“Get me a fresh suicide” were the words of Nancy the “foreigner”, a character whose role inspires many thought provoking questions and has many implications. Nancy is an American journalist documenting farmer suicides in India with the help of her translator, Anurag. Anurag finds himself in a situation where he is on the borderline of his morality. Nancy has a different point of view. She sees the tragedy of suicide with disregard. She sees the situation as one that is “interesting” and can be exploited. In her mind, Indian culture is not worthy of interest. In contrast to the luxurious urban lifestyle that she is accustomed to, she refers to the villages of the country as “This India” which in her eyes is a distasteful experience. Her disgust becomes even more apparent as the film progresses. The context of a suicide investigation has been used purposefully to bring out many such differences between the cultural dispositions of the two characters.
The first shot of the film, a high angle long shot of a car rolling through the fields of rural India, provides a background against which the director’s intentions can play out. The characters are then introduced through the use of close-up camera shots inside the vehicle. The vehicle stops at a hotel and Anurag presents newspaper cuttings of farmer suicides in the area to Nancy. It is made quite clear through Anurag’s expressions that the impact of investigating suicides is taking its toll on him. Nancy in contrast to this remains calm and cold, almost unaffected by the graphic details of the suicide cases she is being presented with. She nonchalantly dismisses his efforts and asks him for something more recent. The scene ends with a close up shot of his disheartened expression.
The following scene shows Nancy seated at
the table of a restaurant while Anurag approaches her with the “fresh suicide
case” she had asked for. Anurag stands while she examines the case. Nancy
sitting at the table with Anurag standing beside her symbolically represents
the superior inferior relationship that is being subtly established throughout
the film. He then proceeds to sit awkwardly as she finishes her lunch.
The two characters then set out with the driver for the village where the suicide had taken place. The contact that they pick up on the way has been used by the director to make the differences between the contrasting cultures more apparent. The contact, Sanjay, puts his palms together and greets the group with “Namaste”, a gesture exclusive to Indian culture. The driver and Anurag reply with the same warmth while Nancy utters a disinterested “Hi”. Anurag and Sanjay soon discover that a ten day crematory ceremony is in progress at the house where the suicide had taken place. In Indian tradition, this ceremony is revered and considered essential. The customs and rules that are followed during the ten day period have a sacredness that is valued by our culture. The circumstance that Anurag is now confronted with is a difficult one. He must either ignore his morality and disrupt the ceremony or lose his job as a translator. Nancy avoids understanding the situation because she sees it from outside its cultural context and is only concerned with how she can best exploit it for her own purposes.
When they arrive at the village, the brother of the suicide victim is introduced through the use of an extreme close-up shot where the intensity in his eyes explicate the loss he has suffered. “I am ashamed to call him my brother...He left his wife and kids to me”. Oblivious to his pain, Nancy asks if she can take pictures. The brother at this point is so appalled that he sarcastically suggests hanging himself for her pictures. Reluctantly, he accepts. Nancy insists on meeting the widow. Even though the widow has not spoken since the incident of her husband’s suicide, Nancy is relentless.
As Nancy and Anurag enter the widow’s
house, the shots are constructed in such a way that Anurag’s internal conflict
seems set to flare up. The conflict between the two characters and their
cultures is symbolically represented in the shot where Anurag respectfully
removes his shoes while Nancy marches straight in to the widow’s house. The
lighting of the next shot reflects the dark and desolate mood of the widow who
is shown sitting with a grave and hopeless expression on her face. At this
point, Anurag’s emotions surface and he repeatedly asks Nancy to stop what she
is doing. When she ignores his pleas, he gets up and leaves while she continues
to take pictures of the widowed woman.
The three characters Anurag, Nancy and Sanjay leave the village after greeting everyone with the same respectful “Namaste”. Nancy does not greet anyone but instead remains silent, satisfied with the pictures that she has taken, unmoved by the means and consequences of her actions. This difference in opinions becomes apparent during the drive back from the village. Anurag argues that what they have done was wrong. Nancy disagrees and asserts in her usual nonchalant manner that they had done nothing wrong and that she simply shows people the truth. The truth in this context is just one version of the events that occurred and this version of truth is constructed with all the limitations of Nancy’s condescending outlook. The movie conveys that Anurag’s truth is far more substantial as it includes the cultural baggage and protocol that Nancy chose to ignore.
Anurag is now desperate. The guilt that he feels gives him no peace. The close-up shot of him in the shower reveals the conflict he his facing through his facial expressions. He packs up all his bags in the hotel room in anger and prepares to leave his job as Nancy’s translator behind. He knocks on her door. The anger and regret that was surging through him a moment ago subsides when she opens the door and stares arrogantly at him. He slips back into his regular submissive role as her translator, forgets his intentions to leave, and instead asks what time they are scheduled to leave the next morning.
The film “Fresh Suicide” uses its characters in ways that reveal many assumptions and things that are otherwise taken for granted. It creates circumstances through which the audience is urged to question their established points of view. It shows us how people have a sense of cultural pride that borders on superiority and this governs all their interactions with people from different backgrounds. They assume that their culture is supreme and take no interest in understanding an alternative belief. It also shows us how people carry on and slip back into their regular habit patterns in spite of being twisted by their own guilt. This can be inferred from the last scene of the movie where Anurag submits to Nancy the way he always has. The movie also makes us realize that people tend to remain in their state of submission instead of trying to fight and question the authority that controls them.
By. Hridaynag Kooretti
LE-3
60307
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