Cinema
Paral ko Aago
Pratap Subba · 1978
Synopsis
Chame and his wife Gauthali quarrel constantly. One evening when he has drunk too much, he hits her, and she runs away to her mother's, who sides with her. Near them, Juthe Damai and his wife are a united couple, through whose mouths the lessons of the film are delivered. Left alone, Chame finally sets out to fetch her. The title, a flash fire, names a marital anger that flares quickly and does not last, according to the reading that the Nepali press gives of the short story.
Context
The director said that the short story, the work of Guru Prasad Mainali, master of Nepali realism, had nearly driven him mad with ideas for a film. Shooting took place in the Darjeeling region, with Tanka Sharma as Chame and Basundhara Bhusal as Gauthali. In 2023, The Kathmandu Post praises the image and an editing more polished than in many Nepali films of the time, but judges the story misogynistic and complacent towards beatings, while noting that it gives the Dalit characters and the women more voice than the short story does.
Who it is for
In Nepali and in black and white, one hour twenty or one and a half hours depending on the sources; a copy circulates online, without subtitles.
Prizes and reception
A great success on release, carried by its story and its songs; Shanti Thatal was the first woman to direct the music of a Nepalese film.
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