All We Imagine as Light

The second movie in my double feature at the Broadway yesterday was All We Imagine as Light.  I have been eager to see it ever since it won the Grand Jury Prize at Cannes this year and it did not disappoint because I loved it.  Prabha (Kani Kusruti) and Anu (Divya Prabha) are nurses who live together in Mumbai.  Prabha is very reserved and conscientious so, even though she is lonely because her husband abandoned her to work in Germany immediately after their arranged marriage and has not contacted her for over a year, she refuses the advances of a doctor (Azees Nedumangad) at the hospital.  Anu is more uninhibited and is having a secret affair with a Muslim named Shiaz (Hridhu Haroon) even though she worries that her parents and Prabha will disapprove.  Parvaty (Chhaya Kadam) is a cook at the hospital who is being forced out of her apartment by greedy property developers who want to demolish it to build a skyscraper.  When she decides to move back to her village on the coast, Prabha and Anu travel with her to help her get settled and both of them find release.  As much as I loved the theme of female empowerment, I was very intrigued by the examination of loneliness and how people often feel alone while living in a large city full of people.  This is portrayed with gorgeous shots of Mumbai at night with voice over narration from anonymous inhabitants about life in the city along with many shots featuring the women traveling alone in a crowd on public transportation.  The shift from the darkness of the city to the dazzling light of the village is striking (the cinematography in both locations is beautiful) and the scenes of revelation for both of the women are incredibly compelling (I was blown away by the magical realism in one and moved by the sensuality in the other).  The performances are subtle and the pacing is slow but it is still very powerful and I cannot recommend it enough!