Valley
of Saints: Written and directed by Musa Syeed. Starring:
Mohammed Afzal, Gulzar Ahmed Bhat, Neelofar Hamid. Running
Time: 82 minutes.
Rating:
4/4
Oftentimes,
the best films are the ones that eschew grander, more theatrical gestures. The ones that rely on their own subtle self-confidence
to draw us into their world. The ones
that stir us in the quiet moments. Valley of Saints, the debut film by Musa
Syeed, is a masterclass in this sort of film, a series of meditations and small
moments framed by grand mountains and a quiet lake. It lays a sturdy foundation of stones that,
collectively, build a profoundly moving cinematic experience, centered on a
love story as real as anything.
The
story is set in the valley of Dal Lake in Indian-controlled Kashmir, a place
incessantly plagued by armed civil strife.
Gulzar, a boatman, has spent his whole life here, born, as he puts it, “with
a paddle in his hands.” He and his best
friend, Afzal, are technically grown men, but around each other they are little
boys, laughing, piggybacking, singing, never needing to take each other too
seriously. Theirs is a profoundly deep
love of the sort that transcends the usual notions of family and
friendship.
They
know there’s no future for them in Srinagar other than hawking wares and boat
trips to foreigners, so for a long time they’ve been putting together money for
bus tickets to Delhi and, so they imagine, a better future. The day they try to leave, though,
hostilities break out again, forcing them to stay put until another ceasefire
is reached. Stuck for the time being,
they agree to help out another boatsman by agreeing to take care of the lone
remaining guest on his hotel boat, a young woman named Asifa, who’s there to
conduct ecological research.
Originally
from the area herself, she’s returned to study the slow degradation of the
river through lax environmental laws and oversight, and there is a bitter
sadness in her voice when she notes just how devoid of life so many parts of
the lake have become in recent years. This
is a film that is able to comment on our connection to nature and our
dependence on it in ways that many films try and fail to. The plaintive earnestness of the characters
and cinematography doesn’t allow any room for cynicism or pandering in this
regard. There are more important things
to think about than that.
As
they take her around the lake, and learn more about each other’s lives, the
romance that slowly blossoms between Gulzar and Asifa is quiet, underplayed,
and effortless. It’s one of the most
compelling love stories I’ve ever seen in a movie. Of course, this does lead to some jealous bickering
between Gulzar and Afzal, and their anger with each other is real, but of
course that could never be enough to seriously threaten their friendship- they
know each other far too well for that.
In
the end, of course, choices must be made by each of these characters, but as
the movie itself intuitively grasps, having to face such choices in our lives is
unavoidable. As such, they don’t need to
be viewed as solely good or bad things. We
will take one path forward over another, and there is always a way to live with
that, as long as we don’t forget where we come from and what has, in some way,
moved us. This is a remarkable movie,
filled with a grace and sense of self that most movies with bigger names and
larger budgets lack.
-Noah Franc
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