I'll be dead honest here. Going in, I had assumed this to be another hagiography with its half-baked pseudo bs ideas (we discussed the stereotype in this episode) punched alongside melodramatic patriotic songs and overtly sentimental portraits. Instead what we get is a tremendous amount of good filmmaking that quietly observes and tries to understand the protagonist's headspace. The locations, the cast, the performance all show signs of maturity- one that's steeped in real-world problems and crises of a definitive time in our past.

It's raw and gritty, both in terms of its lacquering production design and depicting one of the most heinous crimes in history. The visceral approach tbh, choked me with an intense amount of curdled pain- the stifled cries, the muffled voices, the pool of blood all of it conglomerating into a cohesive yet factual look at our yesterday.

This is a film that will invite a response, not a reaction, which is what good films do. Since it's a look back on our collective past, its genealogy and our shared truth will bide us to reflect on our wounds. It's historical in nature, but it is a good thing to know one's history. And what better medium than cinema to tackle the genre, where a multiplicity of narratives and theories all find equal space in a canvas larger than life!