The Loneliness We Share
| Title: | All We Imagine as Light |
| Watchable: |  |
| Director: | Payal Kapadia |
| Writer: | Payal Kapadia |
| Lead Performances: | Kani Kusruti (Prabha), Divya Prabha (Anu), Chhaya Kadam (Parvaty |
The moment Prabha holds her German rice cooker on her apartment floor while her absent husband remains abroad I experienced a deep change in my body. The particular pain she experiences stems from holding onto an object which represents the only tangible connection to a relationship that never truly existed.
The film "All We Imagine as Light" by Payal Kapadia shows three Mumbai women who face different social isolation experiences. The nurse Prabha lost her arranged marriage when her husband departed for work in a foreign country. Anu spends her time with her Muslim boyfriend in parking garages and rain-soaked parks because these locations provide her with the only space to be together. Parvaty fights against developers who seek to demolish her home while she fights against billboards displaying "Class Is a Privilege Reserved for the Privileged" by throwing stones at them.
The city of Mumbai appears as a main character throughout the film because it exists as a living entity that surrounds the three women. The city accepts all new residents who discuss how everything in life exists only for a short time. The movie starts with a voice that tells viewers to understand the concept of impermanence. The process of adapting to something which continuously steals parts of your being remains unclear. The camera shows the city at night through its use of distant window lights which create a sense of people being alone in their own spaces.
The film demonstrates through Kapadia's direction that people develop feelings of loneliness when they engage with other people. The older woman Prabha watches Anu choose love over arranged marriage because she feels envious of this younger woman's ability to make her own decisions. The film transforms into a new narrative when the women assist Parvaty in her return to her coastal hometown. People entering the city create waves of human traffic which produce ocean-like breezes that create spaces for people to pause and miss their previous lives.
The characters discover new life possibilities after they depart from the city. The title shows our power to generate brightness from the surrounding blackness. Our minds create light because we only have darkness to work with and our imagination becomes our only source of hope.
The film presents magical realism during its final scenes when Prabha saves a drowning man at the beach and enters a space which could be a dream or an alternate reality. The experience leads her to achieve a form of resolution which allows her to let go of something vital.
The three women experience similar life events through natural occurrences which link their stories without needing artificial plot devices or staged dramatic moments. Kapadia shows that women establish sisterhood through their mutual awareness of their shared difficulties instead of requiring family ties or intense friendships. The two women rest in their separate beds while rain pounds against the windows as they experience both isolation and unity at the same time.
The movie ends with a peaceful moment showing someone dancing in the distance as life continues to move forward through all difficulties. The film presents an enigmatic conclusion between these two statements. Our life navigation remains the most genuine aspect of human existence because we generate light by sharing our experiences during times of darkness.
