Shades of Ash

Shades of Ash (Sudu Kalu Saha Alu)
Directed by	Sudath Mahaadivulwewa
Produced by	Dr. Krishan Deheragoda
Written by	Sudath Mahaadivulwewa and Sarathchandra Gamlath
Starring	Sriyantha Mendis Mahendra Perera Dilhani Ekanayake Madusanka Mendis Koshila Jayawardena Jayalath Manorathna Tyron Michel Wasantha Kotuwella Gunadasa Madurasinghe Sanath Gunathilaka Kumudu Nishantha Nilupuli Jayawardene Irangani Serasinghe David Gunawardene Dimuthu Chinthaka
Music by	Dr. Premasiri Kemadasa
Cinematography	Ruwan Costa
Edited by	Elmo Haliday
Distributed by	Asian Film Center, Sri Lanka
Release dates	2005
Running time	105mins.
Country	Sri Lanka, Sweden
Language	Sinhala (English Subtitle)

Shades of Ash (Sinhala: සුදු කලු සහ අලු, Sudu Kalu Saha Alu) is a 2005 film directed by Sudath Mahaadivulwewa.

Political background of the characters

Gambara Attho (Sriyantha Mendis)

He is the icon and the warden of the system of social and cultural values of the village. War has made him blind thus making him incapable of preserving the village culture, values and customs. He symbolizes the system social values that had been made dormant by the unrelenting war.

Army Ajith (Mahendra Perera)

He represents the youngsters joining the army from the village, to protect the unity and the territorial integrity of the country. It is the most easily available job for the poorest of the poor in the war stricken society. Because of war this soldier becomes a wage earner, a slave, and bonded to the state to save his salary. He becomes a wreck as a result, and ruins his personal life, driving him mad. In the circumstances, he became a destitute symbolizing the predicament of many youngsters who became the victims of the civil strife.

Komala (Dilhani Ekanayake)

She is a spouse of a wage-earning combatant. She is only entitled for compensation in case of premature death of her husband due to war. Being a military-man’s wife, she was required to sacrifice many things in life. A young wife who did not even enjoy her honey-moon due to exigencies of services of her husband became a destitute among an insane husband, a child and blind father. Ultimately, she became a comfort woman in the city. Her husband, being named a deserter, she is not entitled to the privileges of a wife of a war hero and she lost her rights for compensation. She represents the victims of war who are compelled to sacrifice everything in life, and became a destitute of war in the full sense of the word.

Ukkuwa (Madusanka Mendis)

A boy from a border village, who witnessed the brutal killing of his parents during a rebel attack. He becomes disable due to a land-mine on his way to resettle in his homestead and become further destitute. He too becomes exposed to sexual abuse. He symbolizes the predicament faced by the future generation of the country under the conditions of a persisting war.

Ungi (Koshila Jayawardena)

A girl who witnessed the killing of her mother by the terrorists. The terrorists had poisoned the village tank where she lived and the water for her auspicious time bathing after attaining of age, a village custom had to timed depending on the arrival time of the bowser carrying water to the village. A crooked woman working for a Non Governmental Organization in the village, who witnessed the snatching of her virginity, decorated her neck with a golden chain shedding crocodiles tears. This is yet another victim of war who is destined to inherit the repercussions of a deadly ethnic strife.

Koragramaya - Crippled Government Servant (Jayalath Manorathna)

The front line representative of the government, who is responsible for the maintenance of law and order and delivery of relief provided by the state. He is a cripple who is on crutches. Being the village headman [Grama Niladari] he asserts a lot of powers in the society. Being a cripple, he depends for his day-to-day affairs and movements on another villager.

Hamuduruwo -Monk (Tyron Michel)

Head priest of the village temple represents the spiritual, ethical, cultural and social network of the village. He is a criminal evading arrest who took refuge in the temple. Though he was successful in his act, he could not even recite the five precepts, basic rules of the religion. He being the spiritual guide to the villagers however, assists them in attending to their religious rituals. True to his beginnings, he would not hesitate to sell artefacts from the temple to Antique traders who come from the town. The tattoo marks on his body signals his nefarious past. Vain attempts made to erase the tattoo marks symbolize the hilarious attempts made by him in mixing with the society. Imagine the plight of a village ravaged by war when its spiritual leader is a criminal evading arrest. A situation that reminds of the Sinhala axiom ‘ Where can we complain when the guardians themselves are the culprits’ “jeg;a kshr;a f.dh_ ld k_ ldg mjika ta wudrej” .

Gunawardana - School Teacher (Wasantha Kotuwella)

The spout of knowledge, the teacher appointed by the government to look after the educational needs of the village. He is on punishment transfer for being anti-government. The school is dilapidated and has no desks or chairs. It has neither teachers nor students. The Gunawardena master could however collect his regular salary. He could only use his crookedness to make a buck or two at the expense of the poor villagers. The only boy patronizing the school is subject to sexual abuse by him. Gunawardena was successful in manipulating the ownership of the village boutique in his favour, thanks to the knowledge; gift, the free education provided by the government. A NGO is manipulating him as a go between to reach its objectives. He represents the agent of exploitation created by the free education in a village battered by war.

