''Gamperaliya'' is a 1963

Sri Lanka Sri Lanka (, ; si, ශ්‍රී ලංකා, Śrī Laṅkā, translit-std=ISO (); ta, இலங்கை, Ilaṅkai, translit-std=ISO ()), formerly known as Ceylon and officially the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka, is an ...

drama film In film and television, drama is a category or genre of narrative fiction (or semi-fiction) intended to be more serious than humorous in tone. Drama of this kind is usually qualified with additional terms that specify its particular super-g ...

directed by Dr.

Lester James Peries Sri Lankabhimanya Lester James Peries ( Sinhala: ශ්‍රී ලංකාභිමාන්‍ය ලෙස්ටර් ජේම්ස් පීරිස්; 5 April 1919 – 29 April 2018) was a Sri Lankan film director, screenwriter, a ...

screenplay, dialogue and the script by

Reggie Siriwardena Kala Keerthi Regi Siriwardena (15 May 1922 – 15 December 2004) was a Sri Lankan academic, journalist, poet, writer, playwright and writer of screenplays. Early life and education Reginald Siriwardena (known as 'Reggie' until the 1980s) was ...

and

Tissa Abeysekara Deshanabu Tissa Ananda Abeysekara (7 May 1939 – 18 April 2009 as තිස්ස අබේසේකර) was a Sri Lankan filmmaker, actor, writer, director, screen playwright and political activist. He is better known as a script writer for th ...

; it was adapted from the

novel A novel is a relatively long work of narrative fiction, typically written in prose and published as a book. The present English word for a long work of prose fiction derives from the for "new", "news", or "short story of something new", itsel ...

'' Gamperaliya'' by

Martin Wickramasinghe Lama Hewage Don Martin Wickramasinghe, (commonly known as Martin Wickramasinghe) ( si, මාර්ටින් වික්‍රමසිංහ) (29 May 1890 – 23 July 1976) was a Sri Lankan journalist and author. His books have been tran ...

. The film starts ensemble cast of several eras together including,

Henry Jayasena Kala Keerthi Dr Bastian Koralage Henry Rudrigo Jayasena (born 6 July 1931 – died 11 November 2009 as Sinhala: හෙන්රි ජයසේන), popularly known as Henry Jayasena, was an actor in Sri Lankan cinema, theater and televisi ...

Punya Heendeniya Heendeniya Vidanaralalage Punya Heendeniya (born 31 July 1938: si, පුණ්‍යා හීන්දෙනිය), popularly as Punya Heendeniya, is a former Sri Lankan cinema actress who currently resides in England. Personal life Punya He ...

Wickrama Bogoda Bogoda Appuhamilage Don Wickrama Bogoda ( si, බෝගොඩ අප්පුහාමිලාගේ දොන් වික්‍රම බෝගොඩ; June 16, 1940 – January 15, 2013), popularly as Wickrama Bogoda, was an actor in Sri Lanka ...

Trilicia Gunawardena Trelicia Abeykoon (born 14 October 1934 – died 26 April 1999 as ට්‍රිලිෂියා ගුණවර්ධන)), popularly as Trelicia or Trilicia Gunawardena, was an actress in Sri Lankan cinema, theater and television as well a ...

and

Gamini Fonseka Kala Keerthi Sembuge Gamini Shelton Fonseka () (21 March 1936 - 30 September 2004 as ගාමිණී ෆොන්සේකා), was a Sri Lankan film actor, film director and politician. Often considered as the Greatest Actor in the Sinhal ...

. The film was groundbreaking in

Sinhala cinema Sri Lankan cinema encompasses the Sri Lankan film industry. It is a fledgling industry that has struggled to find a footing since its inauguration in 1947 with '' Kadawunu Poronduwa'' produced by S. M. Nayagam of Chitra Kala Movietone. Sri Lanka ...

shot entirely outside of a studio using one lamp and hand held lights for lighting. The movie exemplifies Peries's use of family tensions to symbolize wider issues. The film was internationally acclaimed, receiving the Golden Peacock (Best Film) at the

3rd International Film Festival of India The 3rd International Film Festival of India was held from 8 to 21 January 1965 in New Delhi. The third edition was the first competitive film festival ever held in India inaugurated by the then President of India Sarvepalli Radhakrishnan. The f ...

and the Golden Head of Palenque in

Mexico Mexico (Spanish: México), officially the United Mexican States, is a country in the southern portion of North America. It is bordered to the north by the United States; to the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; to the southeast by Guatema ...

. The film won the

Best Director Best Director is the name of an award which is presented by various film, television and theatre organizations, festivals, and people's awards. It may refer to: Film awards * AACTA Award for Best Direction * Academy Award for Best Director * BA ...

and Best Film awards at the 1965 Sarasaviya Film Festival. It was entered into the

3rd Moscow International Film Festival The 3rd Moscow International Film Festival was held from 7 to 21 July 1963. The Grand Prix was awarded to the Italian film ''8½'' directed by Federico Fellini. Jury * Grigori Chukhrai (USSR - President of the Jury) * Shaken Ajmanov (USSR) * S ...

. It was shown in Cannes Film festival in May 2008 under the French title ''Changement au village'' under section 'Restored Classics'. Subsequently it went out on general release in French cinemas. In 2001, the film was identified as a world heritage by Cinema Thek Institute (CTI) in France.

Plot

Piyal (

) is a handsome young teacher who is hired to teach English to Nanda (

), a member of an eminent family. They fall in love, but can not marry because Piyal is of a lower class. Nanda's parents instead push her into a marriage with Jinadasa (

), who is of the same class as them. With economic downturn in Sri Lanka, both families lose their status and Jinadasa leaves to try to make a better life for himself; he never achieves his goal and dies penniless. Piyal and Nanda can now finally come together. They have changed; the earlier idyllic nature of their relationship is not recaptured.

Cast

Production

Lester James Peries admired Martin Wickramsinghe's work and was inspired to attempt an adaption of Wickramasinghe's novel ''Gamperaliya'' into a movie in 1964. Wickremasinghe was initially reluctant thinking it wouldn't make a good movie, but eventually agreed. Scholar Regie Siriwardene was asked to script the film.

Reception

Playwright

Ediriweera Sarachchandra Dr. Veditantirige Eustace Reginold de Silva (later became Veditantirige Ediriweera Ranjitha Sarachchandra) (3 June 1914 – 16 August 1996; Sinhala: මහාචාර්ය එදිරිවීර සරච්චන්ද්‍ර), popularly ...

championed the film writing "At last a Sinhalese film has been made which we could show the world without having to hide our heads in shame. I want to say a great film has been made of a great novel." British director

Lindsay Anderson Lindsay Gordon Anderson (17 April 1923 – 30 August 1994) was a British feature-film, theatre and documentary director, film critic, and leading-light of the Free Cinema movement and of the British New Wave. He is most widely remembered for h ...

hailed "its elegiac, near-Chekhovian grace."

References

External links

* * {{IFFI Best Film Award, state=collapsed 1963 films 1963 drama films Films directed by Lester James Peries 1960s Sinhala-language films Films based on Sri Lankan novels Films set in Sri Lanka (1948–present) Films based on works by Martin Wickramasinghe Sri Lankan drama films