Elippathayam (The Rat Trap)

Year : 1981
Language : Malayalam
Country : India
Director : Adoor Gopalkrishnan

Elippathayam was Adoor's 3rd movie but the first one which brought him wide national and intenational acclaim. I started watching the movie with very high expectations given the reputation it carries, and ended with more than impressed. Actually its a very haunting movie.

The film is based in rural kerala in a feudal family which is almost at the end of its feudal existence. It consists of Unni the last male heir and his two sisters Rajamma and Sridevi. All of them are coming to terms with the change that has happened at the end of feudal system. Unni doesn't do any work and lives in the small cocoon of his own inner world. Rajamma takes care of the entire household and works virtually like a slave without the slightest care of herself. Younger sister, Sridevi is rebellious and assertive.

Adoor's own words sum up best what the movie is about :

The film is trying to explore the question, what is being? It is an incisive examination of what constitutes an individual. In close scrutiny, a person is made out of his actions and interactions. It is always a give and take. For Unni, it is always takes and no gives, while for his sister Rajamma it is always giving and no taking. There is no individual sans the society, which is what ultimately gets clear.

Read here Adoor's description of the film.
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