'Thazhvaram': Settling the old scores in that dusty valley

Revenge is one of the most explored human impulses in cinema. It is shown as releasing tensions repressed inside out of the sense of being a victim of injustice. The person avenging a bad past attains a pleasure he or she was denied otherwise in a civil or democratic system. This satisfies the thirst for retribution and points to primitive aspects of any human psyche. So, revenge as a plot topic brings out an archaic discussion on whether a human has evolved from a barbarian to a modern being.  And Malayalam cinema has seen many attempts to address this but the majority of them had used clichéd narrative tropes.

The whole build-up in many prominent revenge features in Malayalam is just to enhance the dramatic impact of the avenging act. Films like 'Padayottam' (Battle March 1982), 'Nirakkoottu' (Colouration, 1985), 'Rajavinte Makan' (The Emperor’s Son, 1986), 'New Delhi' (1987), 'Aryan' (The Aryan, 1988), 'Chaanakyan' (Chaanakya, 1989), 'Season' (1989), 'Naduvazhikal' (Rulers of the Land, 1989), 'Mukham' (The Face, 1990), 'Indrajaalam' (Magic, 1990), 'Kauravar' ( The Kauravas, 1992), 'Pingami' (The Successor, 1994), 'Kannezhuthi Pottum Thottu' (Eye lined and Bindi clad), 'Big B' (2007), 'Bhramaram' (Beetle, 2009), '22 Female Kottayam' (2012),  'Theevram' (Extreme, 2012), and 'Maheshinte Prathikaram' (The Revenge of Mahesh, 2016) progress just to attain the above-mentioned pleasure. All other incidents and details happen to assist or advance this motive thereby building tension using narrative tropes.  'Kannezhuthi Pottum Thottu' and 'Maheshinte Prathikaram' are some exceptions here due to the vast number of psychologically developed characters placed in a socio-geographical reality in the plot.

'Thazhvaram' (The Valley, 1990) by Bharathan in this sense stands tall as a complete film with many subtexts in the revenge genre. Set in the arid landscape of eastern Palakkad, this is an unexplored gem of Malayalam cinema. The film follows the style of the 1960s “Spaghetti Westerns” of Sergio Leone and Sergio Corbucci. Written by beloved author M.T. Vasudevan Nair and shot by another legend Venu, it has fully developed characters unlike much of Malayalam films. And their calculated actions reveal psychologies through a meticulous ethnographic gaze.

Balan (Mohanlal) is a taciturn stranger arriving at this dry no man’s land bordering Palakkad and Tamil Nadu. There are boulders and dry stone cliffs around where settled migrants from unknown faraway till to yield. The planes in between the boulders are zealously being bought by new settlers. Most of them are loners who have bad histories back in their homeland and this valley is their last resort to build a life. Balan is also a loner in search of his friend Raju (Salim Ghouse).  Raju here is Raghavan living with an old settler Nanu (Sankaradi) and his daughter Kochootti (Sumalatha).

Balan realizes that Nanu has helped Raju/Raghavan to start farming and intends to marry off Kochootti to him. He decides to wait for Raju. A tightlipped Raju/ Raghavan smells danger on Balan’s arrival and decides to finish him off. The film progresses as their respective struggle to fight each other for a motive known only to them and they pretend as friends in front of others. Sudden glimpses of flashbacks show us their past and we realise that Raju had killed Ballan’s wife Raji (Anju) to steal his money saved for the timber trade.

'Thazhvaram' nearly has 10 characters and 5 central characters lead the plot. All of them have secrets and bad histories they do not want to reveal. They plan and conspire against others either to get away or avenge their past. So they act slowly but firmly. And most of their responses to queries would be hums in order to avoid further explanations. Or they speak vaguely to read the other’s mind.

It is very rare to see such nuanced characterization revealing the intelligence of characters and their related actions. Most of revenge stories have the protagonist plan in detail for revenge or extensive sequences of him progressing to the final action. And it would be restricted to films of mostly bourgeois characters going to extreme levels of planning to get their revenge. 'Chanakyan' is a good example. When it is the revenge of a working-class person, the act would be more animalistic and impulsive revealing a barbarity in it. 'Maheshinte Prathikaram' could be pointed out here.

