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| Director Adoor Gopalakrishnan |
Shadow Kill, which is also known as Nizhalkkuthu, is my introduction to the films of Adoor Gopalakrishnan and a reminder of how much I am at sea in films from other cultures. I don't know, for example, how much of the story is based on actual criminal justice practices in pre-independence India and how much is fictional. Taken in itself, the film is a fable about guilt and justice, centered in the practice of capital punishment. It takes place in the kingdom of Travancore, where Kaliyappan (Oduvil Unnikrishnan) is the official executioner. He's a man wracked with guilt for what he has done in his professional capacity, particularly the fear that he has put innocent people to death. As the hangman, he is presented the rope used after each execution, which he burns and consecrates to the goddess Kali to be used as holy ash in the treatment of the sick. His guilt has driven him to drink, but he's not the only one who feels cursed by the administration of capital punishment: The authorities, fearing divine retribution, have made it a practice to pardon all those condemned to death, but for the pardon to arrive only after the execution has taken place. Much of the film consists of a story told by the jailer as a drunken Kaliyappan struggles to stay awake before an execution: It deal with the rape and murder of a girl that has been wrongly pinned on her lover. When the jailer reveals that it's the man he's about to execute, Kaliyappan collapses, but his son, a follower of Gandhi in the struggle for India's freedom, dutifully takes his place as executioner. Gopalakrishnan provides no explanation for the son's act, leaving viewers to explicate the story's more on their own. It's beautifully filmed and Unnikrishnan's performance is excellent, but I wonder how much of my puzzled reaction to the movie comes from my own ignorance of Indian culture and history.
