What to do when you watch a good movie and get sort of put out by an inaccuracy/ misrepresented fact on which the whole story hangs on? One might say 'who cares, as long as movie was good and people had a good time watching it? After all, movies aren't real'. True. However, I feel the need to write something on it. More so, because it is about a mental disorder that is overly represented in movies when its chance of occurance in real life is nearly zero.
Before I move to Amnesia, a very short review of the movie in question.
Movie name: Rangitaranga
Intro : It is a brilliant Kannada movie.
Genre : Thriller, mystery with some light romance
What's brilliant?
Storyline. It is a mystery you want to get solved quickly; Cinematography. 'Malenada seeme' looks beautiful; Even minor characters are mostly believable; Good music.
Must mention: the director's take on Dakshina Kannada mannerisms and culture. It feels genuine and relatable.
What's catchy?
1. The title;
2. A tune : Dannana dannana....
Disclaimer:
Rangitharanga is a brilliant movie.Great plot, catchy title, vibrant cinematography, nice set of actors and all. I shouldn't be nitpicking, and I am not. It is a small problem I have with a plot element.
Before I move to Amnesia, a very short review of the movie in question.
Movie name: Rangitaranga
Intro : It is a brilliant Kannada movie.
Genre : Thriller, mystery with some light romance
What's brilliant?
Storyline. It is a mystery you want to get solved quickly; Cinematography. 'Malenada seeme' looks beautiful; Even minor characters are mostly believable; Good music.
Must mention: the director's take on Dakshina Kannada mannerisms and culture. It feels genuine and relatable.
What's catchy?
1. The title;
2. A tune : Dannana dannana....
Part 2, with spoilers
Disclaimer:
Rangitharanga is a brilliant movie.Great plot, catchy title, vibrant cinematography, nice set of actors and all. I shouldn't be nitpicking, and I am not. It is a small problem I have with a plot element.
Depression, alcoholism, dementia... These are some of the prevalent
mental disorders. Amnesia isn't one among them. And the sort of memory
loss that movie people are in love with, the memory loss were the
protagonist forgets his sense of identity entirely and lives a new
'normal' life with a new identity- that is rarest of rarest of rare
thing that never really happened in real life. Profound Retrograde Amnesia is the clinical term for that condition. However, movie people seem to be in love with this disorder.
Why not? For Profound Retrograde Amnesia is a plot ingredient that works great for mysteries and thrillers. Also, it is a magical condition that solves many moral hurdles for wonderful movie protagonists. And maybe that's why is is the most over-represented mental disorder onscreen.
Why not? For Profound Retrograde Amnesia is a plot ingredient that works great for mysteries and thrillers. Also, it is a magical condition that solves many moral hurdles for wonderful movie protagonists. And maybe that's why is is the most over-represented mental disorder onscreen.
To show you how this plot element works, here is an example:
You are a good person. You are successful in life. You have a lot of friends. You are in a serious relationship with a pretty girl. You are a good lover. You two are great together. You two are about to be get married. Then... you see another girl; you fall in love with her, marry her. You live happily with her. Are you a good person still? Are you a good husband?
You are a good person. You are successful in life. You have a lot of friends. You are in a serious relationship with a pretty girl. You are a good lover. You two are great together. You two are about to be get married. Then... you see another girl; you fall in love with her, marry her. You live happily with her. Are you a good person still? Are you a good husband?
You are. If you got hit on your head in a road accident, and forgot who you are, before meeting the second girl.
That is an obvious benefit of getting diagnosed with Profound Anterograde Amnesia. The protagonist remains blameless. He is absolved of immorality of his actions, if any. However, it has rarest of rare chances of happening with anyone in real life. If someone gets their brain badly injured in an accident in a manner that is likely to cause profound memory loss disorder, most probably they won't survive to live a fresh second life with blissful memory loss.
That's good enough chance for movies, anyway.
That said one should make a small allowance for inaccuracies in good movies.(😀 sorry for digressing. But life cannot be fun without such allowances) To imagine Rangitharanga without the amnesia storyline - A husband and wife arrive at an unknown village to perform a ritual for a 'guddada bhoota'/ local demon-deity. The wife goes missing.Tch Tch. that isn't very good a plot. But, now, make minor changes and introduce amnesia in the right place: You are a hero who is an anonymous author; Unknown to you, there's a lady journalist who wants to meet you; Your wife whom no one has seen until she goes missing and when you go to police to lodge a missing person complaint, you are told - 'You cannot lodge a police complain. Because,yours is a mental complaint. Your wife died five years ago'. That! That is a plot for brilliant whodunnit mystery. That is a story, with good actors, cinematography and background score, can draw you into it and make watching the movie an immersive experience. That's what Rangitharanga turned out to be.
'Don't pursue the past. Nothing can be better than your present.' The girl who once was the protagonist's lady love advices him, walking away from his life, choosing not to tell him who he was before he lost his memory. Blessed is he, in his forgetfulness. If not for it, he would have to make hard choices. Hard choices and regrets over choices made... They are the real things that complicate life, cause suffering and thereby form basis for mental problems for real human beings like you and me. And real people cannot just go amnesiac one fine day.
That said one should make a small allowance for inaccuracies in good movies.(😀 sorry for digressing. But life cannot be fun without such allowances) To imagine Rangitharanga without the amnesia storyline - A husband and wife arrive at an unknown village to perform a ritual for a 'guddada bhoota'/ local demon-deity. The wife goes missing.Tch Tch. that isn't very good a plot. But, now, make minor changes and introduce amnesia in the right place: You are a hero who is an anonymous author; Unknown to you, there's a lady journalist who wants to meet you; Your wife whom no one has seen until she goes missing and when you go to police to lodge a missing person complaint, you are told - 'You cannot lodge a police complain. Because,yours is a mental complaint. Your wife died five years ago'. That! That is a plot for brilliant whodunnit mystery. That is a story, with good actors, cinematography and background score, can draw you into it and make watching the movie an immersive experience. That's what Rangitharanga turned out to be.
'Don't pursue the past. Nothing can be better than your present.' The girl who once was the protagonist's lady love advices him, walking away from his life, choosing not to tell him who he was before he lost his memory. Blessed is he, in his forgetfulness. If not for it, he would have to make hard choices. Hard choices and regrets over choices made... They are the real things that complicate life, cause suffering and thereby form basis for mental problems for real human beings like you and me. And real people cannot just go amnesiac one fine day.
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