Iyobinte Pusthakam

Set in the middle of the twentieth century in the High Range, the mountainous region of Kerala. Iyob rose by working for an English plantation owner and then took the land for himself. He has three sons and each is bad in a different way from his father. The colonists leave, India becomes independent, and the balance of power in the district changes. The youngest son, Aloshy, had gone to sea; when he comes back he sees what the family has become, and he has a woman with him. Amal Neerad directs. Fahadh Faasil plays Aloshy and Lal plays Iyob, with Jayasurya, Padmapriya and Isha Sharvani in the cast. The title refers to the Book of Job and the narrative is built as a family epic: property, inheritance and a curse. Amal Neerad came from advertising and cinematography, and the visual language shows it. Slow motion, high contrast light and stylised fights stand in front of the narrative. The historical background is real: the plantation economy in Kerala, the fight over land after colonial rule and the communist movement then gaining strength are inside the narrative. Fahadh Faasil was rising fast in Malayalam cinema at the time and the part counts among the turning points of his career. The weakness is the script; the narrative has many strands, some characters go unfinished, and the style at times gets in front of the story. Who it is for: viewers who like Malayalam period film and visually ambitious work. Who it is not for: the violence is heavy, the women have limited function, and it runs long.