By Harrish Thirukumaran
The recently released film adaptation of the 1994 novel by author ShyamSelvadurai, Funny Boy, was an engaging film overall despite the public controversy and flaws surrounding it.
It was an emotionally intense and inspirational film in artistically depicting the Queer Tamil experience in Sri Lanka,a country where homosexuality has been illegal and stigmatized throughout its history. It placed evolving generational differences at the forefront, as characters like ‘Radha Aunty’ can be seen defying cultural norms and embracing uniqueness, particularly in ArjieChelvaratnam, the film’s protagonist.
Kumar Ratnam remarked that FunnyBoy is a great movie if you can forgive some bad modulation of Tamil and lack of native Tamil actors. Importantly, however,it brings issues for the Tamil community both in Sri Lanka as well as part of the global diaspora to mainstream. It is done in an artistic and emotional way, all the way to the Oscars.
Queen’s University Assistant Professor, AmarnathAmarasingam, highlighted that the acting was excellent, especially NimmiHarasgama, who played NaliniChelvaratnam, Arjie’s mother. He also mentioned that the cinematography was excellent as the setting of the island of Sri Lanka was beautifully shot.
However, he noted that the Tamil and Sinhalesebecame very distracting and clunky with their transitions. It would have been preferable if the film were kept entirely in Englishin consideration of this from his view. Regardless, he was overall thankful that the Tamil issue and Black July 1983 are now being talked about in the mainstream, despite being far from perfect.
Bob Rae, the current United Nations Ambassador and Permanent Representative for Canada, commented that ShyamSelvadurai wrote a beautiful book and Deepa Mehta, the director of the film,has just made an extraordinarily beautiful, emotionally rich, and courageous film.
Along with tackling the circumstances of growing up gay in a deeply conservative society, it was also brave in depicting the issues surrounding the Tamil community regarding the Sri Lankan Civil War.Black July1983 was dedicated its own extended scene, illustrating the horrors many Tamils faced. The tense Tamil-Sinhalese relations were on display through a wide range of situationsthroughout the film, demonstrating the deeply embedded nature of the conflictand its effecton daily life. It helped to put these issues in the mainstream for other audiences to hopefully take notice.
Funny Boy is a great moment for not only the film world and Queer community, but the Tamil community as well.
