Movie Review

Concave

A triumph of art over communication — ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

Amaneth Indukar’s latest movie is a masterpiece of Doulali cinema, and perhaps the finest film from that country since 2007’s epic, Sibitr.

Shot in the director’s trademark tilt-shift perspective, Corthalls (‘Concave’) tracks some of the behind-the-scenes politics, deal-making, back-stabbing, and romance involved in the election of a new pope.

The choice of subject is typical of Indukar’s playful style, making a pun of the conclave of cardinals and the concave lens he uses to produce the stunning visual effect of animated scale models… a pun which only works in English, despite all the dialogue being in extinct dialects of Doulalian.

This reviewer cannot reveal any of the plot of the film, because I do not speak more than a few words of modern Doulalian, so I have no informed idea of who the characters are or what happens, but not being able to follow the events depicted did not detract in the least from my enjoyment of the spectacle Indukar creates: tiny clerics scuttling around a miniature Vatican, engaging in heated arguments, mass brawls, and drunken sodomy deliver a powerful message in any language.

While every minute of the movie is a feast for the eyes, the finale is breathtaking. The entire conclave…