50/26
In Mumbai, nurse Prabha’s routine is disrupted when she receives an unexpected gift from her estranged husband. Her younger roommate Anu tries unsuccessfully to find a place in the city where she can spend time with her boyfriend. Director Payal Kapadia and the cast of All We Imagine As Light come together to share their moving reactions from Cannes and beyond. !. The first Indian film of 2024 Winner of the prestigious Grand Prix at the Cannes Film Festival, this film dramatizes the many challenges faced by single women in Mumbai and highlights their resilience. All the women here are nurses in the same hospital, but that’s where the similarities end, as each of them has their own problems and, shall we say, solutions. Desire, fear, regret and patience are the emotions that constantly shift as the story quietly unfolds. Perhaps the greatest strength is the script, which offers incredibly rich and thoughtful dialogues between the characters. The action of the plot seems to be enough to provide a basis for conversations in which people are given the space to be incredibly honest and unbiased with each other, even when they are lying or posing. The acting is uniformly excellent and elevates the script, with no false notes, though there are some tantalizing loose ends. The cinematography and editing also do a pretty good job of creating a reflective and somewhat detached atmosphere, complemented by the quiet intensity of the character interactions. The detachment is reinforced at several points where the film seems to have documentary elements, or really does. I wasn’t always a fan of the music and the way it was named, but that’s a minor quibble that many may not hear. I take issue with another reviewer’s claim that this film was intended to be “award bait.” In my opinion, this film has too much sincerity and honesty to be called cynical or manipulative—certainly no more so than any other film that tries to tell an important story in an evocative and beautiful way. And this film takes a lot of risks that I can’t imagine succeeding in an increasingly sectarian and puritanical India. I highly recommend All We Imagine as Light.
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