reviews

Review by truett ★★★

Won’t say this was made exceptionally well but it does tell this story in a very great and emotional way. I’ve never heard of this practice before but wow quite upsetting. Also this is the first Nepali film I’ve ever seen!?!

Review by hugeasmammoth ★★★★★

I watched this when I was still in Nepal with my mom. We both cried so much during this. It’s really a heart wrenching tale of social evil (Sati) that was prevalent in Nepal many years ago. 

Sati is a custom where women had to burn themselves alive along with their husband’s funeral pyre. Truly horrific. If women opposed, the whole town would throw stones and beat that woman to submission. Horrific. 

This film tells us the story about a woman who’s married off to a old old man. The old man croaks and she has to go Sati. And the movie is about that. 

The sense of doom that lingers throughout this film is just so suffocating. You’re on…

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Everything about Nepal

Nepali movie – jhola.

A 2014 release movie ‘Jhola’ is based on a story by literature Krishna Dharabasi titled the same – ‘Jhola’. The story is about an ancient tradition – Sati culture, until it was banned in 1920s. In this culture a wife had to immolate herself upon her husband’s death. In the start, some women used to end their life on her husband’s death voluntary, but later women were forced to commit Sati even against their wishes.

For her role in the movie, actress Garima Panta had won the Best Actress award at the SAARC Film Festival held in Sri Lanka in 2014. The film was also selected in Nepal to represent the country in the the Best Foreign Language Film at the 87th Academy Awards. The movie however couldn’t succeed in being nominated for the award.

The writer Krishna Dharabasi and Manju Bimali are also featured in special appearance in the movie. Sujal Nepal is the child artist in the movie.  The visual effects in the movie are prepared by Dinesh Jung Rana, colorist is Manoranjan Shrestha, singer is Sumnima Singh, lyrics / music / background score by Jason Kunwar, editing by Nimesh Shrestha, Himal Shrestha is the chief assistant director of the movie. Cinematography by Deepak Bajracharya, script is written by Dipak Alok, and the movie is jointly produced by Rajkumar Timilsina, Ramgopal Thapa and Sushil Shah.

Watch the full movie in a single part:

• Also read – Our review of ‘Jhola’
• The movie was  premiered in – KIFF 2014  Film Festival (festival ran from January 27 to January 31, 2014)
• ‘Jhola’ was released on February 7, 2014 on theater
• ‘ Jhola’ celebrated 52 days in theatre .
• Garima won the Best Actress award in SAARC Film Festival (festival ran from May 20 – May 25).
• The president congratulated Garima
• Artists Association honoured Garima Pant
• ‘Jhola’ won 4 awards in NFDC film awards.
• ‘Jhola’ was re-released on April 24 (a day before the Earthquake of 2015)

Twitter reviews:

@AnandNepal हेरी सकियो ।कथा पढ्दा/सुन्दा जति छ राम्रो र मार्मिक त्यसको एक भाग पनि छैन फिलिममा। र पनि कोसिस राम्रै छ । — सरो-दा (@One_Saroj) December 2, 2015

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Thursday, May 19, 2016

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Search this blog, jhola movie review.

Nepali movie ‘Jhola’ is a movie made on a popular book by the same name by literary figure, Krishna Dharabasi. The plot set on the Nepali society of the time about a century ago. The movie directed by Yadav Kumar Bhattarai features Garima panta , Desh Bhakta Khanal, Deepak Chhetri, Laxmi giri , Pralhad Khatiwada in main roles. The movie made on the banner of Media for Culture Pvt. Ltd. was made after an extensive research on the topic for about 7 years. Based on the novel, Late Deepak Alok had written the script of the movie – keeping the core of the book intact. The movie can be categorized as a historical art movie.

The movie presents the height of violence against women in ancient Nepal – Sati tradition. In ‘Jhola’ an young woman (Garima Pant) is married to a man 40 years senior to her. When her husband dies, Garima is kept to be burned alive with the dead body of her husband. She escaped the fire and hides in a cave. You can watch the movie to know what happens to Garima and how her small son helps her.