But in 'Thazhvaram', people contest each other with their business intelligence. All of them belong to the toiling working class and they need more savings than their labour to survive. So they have to move with meticulous calculations contemplating their daily life. Balan wanted to settle with a family so he saved money as investment for a timber lorry, Raju/Raghavan stole that money for building a life of his own, Nanu saves jewellery and money to marry his daughter off, Raju/ Raghavan and Nanu buy land nearby to start a new family and Kochootty mediates all of this.

This ubiquity of capital and its various investments form the backbone of the plot here. All deliberations and conversations here circle around it. Their life plans are based on various investments. And if their calculations go wrong or someone outsmarts them then retaliation becomes the only chance they have.  Balan overpowers Raju/Raghavan in their first fight that takes place in the dry planes of that no man’s land. But instead of killing him, Balan takes Raju/Raghavan to the police station in town. Fearing his life plans would go in vain, Raju first asks for mercy but then tricks Balan and pushes him down the cliff. Balan survives one or two such attempts again and decides to fight back. Raju/Raghavan brainwashes Nanu to doubt Balan’s intentions pointing to Kochootty’s sympathy for the latter. When Balan recovers the stolen money, both Nanu and Kochootty mistake it as an act of theft and ask him to leave. Raju follows Balan and then happens the final fight.

The motives for each of their actions have a very definite social, political, and economic reason. And establishing this aspect is still rare in Malayalam revenge films. And it is not just these five central characters who have screen spaces. Irulas, traditional agricultural labourer tribes, have been shown along with the characters. Their “Thiruvizha” happens in between and Kochootty takes part in it. All these build a very real ambience of working-class human beings living their ethnographic complexities. It is very hard to portray such intricate characters but Mohanlal, Salim Ghouse, Sumalata, and Sankaradi do it with ease. And Lal is a stunning presence with his calculated gazes.

Bharathan is (was) the only filmmaker in Malayalam with a clear sense of visual narration. His training as a painter and creative designer might have helped to develop this vision. And 'Thazhvaram' boasts Bharathan's fully developed visual narration and craft. The wide aspect cinematography, meticulously developed mise-en-scene, and fluid shot compositions elevate it to world-class scope and scale. Venu and Bharathan used minute colouring, lensing, and exposure for elevating the ambience.

Each sequence is broken down into combinations of extensively detailed close-ups and wide long shots. Tension is built around the character's body language, elaborate blocking, sweeping long takes camera movements, and background score by Johnson. Actors pop into frames to startle us, walk straight to the camera, and turn back to reveal emotion. Editing by B Lenin and V.T Vijayan is exceptional adding rhythm to the narrative. Detailed characters' arc and dialogues by M.T. make it rooted in the local social field (Bourdieu).

'Thazhvaram' reminds of Leone’s western classic 'Once Upon a Time in the West' (1968). The extensively choreographed actions, dry landscape, close-up vs wide shot duels, smooth editing, and catchy music are definitely borrowed from him. Fully developed characters with political-economic roots again point to this influence.  'Once…West' is set in the time of expansion of the western frontier with railways and characters trying to gain from it. Here the motive is the same but the specifics differ.

Many sequences from 'Thazhvaram' are remembered for their cinematography by Venu and tense portrayal of human action. One among them is the iconic fight at night in the courtyard of Nanu. Raju/Raghavan comes up to an injured Balan in the courtyard but the resulting noise from the brawl wakes Nanu and Kochootty. Raghavan hits the hanging lamp and it starts oscillating. The whole action is shown in this light and it's breathtaking! Another is the famous climax fight amid vultures.

There should be more discussions on 'Thazhvaram' since its approach to the revenge genre was (still is) totally fresh and unprecedented. Emphasis is given to placing characters in a very definite social reality thereby avoiding a judgmental gaze. Working-class people are shown as very serious, focused, and contemplative instead of impulsive thugs on a violent sprees. And world-class filmmaking in spaghetti western style even when the plot is very much rooted is still unimaginable in Indian cinema. 'Thazhvaram' is really a gem we all should applaud, talk about and preserve for the future.