When you think of Indian cinema, it is hard not to picture the maximalist Bollywood style, an all-singing, all-dancing, all-action affair, most recently brought to the Western world with RRR, which won Best Song at the Oscars with the crowdpleaser ‘Naatu Naatu’. However Payal Kapadia’s ‘All We Imagine As Light’ brings an entirely different proposition. The film, which won the Grand Prix at Cannes this year is much quieter and observant in its approach.
The film, set in Mumbai follows two female nurses who live together as they transcend the struggles of love and loneliness. The older of the pair is Prabha, a hardworking and straight-talking individual who is struggling alone after her husband, who she is with after an arranged marriage, moved to Germany for work and is no longer in contact with her. Meanwhile, Anu, her roommate is more free-spirited, following her life as she falls in love with Shiaz, a Muslim boy, in a secret relationship which will not be accepted. The film follows these two characters as they deal with the day-to-day struggles of Mumbai life.
Whilst All We Imagine As Light is dealing with a lot of interesting themes, it is slow and often times pedestrian pacing made this a struggle to sit through. Part of this is down to its disconcertingly documentary feel. During the opening scene which shows B-roll of Mumbai, overlaid with almost interview-style responses, I almost had to check that the film wasn’t a documentary. It is a strictly observational style that sometimes distances itself from its characters overly so, isolating them, but also not giving the audience the best opportunity to connect to the two leads.
The film is full of thematic struggles, it is about love and the struggle to find love in a world that seems so sought against it. Prabha is asked, how could she marry a total stranger, who indeed has deserted her and is in marital limbo. Train carriages are segregated by gender, creating a divide that destroys connectivity.
Meanwhile, Anu, who finds love, would not be accepted as their relationship is arranged. The film sets Mumbai of immense struggle, but also defiance, as one character says “Even if you live in the gutter, you are not allowed to feel anger”, there is a sense you must put up with the class or gender divide. The film questions at one point whether it is better just to be alone. However, for some reason, I struggled to feel connected and engrossed by the film despite its tranquil and naturalistic style.
Unfortunately, whilst All We Imagine As Light is full of dense themes, particularly pertinent to Indian culture, the observant, documentarian style felt uncannily distracting at times and distances the audience from the characters to make it as powerful and moving piece than it should be, despite a powerful final act.
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