STRENGTH AND WEAKNESS

Although there are places for improvement, the scenes in the movie seem realistic and historical. The movie depicts the environment of East Nepal at the time of 100 years ago. The movie uses long shot to present realistic views of the time. The movie features traditional tools like dhiki, janto, madani, ranko, diyalo and so on.

The young people could get a glimpse of our past and the old people can feel the time they have went through in their childhood. So, both young and the old can enjoy the movie. In addition to Sati tradition, the movie also touches slavery (Kamara Kamari) tradition.

The cinematography is one of the best aspect of the movie. The director has also taken care to present the ancient environment. Most of the lighting during the shooting were also made by traditional lights like ranko, diyalo and fire place light. The dress used by the characters were also sewn by hand.  Background music was also composed of leaf music and traditional tunes. The director says that none of the artists have done make up. 

Garima Pant and the child artist have done a very realistic acting. Other actors have also justified their character. In a report, Garima got sick after the shooting of the scene in which she runs away by swimming in the river. Garima told that throughout the shooting she didn’t take a bath or applied makeup.

The director Yadav Bhattarai is a well known name in directing Nepali music videos. After directing about 900 music videos Yadav decided to make the movie on the story he read some 11 years ago. He read the book in BS 2059 and got the permission to make movie on it in BS 2063 from Dharabasi. The script writer Deepak Alok had died four years prior to the release of the movie.

‘Jhola’ is a historical movie to get a glimpse of the time of our fore fathers. The movie is a mirror of violence against women in ancient time. Apart from the entertainment, the movie offers insights into history, culture and tradition. ‘Jhola’ has it’s share of shortcomings but, it is a good historical movie. If you like fight, singing and dance, and fun in movies – this might not be the one you would love to watch.

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• After her husband's death, a girl is forced to die due to the Sati practice in Nepal.
• The film begins when an old man called Ghanashyam (Sujal Nepal) leaves his bag for a night at the writer's home. Suspicious, the writer checks the contents of the bag only to find an old manuscript which contains 11 short stories. As Dharabasi starts reading, he is transported to Nepal of the 18th century. We are introduced to a young Ghanashyam who lives with his mother Kanchhi (Garima Panta) and his ailing father (Deepak Chhetri). After her husband passes away, Kanchhi's life becomes a nightmare. Expected to sacrifice herself on the funeral pyre, Kanchhi enters almost a daze like state and goes from being a strong-willed, loving mother to a helpless widow. As she prepares herself for the ceremony and Ghanashyam comes to terms with being orphaned, the anguish of both mother and son becomes palpable on screen. While expertly depicting the pain of the protagonists, director Yadav Kumar Bhattarai also explores the tender relationship between a mother and a son. Perhaps the best two lines in the movie are delivered by the sister-in-law who sums up the audiences' thoughts when she says: "Why is it that only a woman has to sacrifice her life when a man dies, why can't he do the same ... And why is it acceptable for a man to marry for the second time" Although the Sati system was abolished decades ago, Jhola is still relevant to today's Nepal where, unfortunately, cases of sexual harassment, violence against women, trafficking remain all too common. — Sunaina Rana, Rabins Sharma Lamichhane
• Depicts the story of a woman representing women of then(before 18th century when sati ritual was abolished) who were sacrificed on funeral pyre of husbands alive as Sati Ritual and women of now who have been attacked by social crime like sexual harassment, violence, trafficking. — Bijaya Maharjan "Litigoner"
• Based on the short story "Jhola" written by well known story writer Krishna Dharabasi. This movie depicts a horrifying tale of a custom practiced a century back in himalayan kingdom of Nepal. According to the culture a wife had to burn herself on the funeral pyre after death of husband to proove her loyalty and purity. Garima Pant as wife, Deepak Chhetri as Husband and Sujal Nepal as son have made this moving tale a must watch. It depicts the custom frame by frame on the solid foundation of reality. The movie deals with the consequences of this obnoxious custom known as "Sati Pratha". — outlaw Django
• Jhola Before Chandra Shamsher removed Sati culture from our Nation in the 1920s, women had lived a fearful life where they had to sacrifice themselves in flame when their husband had passed away. This movie shows how Ghanashyam (the main character) nearly lost his mother due to the Sati Culture. Will Ghanshyam be able to help his mom escape her fate completely? Or will his mother be sacrificed for real? — Bhojraj

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One of the movie's most poignant roles is a wise bear played by Louis Gossett Jr. in one of his final roles. Rather than just being a cameo, he’s nicely central to a key emotional scene.

