《浴火之鳥》(斯里蘭卡/法國/2016/劇情)
BURNING BIRDS (SRI LANKA/FRANCE/2016/DRAMA)
DAVENA VIHAGUN
語言：僧伽羅語
Language: Sinhalese
劇介
Kusum是一名尋常的家庭主婦，當非法武裝組織殺害了她的丈夫，她靠一己之力養活八個孩子和婆婆。然而身為工人階級的貧窮寡婦，她不僅工作量大，還要忍受男性社會的蔑視和冷漠。最終她失去了尊嚴，被迫賣淫求生，也做出真正極端的選擇。
劇介
背景設定在 1989 年，當時斯里蘭卡仍深陷內戰，《浴火之鳥》描述Kusum（阿諾瑪賈納達里飾演) 墮落到社會底層的經過。她的魚販丈夫因涉嫌叛亂，被當地民兵逮捕並當場處決，原本就貧困的生活發生了翻天覆地的變化。養家糊口的人走了，Kusum被迫想辦法養活八個孩子和冷漠的婆婆。
劇介
《浴火之鳥》訴說了寡婦Kusum母子和冷漠婆婆的故事。Kusum的丈夫是魚販，被武裝的民兵組織以涉嫌顛覆的罪名殺害。她只好靠自己照顧八個孩子，本片描述她奮力求生的故事。
編劇/導演：桑吉瓦普什帕庫馬拉
製作：安東尼德迪，桑吉瓦普什帕庫馬拉
製作公司：Centre National du Cinéma et de l'Image, Cinéfondation Residence (support), Doha Film Institute
主演：阿諾瑪賈納達里 (Kusum) ，薩瑪娜麗馮塞卡(Wasana)，馬亨德拉佩雷拉，香達妮塞納維拉特尼(Sumana), 萊奧妮科塔拉瓦拉，普布杜查圖蘭加，提沙班達拉那亞卡，琵艷卡薩馬拉維拉
獎項：
- 2017年鹿特丹國際電影節
- 2016年釜山影展（韓國）
- 2016年東京 FILMeX 評審團特別獎（日本）
- 2016 年東京 FILMeX 大獎入圍（日本）
- 2017年Joja-NETPAC亞洲電影節，亞洲電影奈派克獎最佳影片入圍
- 2017年哥德堡電影節，英格瑪伯格曼競賽類（瑞典），最佳影片入圍
- 2017年日內瓦國際電影節及人權論壇（瑞士），主競賽單元最佳影片
- 2017年日內瓦國際電影節及人權論壇（瑞士），主競賽單元青年評審團獎
- 慕尼黑國際電影節，正式入選（德國）
- 2017年瓦倫西亞國際電影節（西班牙）最佳影片入圍
- 第70屆盧卡諾國際電影節（瑞士）
- 2016年釜山影展新潮流獎入圍
- 2017年Anonimul 國際獨立電影節（羅馬尼亞），最佳影片入圍
- 2017年第11屆亞太電影大獎（澳大利亞）
關於導演
桑吉瓦普什帕庫馬拉導演在一個貧困的家庭長大，他的父親意外死亡，叔叔被士兵殺害。本片是繼《Flying Fish》（2001年鹿特丹影展）之後的第二部作品，呈現對殘酷現實的直白控訴，但也以大地色調拍出了美麗的斯里蘭卡。無論是哪個場景，他仔細拍出了風景和天空，強調出Kusum毫無轉身的餘地。
影評：
- 最令人印象深刻的元素是攝影——一切都融入了香料和灰塵的色調。Kusum的上衣用安全別針固定住，她寧可自己餓肚子，也要購買布料來製作女兒的新校服。
- 桑吉瓦普什帕庫馬拉執導的《浴火之鳥》比賈克歐迪亞的金棕櫚獎得主《流離者之地》更加穩重和悲痛。
- 《浴火之鳥》對於女性在戰火蹂躪、男性主導社會中，面對的掙扎和沈淪提出強烈控訴。
- 飾演Kusum的阿諾瑪賈納達里帶來精彩演出，這位資深演員不以戲劇化的演出取勝，而是以出色的演技，展示角色沉默、堅忍的精神，有如斯里蘭卡的薛西弗斯，堅持對抗不可能的挑戰。她的辛勤與遼闊和狂風肆虐的風景恰為對照，《浴火之鳥》是一則熾熱的社會和藝術宣言。
- 一部真實的電影
Synopsis
After an illegal militant group kills her husband, ordinary housewife Kusum does anything to support her eight children and her mother-in-law. However, there is not only a huge amount of work to do for a poor and powerless working-class widow, but she also has to endure the contempt and surliness of a male-oriented society. She finally loses the last vestiges of dignity when she is driven to prostitution and in the end, she makes a truly extreme choice.
