Film: Santosh

Tonight, I was at first thinking of heading to The Alto Knights, a new Robert de Niro gangster film, yet again based on real-life events. Also stars Debra Messing. The Curzon Aldgate is the closest to me, and I could eat at Cote St. Katharine Docks. But wouldn't you know it, its rating has now plummeted.. sure enough, I wasn't much impressed by the trailer. So I went to Santosh instead, which is an Indian film about a woman who inherits her husband's job as a police officer when he is killed on duty. Looked quite good, and is showing at the Curzon Bloomsbury.

I made it just in time for the 6pm showing. It wasn't selling heavily, so I didn't book - bought my ticket when I got there, and the lady at the counter was perplexed when she couldn't get a member's discount for me! I assured her that it was the same on the app, and this was probably an exempted screening, having a Q+A afterwards. No matter. I took my purchases downstairs, and settled into a comfortable seat, starting on my wine and chocolate honeycomb bites.

I was right - it's good. The Q+A with the director afterwards was, firstly, pleasant to listen to - she has a lovely, soothing voice. It was also very instructive, as she explained to us her motivation in various aspects of the film. Such as her determination to have us constantly looking over the protagonist, Santosh's shoulder. She explained to us that yes, as mentioned a couple of times in the film, it's more a man's name - but also that it means "satisfaction". Upon hearing that, several audience members gasped with revelation, as it does reveal more of the film's intent - as the director laughed, yes, there are bonus points for Indian audiences!

Santosh starts the film in the grief following her husband's untimely death. He was apparently killed in a riot, struck in the head by a stone - nobody knows who threw it. But all his former colleagues praise his integrity. It seems that this was a controversial marriage, for whatever reason - a "love marriage", patently disapproved of by at least his family, who are glad to see the back of her. Her mother-in-law couldn't be nastier, when she visits. She was a housewife, depending on her husband's salary - now, as the policeman who deals with her case explains, her late husband hadn't worked in the service for long, so the pension won't be much - but they do have a government scheme, for dependants of someone who worked for the state, entitling them to take over that person's job. Without better prospects, she accepts - not least because it comes with accommodation, and with her husband's death, she'll have to give up the place they lived in.

Before we know it, she's trained and on the job - and obviously looked down on by everyone. Except the older female officer, who kind of takes her under her wing, as a sort of mentor. And she's soon plunged straight into controversy, with the rape and murder of a local teenage girl from one of the lower castes. This becomes something of a crusade for Santosh, considering the indifference with which her superiors have treated both the father's original missing person complaint, and now the fact of the dead body, which was found in the village well.. and which nobody but Santosh will even touch, to take it to the morgue.

This is a film that deals with a lot - the concept, weird to Western eyes, of a widow inheriting her husband's job: the caste system: the abuse of power. A very telling line, quoted at the end of the film but also in the trailer, reminds us that there are two kinds of "untouchables" in India - the people that nobody wants to touch, and those that they can't touch, because they are too rich or powerful. Lastly, there's the police violence - truly, pretty much every Indian trailer I've come across that involves the police includes at least one scene of the police beating up a suspect. When this came up in the Q+A, the director explained that she felt she should show it, but avoid the "cartoonish" way it's commonly portrayed - which is why, in the film, she lingers on a torture scene; cartoonish, it isn't.

It's a very downbeat film, but the lead character is played with great gravitas, her large-eyed stare taking in everything around her - the people's contempt for the police, the politicians' and businessmen's contempt for pretty much everyone outside their sphere, the police's contempt for suspects, and just about everyone's contempt for the untouchables. As she goes on a learning journey, it's interesting to see where this independent-minded character feels she needs to go..

Yes, strongly recommended. Afterwards, to GBK, first time in a while - and for once, my burger wasn't spilling out the sides! Didn't stop me dropping a big gobbet of relish on myself - but I think it came off cleanly. And certainly, it tasted delicious, after what seemed like ages.. and you know, it hadn't even occurred to me, but it was so handy to shop afterwards! Gee, I miss living around here..

Tomorrow, back at last with Over 40 Living the Life, for dinner at the Greenwich Yacht Club. They've had a few of these lately, but they've always clashed with something.

On Wednesday, more storytelling - this time, back at Folklore Hoxton, tickets through Dice again. Sold out though. And again, I'm eating at the Blues Kitchen Shoreditch.

On Thursday, back with Up in the Cheap Seats for (This is Not a) Happy Room, at The King's Head, Islington. And then I'm back to Ireland for another long weekend.. this being the weekend of Mother's Day. Proactively, I got around to buying a card this evening..