While the best family flicks win over kids of all ages, “IF” is a film for grown-ups in PG dressing. The movie is amusing but safe in its humor, the overt earnestness overshadows some great bits of subversive silliness, and the thoughtful larger narrative, which reveals itself by the end to be much more than a story about a girl befriending a bunch of make-believe misfits, will go over some little ones’ heads. Tweens and teens, though, will likely engage with or feel seen by Bea’s character arc, struggling to move into a new phase of life while being tied to her younger years – not to mention worrying about her dad, who tries to make light of his medical situation for Bea.

Reynolds does his part enchanting all ages in this tale of two movies: He’s always got that irascible “fun uncle” vibe for kids, and he strikes a fun chemistry opposite Fleming that belies the serious stuff “IF” digs into frequently. But unless your child is into old movies, they probably won’t get why “Harvey” is playing in the background in a scene. And when “IF” reaches its cathartic finale, some kiddos might be wondering why their parents are sniffling and tearing up – if they're still paying attention and not off playing with their own imaginary friend by then.

Review: There’s no curiosity about Amy Winehouse at all in the reductive, shallow portrait ‘Back to Black’

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It would be a challenging undertaking for any filmmaker or actor to represent in biopic form the outsize talent, unique style and utterly devastating downfall of soul singer Amy Winehouse. To quote one of Winehouse’s most poignant ballads, the endeavor is “a losing game” before it even starts.

Hers is such a tragic story that Asif Kapadia limited his Oscar-winning 2015 documentary “Amy” to audio recordings set to archival footage to examine Winehouse’s life, never showing the faces of the interview subjects. It’s as if it was too painful to confront head-on: her timeless gift, her destructive love story, her unapologetic persona — glittering and gutter-drunk. Any facsimile could never come close to the real thing, in all of its beauty and horror.

She didn’t know there was an Amy Winehouse inside of her. Then the voice came out

To play the British soul singer, a relative unknown was cast, Marisa Abela, who committed herself to capturing the full complexity of a talented, tragic life.

May 15, 2024

Director Sam Taylor-Johnson and writer Matt Greenhalgh, who previously collaborated on the 2009 John Lennon biopic “Nowhere Boy,” have nevertheless persisted with the Winehouse biopic “Back to Black.” “Industry” star Marisa Abela dons the signature black beehive hairdo and winged eyeliner to channel the doomed singer, who released the iconic album of new standards “Back to Black” in 2006 and became a tabloid fixture in the mid-aughts. Paparazzi scrupulously documented her physical and mental deterioration from drug and alcohol abuse before she died from alcohol poisoning in 2011, joining the notorious “27 Club” of musicians who have all died at age 27.

Abela, who does her own singing and miraculously captures the vintage jazz style and timbre of Winehouse’s undeniable vocal talent, delivers a fully committed performance. But the film itself is a shallow portrait that recounts gossipy facts and lore about Winehouse and her troubled relationship with husband Blake Fielder-Civil (an admittedly fantastic Jack O’Connell).

Greenhalgh’s script doesn’t seem at all interested in understanding Winehouse psychologically, instead ascribing all her woes to her toxic co-dependent relationship with Fielder-Civil. Many of the other men in her life, including her father, Mitch (Eddie Marsan), get off fairly easy.

The script is content to blame Amy for her own self-destructive spiral without examining the industrial context that contributed to it — the pressure to tour and perform even when she was struggling, the lack of protection and support, the vicious media commentary about her body and appearance. Packs of paparazzi are a presence in the film, but “Back to Black” doesn’t dive into who is driving the desire for these seedy photos: both media titans and their audiences, hungry for sensation.

There’s no curiosity about Amy at all in “Back to Black,” just a condescending presentation of a girl with a great voice and a bad boyfriend. The script even goes so far as to suggest that, in addition to the loss of her grandmother Cynthia (Lesley Manville), the core of Amy’s heartbreak is her unfulfilled desire to have children. She stares longingly at toddlers and has inappropriate conversations with kids, telling a young fan, “I wish I was your mum.” It’s insultingly reductive.

