"All We Imagine as Light" Shines with Human Touch

All We Imagine as Light2024

"All We Imagine as Light"(2024) has been selected for the main competition at this year's Cannes Film Festival. In Mumbai, nurse Prabha receives an unexpected gift from her estranged husband, throwing her life into disarray. Her young roommate, Anu, attempts to find a place in the city to be intimate with her boyfriend, but to no avail. One day, the two nurses journeyed to a seaside town. In this mysterious space, their desires can finally be expressed.

City

Mumbai is nominally Indian and South Asia'sIndia and South Asia's financial, commercial, and entertainment capital. The documentary-style opening, set against the backdrop of the night, reveals the protagonist's living environment or her view of Mumbai, narrated with a sense of fatalism. The "city" could be any city, but it's Mumbai, closely tied to the creator herself, as she was born there. Payal Kapadia, an Indian female filmmaker, made her debut feature, "A Night of Knowing Nothing" (2021). This documentary was selected for the 74th Cannes Film Festival's Directors' Fortnight and won the Golden Eye for Best Documentary. "All We Imagine as Light" might "document" her vision of Mumbai.

Prabha, a married woman, and her young roommate, Anu, are both nurses at a local hospital. Like her peers, Anu isn't more conservative despite the country's traditions. She daydreams at work, can't save money, and doesn't know where it goes. She jokes with male doctors, unaware her actions might invite gossip or worse consequences. She relies on the older, more mature Prabha. Their relationship is sisterly. Prabha, long separated from her husband since early marriage, seeks emotional solace in this unkind, dull, and dirty city. Though older, she is as pure and innocent in love as Anu but more bound by traditional customs.

Conflict is inevitable. The voiceovers on the city's rainy nights speak of disgust for the city, weariness, and lament for fate, revealing restless hearts. These feelings are unspoken. When affection from two men arrives simultaneously, one being the gift from her estranged husband, Prabha makes a choice that night, even if only in her mind. Beautiful verses float through the city's night and rain. Anu's text messages with her boyfriend, displayed in orange subtitles across the screen, cut through Mumbai's night, showing her unique vitality. Her segments are lighthearted and playful, with cheerful piano notes. Despite her struggles with traditional customs, Anu confides in Prabha, who has never experienced it, of her desire for love and freedom.

The familiar city, their survival ground, becomes their cage, surrounded by "caring" friends. They get a chance to leave temporarily, provided by another nurse at their hospital. This older nurse felt rejected by the city she tried to root in, prompting their seaside journey.

Seaside

The seaside evokes thoughts of "Roma" (2018), with structure, protagonists, and conclusion similarities. The seaside town becomes a place witnessing female friendship.

This place, away from the city's hustle and familiar surroundings, offers a chance to open up, even briefly. The seaside's isolation and inclusion—isolated by the sea yet with a road to the city—creates unique scenes. The sea provides essentials, capturing the community's lifestyle. The inclusion stems from the community's mutual reliance.

At the beach, Prabha's actions, initially worrying the audience, lead to a humorous misunderstanding, reflecting old customs and fears. This misunderstanding pushes her to break free. A vivid imagination blurs reality and the inner world, presenting an impossible dialogue to Prabha, helping her release long-held plans and avoiding actual conflicts. Prabha's liberation allows Anu's love to be openly displayed.

Ultimately, the three women find inner peace, from initial release to quietly sitting at the beach facing darkness. We hope Prabha and Anu maintain their newfound freedom back in the city.

The film excels in calm storytelling, subtlety, and avoiding overt drama, showing an auteur's maturity. Focused on "people," it's distinct from recent Indian commercial hits. However, the voiceover use feels excessive, making the audience aware of its overuse. The narration complements the visuals, leaning towards realism, like a documentary, creating a slight disconnection between subjective emotions and objective environments. Like the bright subtitles, this raw, unrefined style is precious in an auteur's journey, as maturity might lead to over-polished work. This film, her first narrative feature, marks her debut in Cannes' main competition.