Sydney Film Festival Review - All We Imagine As Light

 

“How can you marry a stranger? I don’t think I could.”

Subtle, reserved and filled with longing, All We Imagine As Light is a tender and personal depiction of three Indian nurses and their desire to find stability, intimacy and love amidst the dazzling busy lights of Mumbai and the quieter moments removed from the city, with earnest performances and a calming patient pace. 

Discussion Points:

Payal Kapadia won the Cannes Grand Prix for her tender exploration of two nurses and their parallel life stages. Prabha is an experienced nurse, who had an arranged marriage only for her husband to move to Germany for work years ago, and who hasn’t called her in a year. In contrast, Anu is a young nurse, deeply in love with a Muslim boy, who sneaks out to meet him and pursue their friendship love. In addition, there’s Parvathy, whose apartment is being demolished by builders and who is left to return to her village outside of Mumbai, where Prabha and Anu join her. Anu seeks to learn from Prabha, at work, as flatmates, and in life, especially when it comes to relationships. I found the film to be really poignant, deeply felt, personal, and beautifully shot. It’s definitely slow and takes a while to get going, but it’s final moments grant an immense emotional payoff to the patient who allow themselves to experience the calm and soothing slice-of-life depiction. Really poetic and beautiful.