Though “Back to Black” is a somewhat unnecessary reminder of the incredible album that came out of Winehouse’s tumultuous relationship with Fielder-Civil, and Abela delivers sound-alike (if over-pronounced) vocal performances of the tunes, Taylor-Johnson fumbles how these songs are utilized. She lets the first verse play, then has the rest of the song soundtrack a montage that speeds through the story and conveniently conflates certain events. Winehouse’s scorcher of a scorned woman song, the album and film’s titular number, “Back to Black,” is completely misused over a montage, bizarrely linking the tune to her grandmother’s death and draining it of its emotional power.

Review: ‘Amy’ tracks singer Winehouse’s soaring talent, tragic demise

Before she won six Grammys (including a trio for her massive breakout hit “Rehab”), before she descended into a morass of addiction and public humiliation, before she died of alcohol poisoning at age 27, bravura British songwriter and vocalist Amy Winehouse was simply a young woman with an extraordinary gift for song.

July 2, 2015

This is not the first time that Taylor-Johnson has cinematically flattened a hyper-controversial story that was originally caked in gore and forced media consumers to question our own relationship to a kind of dark voyeurism. She adapted the James Frey rehab “memoir” “A Million Little Pieces” to similarly sanitized ends in 2019, sanding off the rough edges and failing to ask any of the hard questions. Why tackle these complex stories if you’re just going to reduce them to easily digestible pablum?

With a visual style that is straightforward and serviceable at best and a frustratingly limited emotional range, “Back to Black” never captures the beauty of Winehouse’s talent, the heartbreak of her performances or the horror of her tragedy.

Witnessing Winehouse’s downfall in real time was incredibly disturbing — it was shocking to see photographs of her with Fielder-Civil, strung out, streaked in mascara and blood. We watched her deteriorate under the harsh glare of a camera’s flash, a star burning too bright for this world. It’s a shame the filmmakers shy away, preferring to remain on the surface of her story. It only proves Winehouse’s presence was always too big to be contained.

Katie Walsh is a Tribune News Service film critic.

'Back to Black'

Rating: R for drug use, language throughout, sexual content and nudity Running time: 2 hours, 2 minutes Playing: In wide release Friday, May 17

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The Way, My Way review – a pleasurable walk on the Camino de Santiago

Adapted from Bill Bennett’s memoir, this film about his time hiking the 800km trail celebrates life’s simplest pleasures: walking, talking, imbibing

I f the objective behind this modestly enjoyable film about walking the Camino de Santiago was to get us in the mood for travelling on foot through a foreign country, taking intermittent wine breaks, then I certainly found it successful: open the Pinot and pass me a hiking pole!

Adapted by Bill Bennett from his 2013 memoir of the same name, The Way, My Way charts the Australian film-maker’s 800km journey through Spain to the tomb of St James, a journey undertaken by countless pilgrims over the years .

That word, “pilgrim,” has profound, or at least religious connotations, but don’t expect much religious discussion from this film, which seems predicated in part on making a point that “pilgrims” can also mean “people with lots of time on their hands.”

The Way, My Way has the tone and rhythms of a documentary. If you went in cold, you’d probably assume it was one. Bennett is played by veteran actor Chris Haywood, though the supporting cast includes pilgrims the director actually trekked with – of 20 speaking parts, only four are played by professional actors.

The stakes feel very low throughout, but not in a bad way: the film’s unprepossessing charm reminded me of Celia Pacquola and Luke McGregor’s lovely comedy series Rosehaven , which also finds respite from modern life via a slower pace and some big gulps of fresh country air.

Bennett has directed many narrative films, from 1997’s neo-noir classic Kiss or Kill to 2002’s gold-digging themed comedy The Nugget. In The Way, My Way he takes a quietly subversive approach that feels proudly un dramatic and embraces the kinds of moments that, in other films, might well have ended up on the cutting room floor.

