SUNDANCE 2021: Fire in the Mountains
In the sole Indian film premiering in the World Cinematic Dramatic competition, Ajitpal Singh's Fire In The Mountains tells a story about the universal complexities of motherhood and the singular experiences of village life in India. Its many subplots, conflicts, and even the cinematography carry the greater theme of disparity between worlds.
Taking place in a village nestled in the Himalayan mountains, the people of the village live in straw huts and harvest their own wheat. However, they're consumed by many of the worries and desires typically associated with urban society. Littered with shots of villagers as they attempt to go viral on Youtube as well as the daughter of the central family, Seema (Harshita Tewari), successfully finding fame on Tik Tok (albeit away from the eyes of her protective parents). Though her mother Chandra (Vinamrata Rai), the family's breadwinner, is much more concerned with her youngest child, Prakash (Mayank Singh), who is unable to walk. She spends all of her mental (and monetary) capacity on him. Money is a source of conflict between her and her husband Dharam (Chandan Bisht) as she spends it all on treatments from the village doctor while he believes that Prakash can be healed through a traditional ritual appealing to their deities. This is the focal divide of their family. Their difference in attitudes causes division leaving each to fend for themselves, except for Prakash. As a result of his condition, he is always on his mother's back as she traverses the mountains to see the village doctor.
This is one of Chandra's individual struggles as well. There is no main road to connect the family's house to the rest of the village, so Prakash cannot use his wheelchair. The care that Singh puts into displaying this particular issue (which speaks to the greater cultural weight Indian women bear in their families) is accentuated in the cinematography. Singh makes excellent use of his space and camera as he frames shots around the dynamism of the mountains. Characters often enter wide shots from top or bottom, taking advantage of the unique features of the Himalayas and evoking a sense of everyday life amongst them; at times existing in an impossibly blue sky, other times exhausted with the amount of effort.
While Singh successfully shows the struggle of women in his culture, especially matriarchs, this isn't all that it takes to deliver a feminist message, as the director has stated his intent. Coming to the end of the film, it felt less like a good point about feminism and more like a case study on how women suffer in society and interpersonal relationships that work against them. This is due to sexism but is not necessarily a unique outlook that portrays a feminist critique. To congratulate a male director on achieving such a perspective would feel disingenuous. Even so, the distinctive cultural elements to the story, despite its lack of feminist principles, do give it merit beyond that.
Singh's dedication to representing the realities of his hometown and the experiences of those who don't align with his is still admirable, and with his own goals in mind, he delivers a film that encapsulates many narratives beautifully, while others are represented in a more moderate light.
By Jessica Vance
(she/her)
Edited by Paola Duran (@wintrytokyo)