“The Other Half” by Lalith Rathnayake

Director Lalith Rathnayake takes his talent and his courage to tell a delicate and dramatic story from his country. The poisoning due to agricultural chemicals is the background to the tender and profound story of Ruwansiri, a young boy committed to reconciling his life with his father’s death. The director chooses a very poetic and delicate register to follow the inner journey of the protagonist, in search of his personal happiness. It is exciting to see how the cinematographic style of the work fits perfectly into the feelings staged. In this direction, it is necessary to give a tribute to cinematography, totally turned into warm colors, which contribute to creating a great connection with the world in which Ruwansiri lives, a wild place, which lives thanks to the nature that surrounds it. And so, this link between the nature and life of people becomes even more powerful, to the point that we cannot fail to empathize with the story of the protagonist.

The script surrounds the boy with memorable characters who, sometimes whispering, sometimes singing, give him the opportunity to build his personal identity one brick at a time, which will emerge in the end, like a soft and delicate explosion. Through the eyes of a child the events of an entire country unfold, life and death alternate, and the music, in the middle, seems to lead us closer to the solution, at least in an attempt to heal our soul. The camera slides smoothly between corridors and windows, and falls on the protagonist as the most indulgent of looks, in an evident act of love towards the frame. Memorable cinematic foreshortenings embellish this film, giving it an incredible artistic depth, as well as an undoubted social value.

Thanks to the poetic of the director, acting is so realistic and, at the same time, delicate like a dream. It’s not common to see such a great acting work.