One occurs about 20 minutes in, when Bennett is in a rural town with nothing to do; he decides to bring the film itself into his time-killing mission, ambling around and prattling on about himself via voiceover, in a scene that deliberately goes nowhere. There’s something oddly refreshing about a well-paced film that seems to be in no hurry at all, extolling an appreciation for life’s simplest pleasures: walking, talking, imbibing.

It begins with Haywood as Bennett driving down a Spanish road, explaining that it all started on a holiday when he “saw this line of hikers walking along this track” and contemplated how “they seemed to be walking with such purpose”. He takes sudden turn towards causticism: “It reminded me of lemmings plodding mindlessly headlong to their death,” he says. To him, the pilgrims seemed like loonies. Then, another swift turn – when he declares, apropos of nothing, that he “just knew that I had to walk the Camino de Santiago”.

When Bennett’s wife, Jennifer Cluff (who plays herself), asks why he wants to do this, Bennett answers: “I’ll have to get back to you on that.” It’s a funny line that demonstrates the film’s easy-going charm and completely unlaboured approach to comedy.

Wisely, Bennett doesn’t get bogged down with trying to explain what drew him to the pilgrimage, perhaps in recognition of the vagaries of human behaviour: sometimes we just do stuff, like taking very long walks or watching Is It Cake?

Bennett’s cranky old guy vibe helps counter what could have been an experience very sweet in the tooth. At one point he turns a random social interaction with a younger hiker into a barrage of roadside lecturing, highlighting the man’s incorrect choice of socks (“they’re supposed to be merino!”) and admonishing him for doing a pilgrimage “in disco shoes”.

Bennett is being a bit of a dick, and he knows it. But he also becomes a comforting set of ears for other travellers, who open up to him about traumatic aspects of their lives and big problems they’re facing, in sensitively recreated moments that hit the heartstrings. The Way, My Way is hardly riveting viewing – but its softly inquisitive, life-affirming spirit is hard to hate.

The Way, My Way is out in Australian cinemas from Thursday.

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‘When the Light Breaks’ Review: A Maelstrom of Youthful Emotion Plays Out Between Two Sunsets

Two young women grieve for the same lover in this quiet but intensely felt miniature from Icelandic director Rúnar Rúnarsson, opening this year's Un Certain Regard strand at Cannes.

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In the morning, Diddi is to fly home and break up with Klara. To Una, together-forever-ness awaits. But a tracking shot of ceiling lights in a Reykjavik traffic tunnel — as menacing in its patient composure as the previous night’s sunset was ecstatic — spells doom, as the late Jóhann Jóhannsson’s solemnly ethereal recording of “Odi et Amo” presages a catastrophic tunnel fire. With Diddi among the many killed, Una is left to find her own place in a national tragedy, the communal reach of its impact doing nothing to dull her inchoate sense of abandonment and isolation. As the day unfolds, she drifts between friends, family and solitude, uneasy in any company, unhappy alone. Only Gunni (Mikael Kaaber), Diddi’s brother, knows the true nature of their relationship, though there’s no time for heart-to-hearts, least of all when the innocently devastated Klara arrives in town.

Una’s initial impulse is to avoid the other woman, though Klara, naively or otherwise, gravitates nervously toward her. Perhaps the equal intensity of their grief is something of a magnetic force. As Diddi’s friends drink and dance through the afternoon, the two young women are paired in an unspoken kinship that quickly escalates, if only for this one day, into a deeper, more needful understanding. Cool but not emotionally aloof, Hall’s sharp, tightly wound performance implies a personality given to tension at the best of times, in need of close human contact to draw out her happiness. As it is, she’s both rigidly poised and visibly shattered: The plain portraiture of Olsson’s camerawork gives her puffy-eyed devastation nowhere to hide.

Rúnarsson’s sparse script isn’t interested in engineering more seismic confrontation or catharsis, as “When the Light Breaks” instead trades in the kind of tentative realizations and ambiguities more commonly found in short-form storytelling. That can give the film a softness, a gauziness even, that is initially unexpected in a story so grave. Yet it comes to feel appropriate for a dramatization of a day when everything changes, but no clear future immediately presents itself. In each other, Una and Klara find something to cling to in the haze, at least for the moment. Another sunset is coming, and perhaps they’d rather not watch it alone. “It’ll be strange to wake up tomorrow,” Klara muses. “Do you know what you’ll do?” It’s a question for another day, and another film.

