Director Pa Ranjith has said that film analysis should be an integral part of the movie-watching experience in order to achieve a deeper understanding about the subject.
Speaking at the launch of Pada Petti‘s ‘cinematography’ special edition at Koogai Library on Saturday, Ranjith opined that it is important to have a study conducted on every film as it helps the audience look beyond the story. He said, “Until I entered college, I was not interested in movies. But attending film festivals and watching world cinema changed me completely. However, I did not understand many good films because I didn’t know the language. There are films like Bicycle Thieves which will take you to a different world when you read about it, so it’s important to listen to film analysts.”
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Talking about the film Thevar Magan, he said, “When I first watched Thevar Magan, I thought it was a wonderful film with very good screenplay. But what helped us understand the films better when we decided to get into cinema were the writings about the film. Analysts explained the land issue, the way it affected people, and discussed other minutiae. So after reading those articles, we understood the language, the subtext, and how the movie was perceived by the society. Since I was born in a northern district, I did not know much about the conflicts in the southern districts; the analyses helped me understand the issues better.”
Koogai Library was launched by Ranjith’s Neelam Cultural Centre a couple of months ago, with the aim of being a space where aspiring directors have access to books that detail the minutiae of filmmaking, and also host discussions and debates on cinema. A discussion on the Vijay Sethupathi-Trisha starrer 96 was held in October.
The library is currently open to the members of Neelam Cultural Centre only.