Elippathayam
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''Elippathayam'' (
Translation Translation is the communication of the Meaning (linguistic), meaning of a #Source and target languages, source-language text by means of an Dynamic and formal equivalence, equivalent #Source and target languages, target-language text. The ...
: The Rat Trap) is a 1981
Malayalam film Malayalam cinema is an Indian cinema, Indian film industry of Malayalam-language motion pictures. It is based in Kochi, Kerala, India. The films produced in Malayalam cinema are known for their cinematography and story-driven plots. In 1982, ...
written and directed by
Adoor Gopalakrishnan Adoor Gopalakrishnan (born 3 July 1941) is an Indian film director, script writer, and producer and is regarded as one of the most notable and renowned filmmakers in India. With the release of his first feature film '' Swayamvaram'' (1972), Go ...
. It stars
Karamana Janardanan Nair Karamana Janardanan Nair (25 July 1936 – 24 April 2000) was a Malayalam film actor, who was active during the 1980s and 1990s. He was especially known for his character roles. He won wide acclaim especially for the role of the protagonis ...
, Sharada,
Jalaja Jalaja is an Indian actress in Malayalam films who was active during the 1970s and 1980s. She had won Kerala State Film Award for Best Actress and Filmfare Award for Best Actress in 1981 for the movie Venal directed by Lenin Rajendran. Perso ...
, and Rajam K. Nair. The film documents the feudal life in
Kerala Kerala ( ; ) is a state on the Malabar Coast of India. It was formed on 1 November 1956, following the passage of the States Reorganisation Act, by combining Malayalam-speaking regions of the erstwhile regions of Cochin, Malabar, South ...
at its twilight overshadowed with grief, and a sense of carelessness/avoidance as a form of revolt. The protagonist is disenfranchised and trapped within himself and does not want to - unable to change with the social changes taking place around him. The film premiered at the
1982 Cannes Film Festival The 35th Cannes Film Festival was held from 14 to 26 May 1982. The Palme d'Or was jointly awarded to '' Missing'' by Costa Gavras and ''Yol'' by Şerif Gören and Yılmaz Güney. The festival opened with the 1916 film ''Intolerance'', directed b ...
. It was also screened at the
London Film Festival The BFI London Film Festival is an annual film festival founded in 1957 and held in the United Kingdom, running for two weeks in October with co-operation from the British Film Institute. It screens more than 300 films, documentaries and sho ...
where it won the
Sutherland Trophy The Sutherland Trophy was created in 1958 by the British Film Institute as an annual award for "the maker of the most original and imaginative film introduced at the National Film Theatre during the year". History In 1997, the criteria changed to ...
. It is widely regarded as one of the best Indian films ever made.


Plot

A middle-aged man Unni and his two sisters live in an ancient
tharavad Tharavad () (തറവാട്), is the Malayalam word for the ancestral home of aristocratic families in Kerala, which usually served as the common house for the joint family system practiced in the state. The German linguist Hermann Gunder ...
u (manor) in Kerala. They struggle as the traditional feudal way of life becomes untenable. Eventually, succumbing to the adverse conditions surrounding him, Unni becomes entrapped in his attitudes & ways, helpless like a rat in a trap. The movie's title 'Rat Trap' is a metaphor for a state of oblivion to changes in the external world, such as the disintegration of the feudal system in which some are caught leading to irrelevance & destruction. The film is set in the now derelict manor house of an aristocratic family, that has obviously seen better days. The film begins by showing the audience about a rat problem, and Sridevi taking initiative to catch and drown rats in the house. Unni, the patriarch, in spite of the looming changes in the family's fortune and the times, retains the old attitudes and is portrayed as proud, and incapable of adjusting to the impending downfall of his family and remains oblivious to it. He also does not seem to have any masculine, authoritative characteristics of a feudal patriarch. He is seen spending most of his day in idleness and sleeping. His only activities are reading the newspaper and oiling himself. He is taken care by his sisters and an old agriculture partner & neighbor, Scaria Mappila. His sisters cook, clean, and do all the household chores for him. He seems careless about wanting to get his sisters married, and selfish in order to keep his support system in place. The
Mappila Mappila Muslim, often shortened to Mappila, formerly anglicized as Moplah/Mopla and historically known as Jonaka/Chonaka Mappila or Moors Mopulars/Mouros da Terra and Mouros Malabares, in general, is a member of the Muslim community of same n ...
handles all the financial aspects for Unni following ancient ways. Unni is scared and not bothered when thieves steal crops from his land, even when his younger sister is in a premarital relationship, or if his sister's son steals from him or might be sleeping with a
prostitute Prostitution is the business or practice of engaging in sexual activity in exchange for payment. The definition of "sexual activity" varies, and is often defined as an activity requiring physical contact (e.g., sexual intercourse, non-penet ...
. He does not stand up for himself or for the family, and not ready to face the taunts or the threats of his extended family and the villagers. The middle sister Rajamma is destroyed by the silence of her brother, who does not support her when marriage proposals are brought to him, turning down an offer when he feels it was beneath his family's standards - and remains silent & unable to act while she is ailing, and she eventually dies. The younger sister is unconcerned and elopes without informing anyone. The eldest sister comes in for her share of property but leaves without none, and sends summons through courts. Unni is left alone in the mansion and ends up without support and lives isolated in the dark corners of his room. He does not respond to anyone. In the end some people enter in his house, and he runs out in fear, hits his head and becomes unconscious. They carry him to the pond where Sridevi used to drown rats and throws him in, and he is seen walking out of the pond scared and cold. The people could either be robbers or his brother in law who came to forcefully takeover his property.


