Autumn [Harud] (Bashir, 2010)

[shariqq]

Autumn (Harud)
Aamir Bashir | India | 2010
99 min

Autumn is the story of one disilusioned youth's aimless days during one autumn season in violence-ravaged Kashmir. The movie takes its time with the subject, perhaps too much time, but thankfully does not digress. With few dialogs and just incidental sounds, this quiet brooding film has some interesting subtle moments that make for a patient watch. The story is mostly by observation of and by the protagonist. Unfortunately, it suffers from a lack of good performances that make the movie difficult to accept as anything but an effort. The protagonist is correctly referred to by one of his friends as a zombie - he hardly emotes or speaks, waiting to be challenged to release his pent up frustrations. Aamir Bashir's debut movie proves he may have an eye and feel for film, but he needs a more fluent cinematic language.

My Rating --> 3 of 5

[fizz]

This near silent film has good intentions but no real direction and a pretentious execution. Rafiq is a no-character who exists in a void of isolation and regret, making him quite difficult to relate to. The performances are a bit rough as well - the dialogues are delivered in a stilted, scripted fashion (you can tell the actors were just regurgitating the script, to the best of their very limited abilities). Some vague attempt at linking Kashmiri's general apathy to their surroundings, aided by the Government's launch of cellular services for this first time in this occupied territory, doesn't have as a strong an impact as the director hopes for.

Rating: 2.5/5