'Whispers Of Fire & Water' Review: Beyond Being Just a Cinematic Masterpiece

Sound is central to writer-director Lubdak Chatterjee’s long-running drama “Whispers of Fire and Water.” It takes a variety of materials from shock to height as it flows through the images, colors, and ideas that make up the movie.

A beautiful image of use and action, the film is a personal yet universal attempt to weave its way through both landscapes and mines for visible and audible vibrations that testify to the nature of the rich soils being absorbed Dry.

Despite the sound of decay, deprivation, and despair, the film is an understated but poignant commentary on the plight of the exploited and marginalized, even though almost all of it has been wiped off the map because mining services have also consumed people or places. and natural resources.

The visual and auditory performances that makeup “Whispers of Fire and Water” profoundly and disturbs the film’s protagonist, Jariya, a Kolkata-based sound installation artist working for tourism in the Jharkhand coal mines.

As coal mining continues, underground fires have been burning here for over a century, endangering the lives and families of workers (who work in very dangerous conditions) and residents (who inhale toxic fumes and suffer serious respiratory injuries). .

City-raised Shiva (Sagnik Mukherjee) is confused by what he sees in hell, one of India’s largest caves, where lungs are as normal as the ground sinks. Shiva hears about the murder, missing man and other terrible events. He also has a suspicious encounter with a disgruntled police officer (Deepak Halder).

Nearly scorched by disappointment, he returned to a tribal village about an hour and a half away with Deepak (Amit Saha), a migrant miner. In the lush forest of vibrant colors and aquatic elements, Shiva’s urban sensibility collides with Deepak’s rustic purity.

The sound of the forest, the roar of wild animals, the color of the soil, the rustle of trees and the shimmering Sohrai murals on the walls of the house set the stage for the melancholy conversation that follows.

Of course, Deepak is poor like Jaria’s miners because of the development in his village – he is one of them.

He asks the question that unfolds his story: Why doesn’t the light come to us and why should we seek it?

Shiva knows the answer.Thanks to Deepak’s direct requests and condolences (which he doesn’t say much), he begins to see himself and the world around him with new eyes, reconsidering the building blocks of human development and health.

The dirt road through the forest is attractive but also dangerous. In one scene, Deepak drives Shiva away when he sees a wild animal nearby.

In another picture, a Central Police officer asks Shiva a series of questions before telling him to be careful in the forest. For those who live in a foreign environment in the city, this warning is not true.

The film compares the flames to the ever-flowing water – one that is destructive, the other hopes for renewal.

Looking at the forest environment from comfort, it shows the impact of wealth conflict as a force that can change society’s view and interpretation of the sources and products of growth.

Whispers of Fire and Water from Me Me Lamb Films Bauddhayan Mukherji and Monalisa Mukherji (Manikbabur Megh, premiered at Tallinn Dark Night Film Festival 2021) and Niv Art Movies (Sexy Durga, produced by Hivos) Shaji Mathew and Aruna Anand Mathew. Kaplan Award at the Rotterdam International Film Festival 2017).

Whispers of Fire and Water, mostly Hindi and some Bengali and English dialogue, is a bad movie, written, directed, and edited by one man, but obviously drawing on the work of experts, including composer Ron Bosch.

Lubdhak Chatterjee’s adaptation of the recently released Bengali movie Niharika: In the Mist dives into the gap between hell and shaky hope.

This is an essential piece of tactile art that will reward viewers with the patience to relate to its depth.