Rashomon Effect: The Meaning Of Alienation In The Film

Cinematic shots, angles, movement and lighting, deepened the meaning of alienation

The filmmaker has often chosen high angle shots to subordinate the subject, and made the protagonists appear weak, helpless, or small in the society. This approach was effectively used by the director in films like Danny, Ponthan Mada, Alicinte Aneshanam, Bhoomimalayalam, Padam Onnu Oru Vilapam, and Vilapangalkkapuram. Moreover, a differential approach was used by the director in portraying male and female protagonists, and the representatives of the minority communities. This is done by showing these representative protagonists on high angle shots for a longer duration to emphasize the alienation they are experiencing in the society. The women protagonists

This nonlinear technique uses a plot device, which comprises various characters providing alternative, self-serving and contradictory versions of the same event, and leaving it to the viewer to interpret the reality out of it. In the film, Alicinte Aneshanam, the story is about the journey of Alice in search of her missing husband, a college lecturer. During her quest, slowly discovers disturbing aspects of her husband, including his descent from his earlier radicalism into bourgeois degeneracy. In the end, she attains self-realization through the multiple perspectives of her husband’s associates, and gives up her search and decides to take the responsibility of her own life. In this film, director deploys multiple plots within the storyline, which envisages incidents connected with the search of the missing husband, enabling Alice to get a clear picture of her husband, which is totally different from her original

Sometimes, the order of the events is deconstructed in a way that reflects the protagonist’s psychological state or the story's theme. TV Chandran has effectively used this narrative form to bring forth bigger theme ‘concept of social and political alienation’ than what is explained through the normal story line. This fragmented narrative follow the direct connection pattern of the events with elements like parallel plot lines, dream immersions or narrating other stories inside the main plot-line is often used to imitate the structure and recall of human memory. Naturally, this translates into limits on the viewer's choices. Furthermore, nonlinear narratives are often used to keep audiences in the minds of characters who have uncommon ways of thinking or whose capability to process information is impaired. Even though this narrative structure makes the viewer an active participant in the meaning making process, it sometimes disrupts the narrative flow. These interruptions can also adversely affect the communication process, and viewers get lost in the multiple storylines or immersions like dreams, flashback or hallucinations in the films. Considering this contingency in non linear narration, TV Chandran has effectively used Krzysztof Kieslowski’s ‘ retroactive reasoning’ in films like Ponthan Mada, Vilapangalkkapuram, Kathavisheshan, Susanna, Sankaranum