Shadow Kill

The film is set in Travancore in the nineteen forties. Kaliyappan is the executioner of the palace. He is an old man and a tired one. He takes refuge in drink. He prays at the temple. He gives the ash of the rope to the sick as medicine. The village has given him that standing. His conscience is not at rest. He believes the last man he hanged was innocent. The thought does not leave him. One day a new order comes from the palace. He is called for the sentence of a prisoner. He has to go to the prison. The journey there is long. His son goes with him. The young man has his own view of what his father does. Oduvil Unnikrishnan and Sukumari appear in the ninety minute film, an Indian production Adoor Gopalakrishnan finished in 2002.