The World Unseen (2007)

If someone has already watched a Shamim Sarif's movie, he could see many differences. They are the result of director's evolution in movie techniques. The color of scene is so vibrant, the dialogue is deeper and the end is something that you can't imagine. What is still the same is her passion for the historical background: South Africa at the beginning of Apartheid era. From the story you can do many reflections: first of all about the racism not only between black and white, but also between mulatto and black. There is another important theme: the homosexuality, a relevant issue in the contemporary society, which it is still considered a taboo. This film is very nice, it is better to watch alone. tin this movie the actress are also more mature in they way they act than in the previous one.

For anyone looking for an innovative or breakthrough film here, look elsewhere. This is a formula film with a capital F and you can predict its progress in the first 3 minutes or so. Sometimes that is OK if the ride is exceptional. This time it is so-so. The upside: Good if standard cinematography/camera work and editing, believable sets. The subplot with the white bank employee and the mixed race cafe owner is more interesting and suspenseful than the main plot. The downside: This comes from just how much this film relies on cookie-counter elements. No white or Indian male (save one who appears briefly) or conventionally minded woman is allowed to have a redeemable feature. They are quickly established as people that you will not have sympathy for. Likewise the setting in institutionally suppressive South Africa 1952 is just sooo perfect to inject a touch of brutality and righteous indignation and a hint of a political edge to a very tired story line. This sets the stage for the predatory/touristy lesbian tomboy to enlighten the frustrated housewife. Yawn.... Then we get the blues-jazz piano intro, some poetry, endless, furtive longing glances, the questioning of values and life goals, the symbolic-suggestive one liners, the moments of crisis, the resolution and the folk song over the ending credits. All formula. Been there, done that.

Before I Can't Think Straight, there was this film. Both were written and directed by Shamim Sarif, and starred Lisa Ray and Sheetal Sheth - a combination that assures excellence.In a background of oppression in South Africa in 1952, we view a struggle for personal freedom.Amina (Sheth) wants to be free to live her life as a lesbian without bigotry. Miriam (Ray) wants to be free of a demanding and philandering husband. Jacon (David Dennis), a half-black wants to love a white woman (Grethe Fox).We can only assume that it works out for two of the three characters, and that will have to satisfy us.

I also saw this at the Toronto Inter. Film Festival. I came to see Lisa Ray, who was actually at the screening along with the director. What made the movie for me was Sheetal Sheth. Yes, she had a more flamboyant part than Lisa, so she had more to work with, but she blew me away. Where has she been hiding? Unbelievably gorgeous.As for the movie itself, it reinforces the theme found in Fire--don't beat up your wife or she'll turn Lesbian on you. If Indians really beat up their wives like this, they deserve to have them turn Lesbian.The police were just over the top--it made those sections almost comical, not menacing. More subtlety would have gone a long way.The restaurant looked way too much like a set, and it would have been a lot more effective if all the blacks/coloreds/Indians that were supposed to be beaten down actually looked beaten down once in a while. They looked way too happy most of the time.But these were minor quibbles. Lisa and Sheetal alone make this a good movie, whether you are Lesbian or straight.