Synopsis
Set in 1989, when Sri Lanka was still mired in civil war, Burning Birds charts the fall of Kusum (Anoma Janadari), a woman whose impoverished life is turned upside down when her fishmonger husband is arrested and summarily executed by a local militia for suspected subversive activities. With the breadwinner gone, Kusum is forced to look for ways to support herself, her eight children and her unsympathetic mother-in-law.
Synopsis
‘Burning Birds’ is basically a story about a widow Kusum, her children and an unsympathetic mother-in-law. Kusum’s husband, a fishmonger, is killed by an armed vigilante group as a suspected subversive. She is left to fend for herself and her eight children. How she struggles to do so is the essence of the film’s story.
Writers/Directors: Sanjeewa Pushpakumara
Producers: Antonin Dedet, Sanjeewa Pushpakumara
Production Co: Centre National du Cinéma et de l'Image, Cinéfondation Residence (support), Doha Film Institute
Cast: Anoma Janadari (Kusum) Samanalee Fonseka (Wasana) Mahendra Perera, Chandani Senavirathne (Sumana), Leonie Kotalawala, Pubudu Chathuranga, Thissa Bandaranayaka, Priyanka Samaraweera
Awards
- Rotterdam International Film Festival, 2017.
- BIFF 2016 (Korea), 2016.
- Special Jury Prize, TOKYO FILMeX 2016 (Japan), 2016.
- Grand Prize Nominee, TOKYO FILMeX 2016 (Japan), 2016.
- Best Film Nominee, NETPAC Award, Joja-NETPAC Asian FF, 2017.
- Best Film Nominee, Göteborg Film Festival - Ingmar Bergman Competition (Sweden), 2017.
- Best Film Award, Fiction Grand Award, International Film Festival and Forum on Human Rights in Geneva (FIFDH) – Main Competition (Switzerland), 2017.
- Youth Jury Prize, International Film Festival and Forum on Human Rights in Geneva (FIFDH) – Main Competition (Switzerland), 2017.
- Munich International Film Festival – Official Selection (Germany).
- Best Film Nominee, Valence International Film Festival (Spain), 2017.
- 70th Locarno International Film Festival (Switzerland).
- New Currents Award Nominee, Pusan IFF, 2016.
- Best Film Nominee, Anonimul International Independent Film Festival (Romania), 2017.
- 11th Annual Asia Pacific Screen Awards (Australia), 2017.
About the Director
Director Pushpakumara grew up in an impoverished family; after his father unexpectedly
died, his uncle was murdered by soldiers. His second feature, following Flying Fish (IFFR 2001),
is an indictment that is mercilessly explicit in its depiction of the harshness of reality.
However, he also captures Sri Lanka lovingly, in beautiful earthen tints. Each of his vistas, his
attention to landscape and sky, emphasise Kusum’s lack of room to manoeuvre.
Reviews:
- The most impressive elements are the photography – everything is infused in tones of spice and dust – and costume. Kusum’s blouse is held together with safety pins but she would rather go without food than not buy the material to make her daughter’s new school dresses.
- Sanjeewa Pushpakumara’s Burning Birds is a much more poised and harrowing affair than Jacques Audiard’s Palme d’Or-winning Dheepan.
- Burning Birds is, first and foremost, a fiery indictment about how women struggle and sink in war-torn, machismo-dripping societies.
- As Kusul, Janadari delivers a powerfully rugged tour de force. Shunning easy histrionics, the veteran actor offers a remarkable performance showcasing her character’s silent, stoic spirit — a Sri Lankan Sisyphus struggling against insurmountable odds but persisting nevertheless. Juxtaposing her toils with wide, wild and windswept landscapes, Burning Birds is a blistering social and artistic statement.
- A realistic and authentic film
