Arimpara

I recently returned from India, including two weeks in the state of Kerala, where the film was shot. The director does an excellent job of capturing the timeless tranquility or rural scenes in India. Traditional ways seem sufficient in a land of such agricultural abundance, and this is one of the issues the first half of the film tackles as it follows a small landowner and farm from one idyllic scene to the next. His life seems almost perfect. His wife is beautiful and supportive, his young son is intelligent and interested, his hired help cares for him like a father. But a blemish marks the scene, in the form of a growing mole on his chin. While he knows a modern treatment is available, he decides to endure the mole while he tries traditional methods. It's not at all clear what the significance of the mole is, but he chooses to approach its mysteries philosophically, with piety.

The first half of the movie is filled with the charms of Indian rural life. The second half is primarily shot in featureless small rooms and features the father's huge mole, which finally takes on a life of its own and even kills his friends.

The film is kind of like the bible's book of Job, in which the devil tests the faith of a pious man by giving him horribly diseased skin. But this is India, after all, and neatly summarized moral tales are few and far between. For me, the mole also represented the problems of India, so apparent in modern times, but . I won't give away the ending, except to say that it's a surprise and doesn't lend itself to moral lesson plans.

I enjoyed the movie, especially Keralan scenes in the first half.