Reviewed at Soho Screening Rooms, London, May 7, 2024. In Cannes Film Festival — Un Certain Regard (opener). Running time: 77 MIN. (Original title: "Ljósbrot")

• Production: (Iceland-Netherlands-Croatia-France) A Compass Films, Halibut presentation in co-production with Revolver Amsterdam, MP Filmska Produkcija, Eaux Vives Productions, Jour2Fête. (World sales: The Party Film Sales, Paris.) Producers: Heather Millard, Rúnar Rúnarsson. Executive producers: Claudia Hausfeld, Lilja Ósk Snorradóttir , Þórður Jónsson. Co-producers: Raymond van der Kaaij, Igor A. Nola, Mike Downey, Xenia Maingot, Sarah Chazelle.
• Crew: Director, screenplay: Rúnar Rúnarsson. Camera: Sophia Olsson. Editor: Andri Steinn Guðjónsson. Music: Jóhann Jóhannsson.
• With: Elín Hall, Mikael Kaaber, Katla Njálsdóttir, Baldur Einarsson, Gunnar Hrafn Kristjánsson, Ágúst Wigum. (Icelandic, English dialogue)

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But when Diddi is killed in a freak fire in a road tunnel the next morning – a national disaster that claims upwards of a dozen lives – Una finds herself alone with her searing grief. Diddi’s friends fly in to check hospitals and records; people she has never met, but who have known him all their lives. Klara (Katla Njálsdóttir) is there, a dead ringer for Una and recognized as the officially bereaved. The friends hug each other. These people own his past which, given that Diddi now has no future, means they own him.

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It’s understandable. There were only five of them in the 10th grade in their tiny country high school, Diddi’s old schoolmate Siggi (Gunna Hrafn Kristjánsson) tells her. It is an immediately recognizable but unfathomable bond. 

Una is an oddball in her way, a “pan-sexual” who dresses in men’s clothes, but she is not so against convention that she would break Klara’s heart with the truth. Instead, she tells herself she is the real widow and bites her tongue. These two women give remarkable, sensitive performances; they are perfect foils for each other. Klara is cow-eyed, flattened by sadness, fleshy where Una is lithe, a bit of a country bumpkin. Klara is not, however, any kind of fool. 

Whenever he can, he takes us outdoors, showing the sun descend to the horizon while casting its empty spotlight across the waves. At times – when skipping us over the sea or taking us through the doomed tunnel – the light becomes an abstraction, heightened by the soaring voices of boy choirs that he already used to powerful effect in his 2015 film  Sparrows . 

There is a sense of living under a great canopy of light, with roofs an insignificant interruption. Going to find out if Diddi is one of the dead, talking about him, celebrating him – all within a space of 24 hours – is the story’s busywork, but it is overarched by the transcendent.

That said, Rúnarsson has kept his ambitions small; his canvas is limited, his narrative spare – so spare, indeed, that it sometimes drags. Within his self-imposed limitations, however, he draws a portrait of muffled grief that feels true and poignant. The reflective pairing of the two young women, emphasized by a visually inventive moment when their images merge in a window where one is seen through the glass and the other as a reflection, recalls the existential ambiguity of Bergman’s  Persona . Una feels more than she can say; Klara knows more. Their silence communicates volumes; their shared pain is so thick you could run your hands through it. Somehow, they will find their way through silence to accommodate each other.

As an opening-night choice for Cannes ‘ Un Certain Regard,  When the Light Breaks  sets a standard for the original and specific vision that is expected of films in this section. Whether its heavy-hearted melancholy will be a hallmark of the sidebar itself will be revealed over the next 12 days.

Title: When The Light Breaks (Ljósbrot) Festival: Cannes (Un Certain Regard) Director-screenwriter: Rúnar Rúnarsson Cast: Elín Hall, Katla Njálsdóttir, Ágúst Wigum, Mikael Kaaber, Baldur Einarsson, Gunna Hrafn Kristjánsson Sales agent: The Party Film Sales Running time: 1 hr 22 min

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