Pansagodelle Mudalali (Gunadasa Madurasinghe)

He is the boutique keeper in the village. He sympathises with the villagers. The result being that he loses the ownership of the boutique to Gunawardena and become a wage earner under him. He witness the whole tragedy but ever optimistic of the future.

Assa Petara (Sanath Gunathilaka)

The driver of the bus, the sole link between the village and the town. His forte is anti social and thrives on nefarious dealings. His notorious mode of driving gave him the nickname ‘Horse Rider’ (Assa Peethera). He is the agent of those who made the war, their livelihood.

Pema (Kumudu Nishantha)

A man with a strong physique, the only sole left out of war. Being the one helping the disabled Village Headman with his bike, he wields unofficial authority in the village. Pema being the stooge of Village Headman, gets selected for a village security guard post, Grama arakshaka, at the village checkpoint who would otherwise be a good-for-nothing. He was successful in manipulating the Village Headman in getting an elevation to a regular soldier in the army later.

Heen Eki (Nilupuli Jayawardene)

The ritual assigned to this innocent girl in the village, is to light candles at the mass grave of the village. A destitute as a result of loss of her kith and kin on account of war, she spends her earnings from prostitution to give alms to invoke blessing on her dead relatives. Alms are offered to a criminal impersonating as a monk in the village temple. Heen Eki is destined to carry forward from where Komala left her carrier.

NGO Nona - NGO Lady (Irangani Serasinghe)

NGO NONA portraits the NGO culture prevailing in the country. They exploit war in the country to their personal gains. She is paid in dollars by arms dealers to keep the war going and she is to beat the drums of war in the village. She is thriving on the agony in the country and assist in keeping alive the international interfierences in internal affairs of the state. She also explores an additional source of income by dealing in statues, ola leaves, books and other artefacts of historical value. The government is engaged in the war in a legitimate manner and NGO types are giving the required indirect support. NGO NONA (Lady) represents those who make a living out of the war.

Army officer (David Gunawardene)

He is the army officer detailed for implementation of a project to resettle the families in the village, displaced by war. This officer is first giving the toy acrobat, a symbol shown right- through the film, to Kora Gramaya the front-line government servant. This is the symbol moving from person to person in the film.

The kind hearted man who brings water to village (Dimuthu Chinthaka)

The compassionate person, who braves to provide a part of village quota of water to the suffering people in the adjoining village. A person made insane by the war is killing him. It was another ‘natural death’ in the village.

Special Note

Situations of war have given rise to opportunities for everyone to play an additional role if they desire so. War has prolonged undeterred for well over two decades due to the effectiveness and the ability of such people who have played such alternate roles. In the name of Peace, the destiny of war being decided by such people. In addition to the main role players, about another 200 actors are involved in making this film. All the artists have undergone training in workshops in acting and role making, before commencement of production. The dedicated workshops have given them opportunity to refresh themselves on both theory and practical aspects of theatre.

Synopsis

The brutality of war is portrayed in a set of stills that fade in from the darkness with the dominating sound of a beating heart in the background.

As the crimson robes of the dying sun engulfs the whole sky in its death throes, a line of trucks carrying refugees are seen among the cloud of dust.

The guard post at the entry to the “Kalu Visa Pokuna” village is seen in the distance. A man on crutches is seen looking towards the distant line of vehicles coming towards the village. The man is the village headman (gramasevaka). This village had previously been attacked by the extremists and among those dead were women, children and Buddhist monks and have all been buried in a mass grave in the village premises. The refugees that are seen coming in the trucks are those that didn’t have the privilege of joining their kith and kin in the mass grave and are being re-settled in their village. This re-settlement programme has been the result of a concentrated effort by the Government to restore the normal lives of the people ravished by the war.

The village lake has been poisoned by the extremists. It has already taken the lives of several well-meaning and innocent individuals. Therefore, the village residents were highly dependent on the water brought from the outside to the village by a water bowzer on a regular basis.

To a village dominated by anxiety, poverty and mortal fear, two particular men arrive. One of them is a visitor while the other is a young man from the same village. The visitor is the new headmaster of the village school who has been transferred to this village due to political vengeance. His name is “Gunawardane” school master. The young villager is “Army Ajith”. He has deserted the army since he couldn’t obtain leave to complete his honeymoon.

As “Army Ajith” returns home with lots of presents for his newly wed wife, Komala, she is with another man in her husband’s room. At the same time, Gunawardane school master comes to a school with no roof and inhabited only by cows. As Army Ajith meets with an accident after his traumatic encounter with his newly wed, Pema, her bed-sharer runs naked across the village and covers his nudity with the red cloth of the village kovil. Looking at all this activity intently is a little child named “Ukkuva”, who had arrived just recently.