Themes and analysis

Gopalakrishnan says in his interview that the movie was inspired by the feudal characteristics of his own family. Silence is a huge trope in the movie, with large swathes of silence in dialogue. The chief theme of the film, according to Gopalakrishnan, is Unni's obliviousness to external realities and how conflict of his worldview creates dysfunctional life for him. The character's mental health is closely compared to of the character in Anton Chekov's
Ward No. 6 "Ward No. 6" (russian: Палата № 6, translit=Palata nomer shest) is an 1892 novella by Anton Chekhov. Publication The story was first published in the No.11, November 1892 issue of '' Russkaya Mysl''. Divided into chapters and with minor ...
. Gopalakrishnan makes use of colors, palettes, and shades in the film to convey themes. Rajamma the middle sister wears blue. Gopalakrishnan said he gave her blue to show her gentleness, submissiveness, and being doomed. She is incapable of imagining how to chart her life outside the patriarchy. She is shown to be submissive, constantly working for others and faithfully looking after her older brother Unni. The eldest sister wears green according to Gopalakrishnan to show earthiness, practicality and intelligence - she has survived within the patriarchy by marriage and bearing children. She worries about wealth and how to hold her power in her husband's family, and her main concern is to claim her share of the family property and income. She is portrayed as intransigent, protective of her children, and as self-centered as her brother. The youngest sister, Sridevi wears red, which Gopalakrishnan says is to symbolize revolt, youth and life. She is very pretty and highly concerned about her looks. She runs away from the family, presumably with a lover. Unni, according to Gopalkrishnan, is given a mixture of all three colours- white. He is stifled with losing the status he grew up with and incapable of negotiating the changing outer world. The feudal characteristics of the patriarchy is shown through the way Unni treats his servants, the various people who visit him and most importantly how he treats his sisters. Especially, Rajamma, who takes care of him. The music is throbbing, incomplete throughout the movie to show the sense of sustained urgency, that the crippling patriarchal structure results in (symbolized by the crippling mansion which is infested with rats). As the rats are caught and drowned; Unni is eventually destroyed by the decline of the feudal way of life.


Cast

*
Karamana Janardanan Nair Karamana Janardanan Nair (25 July 1936 – 24 April 2000) was a Malayalam film actor, who was active during the 1980s and 1990s. He was especially known for his character roles. He won wide acclaim especially for the role of the protagonis ...
as Unni * Sharada as Rajamma *
Jalaja Jalaja is an Indian actress in Malayalam films who was active during the 1970s and 1980s. She had won Kerala State Film Award for Best Actress and Filmfare Award for Best Actress in 1981 for the movie Venal directed by Lenin Rajendran. Perso ...
as Sreedevi * Rajam K Nair as Janamma *prakash


Awards

The film has won the following awards since its release: 1982 Kerala State Film Awards (
India India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the so ...
) * Won - Kerala State Film Award for Best Film - ''Elippathayam'' - Adoor Gopalakrishnan 1982
London Film Festival The BFI London Film Festival is an annual film festival founded in 1957 and held in the United Kingdom, running for two weeks in October with co-operation from the British Film Institute. It screens more than 300 films, documentaries and sho ...
( UK) * Won -
Sutherland Trophy The Sutherland Trophy was created in 1958 by the British Film Institute as an annual award for "the maker of the most original and imaginative film introduced at the National Film Theatre during the year". History In 1997, the criteria changed to ...
- Elippathayam - Adoor Gopalakrishnan 1982
National Film Awards The National Film Awards is the most prominent film award ceremony in India. Established in 1954, it has been administered, along with the International Film Festival of India and the Indian Panorama, by the Indian government's Directorat ...
(
India India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the so ...
) * Won - Silver Lotus Award - Best Audiography * Won - Silver Lotus Award - Best Regional Film (Malayalam) - Elippathayam - Adoor Gopalakrishnan


References


External links

*
Mathrubhumi article
{{National Film Award Best Feature Film Malayalam 1981 films 1981 drama films Films shot in Kollam Films directed by Adoor Gopalakrishnan 1980s Malayalam-language films Films that won the Best Audiography National Film Award Best Malayalam Feature Film National Film Award winners 1982 drama films 1982 films