BIOSCOPEColour/94mins/2008/Malayalam
Story, Script, Dialogue & Direction
K. M. Madhusudhanan
Produced by National Film Development Corporation Ltd., India
Cast - Walter Wagner, Murugan, Ramgopal Bajaj, Nedumbram Gopi, Bharathan Njarakkal, T.V. Gangadharan, Mekha Rajan, Kuttiyedathi Vilasini, Nilamboor Ayesha
The story… at the end, only rain
This is a story of history entering the paths of memories and dreams. The story of villagers, made mute by colonialism and slavery, entering the garden of a new vision through a new machine, bioscope.
Perhaps, the protagonist Diwakaran’s new journey starts with his acquisition of a bioscope. The Frenchman DuPont, who does bioscope shows on the coasts of Tamil Nadu, is the architect of his new journey. Diwakaran was stunned by early forms of cinema images. His relationship with DuPont and the bioscope start with his astonishment when he first saw moving images. It turns into a story of inseparable friendship.
K. M. Madhusudhanan Madhusudhanan developed an early interest in art and cinema, and went to art school at the College of Fine Arts, Trivandrum, and subsequently, to the Faculty of Fine Arts, Baroda.
The brilliance of colour and composition in his films owes itself to his deep rooted visual culture. He has been honoured twice for his masterful use of the film medium by the Museum of Modern Art, New York (MoMA), and he has received an international award for his short fiction film.
The sum of his works reflect a pre-occupation with art and cinema interwoven with memory and history in its cinematic and pictorial structure. Bioscope is his first feature film. It has been honoured with the NETPAC Jury Award for the Best Asian Film at the film festival Osian Cinefest Asian & Arab Cinema, 2008, New Delhi.