Ukkuva, a child who witnessed his parents’ death, been orphaned and having lived as a refugee, he has been thrown off a truck as he was taken from one camp to the other. He has thus become a refugee for the second time at “Kalu Visa Pokuna” village. A prisoner who has escaped from the jail hides in “Heen Eki’s” house. As she comes to her old home as part of the re-settlement programme, with a life-size glass mirror in her hands, she is startled as the prisoner runs out, smashing the mirror on the way. The prisoner then takes hiding in the village temple, which had been completely deserted since its robed inhabitants were killed during the attack by the extremists. He later camouflages himself with the dead priests robes and becomes a monk.

As “Koragramaya”, the crippled village headman and Pema engage in various bad dealings, Ukkuva comes under the protection of “Gam Bhara Attho”, whose cloth was used to cover Pema’s nudity in a previous incident. “Gam Bhara Attho” is the caretaker of the village kovil and has been blinded by an attack on the village by the extremists. Komala, the woman who had an extra-marital affair with Pema was his daughter and Army Ajith was therefore his son-in-law. After the accident, Komala brings Army Ajith into the village as a mentally diseased patient. The shopkeeper’s daughter, “Ungi”, develops an innocent and childish friendship with Ukkuva.

A woman called “NGO nona”, an agent from a Non-Governmental Organization, then comes to this village. She is dressed modernly and wears shades. She forms an alliance with the Gunawardane school master to do various businesses, being the only English speaking individuals in the village. Gunawardane school master entices Ukkuva by showing him some food and molests him. Ukkuva’s guardian, Komala, then gets into a brawl with Gunawardane school master. Having no other option to feed Ukkuva, her mentally ill husband and blind father, she gets on the only bus driven by “Assa Peetara” and going past the village to serve as a sexual worker in the nearby town.

Heen Eki’s only kin, his sibling brother, is brought in a coffin covered with the national flag and escorted by the army. The alms-giving is paid for by Komala, from the money she earns as a sexual worker, and is given to the priest of the village, a prisoner in hiding. NGO nona gets total control of the village shop, the village bus, the Buddhist scriptures at the temple and Ungi, who performed the rights of attaining-of-age to the schedule of the arrival of the water bowzer.

Ungi’s father, “Pansal Godelle Mudalali”, the owner of the village shop who later disowns it at the hands of NGO nona, also loses his Kerosene cart to her and becomes her employee. At a later date, this same fate is experienced by “Assa Peetara”, the driver and owner of the only bus that connects the village with the town.

“Gam Bhara Attho” on overhearing of the nature of his daughter’s profession from an argument between Komala and Assa Peetara, hangs himself on the rafters of the village kovil. Ukkuva who comes running to tell Komala about her father’s death, accidentally steps on a land mine and becomes a cripple.

In the aftermath of Gam Bhara Attho’s funeral, Ukkuva practices walking using crutches with only one leg. As he does so, Pema comes fast on a bike along with a weapon on his shoulder and dressed as a village guard. He is being watched intently by Komala.

Pema comes over to Koragramaya who was in the temple grounds and an argument between them about Koragramaya sexually assaulting Pema’s mother and then later even her sister, leads to Pema snatching the sickle from the priest’s hand and murdering Koragramaya in the holy ground. Moments before Koragramaya’s death, Pema grabs from his hands his appointment later to the army. As the police come to inspect the death scene, the prisoner hiding in priest’s clothes runs into the jungle to escape. His robe gets entangled in the twigs and he runs into the woods, naked. Komala contracts a sexual disease. Ungi is returned to the village by the NGO nona after having been sexually assaulted. As crippled Ukkuva and Ungi, who was forced into woman-hood, are sleeping side by side, Komala leaves her two children and disappears beneath the waves of the poisoned lake.

The rain is falling down very hard in the night. Near the mass grave site, Army Ajith re-iterates the verses his father-in-law, “Gam Bhara Attho”, used to say. As the darkness gives way to light, Assa Peethara lights incense sticks in front of the pictures of the gods in his bus. This same vehicle was once his, that is before NGO nona bought it and made him his employee. In the very first trip of the morning, Heen Eki, dressed elegantly, seems to be traveling to the town, as if to take the place of Komala. Assa Peethara looks back down the road. He sees Pema, well dressed for his first day at the new job and running towards the bus. Assa Peethara waits for his arrival. Pema sees Army Ajith and gets angry with having to see someone like him on embarking on an important journey. In his anger he spits him on the face and gets on the bus.

Army Ajith who looks at the bus starts to laugh hysterically. Almost suddenly his laugh stops and looks at the audience questioningly....... With his words that leaves a lot for the audience to think about war and its result on human life, the scene fades out. A toy acrobat jumper that switches hands from time to time, is seen right throughout the film and adds a symbolical meaning to the whole film.