House of My Fathers Film Difficulty Ranking: 4
If you’re looking for a heart warming Sri Lankan film with widescreen shots of the beautiful Sri Lankan landscape, you’ve come to the wrong place. House of My Fathers deliberately uses a narrower screen (as you’ll see in the trailer) to focus your eye on the trauma from the Sri Lankan civil war. You’ll meet one man and one woman,one Sinhala and the other Tamil, who are sent to an island together to find peace for the two communities. It’s a contemporary myth/fable full of dreams and visions.
From: Sri Lanka, Asia
Watch: Trailer
Next: Ahlaam, Sleepwalking Land, Tanna
Why Watch House of My Fathers?
- Learn a bit about the Sri Lankan Civil War
- Experience the trauma of war
- If you like fables or myths (especially The Odyssey)
- For lots and lots of dreams
The Breakdown
House of My Fathers starts at a border fence separating the Sinhala from the Tamil in Sri Lanka. Each side has a sign warning that trespassers will be killed. From the opening scene it’s clear that the Civil War rivalry between these two ethnic groups is still very strong.
However, the women on both sides of the border fence suddenly become infertile.The leaders from both sides of the fence then receive an omen that they can either let their people slowly die out or send a representative of their community to a dangerous island nearby which no one has visited and lived to tell the tale.
Both sides choose to listen to the omen and send a representative to this island with a strange acting witch doctor to serve as a mediator/translator. When they arrive, they start experiencing lots and lots of dreams and visions which recreate the trauma they have lived through in the Civil War.
How Violence and Sri Lanka is Depicted
In contrast to most of the films you’ll see at the cinema, this film is shot in a 4:3 aspect ratio and not widescreen. As a result, there is much more focus on the characters in the centre of the screen to ensure you’re eyes are on the trauma at all times. There’s no widescreen shots of beautiful Sri Lankan landscapes to distract you.
The depictions of violence are also different. Usually the violence is shown on screen and emphasised to create an impact. However, in House of My Fathers, the violence is hidden from the camera – if it happens, it happens off screen. Instead, the film chooses to focus on the effects of the violence – the trauma -to create a powerful anti-war message.
What to Watch Next
If you’re looking for another contemporary film heavily influenced by Greek myths check out Spike Lee’s Chiraq, which is based on Aristophanes’ Lysistrata, a Greek play in which the women withhold sex from their husbands as punishment for fighting in the Peloponnesian War.
Or if you’re looking for more dreams and post-war trauma, check out Ahlaam from Iraq and Sleepwalking Land from Mozambique.
For something more upbeat, check out the romantic love story of two people of the Kastom road in Vanuatu in Tanna.
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