metre gauge in kerala memorable for ever.

The Kollam-Shencottah railway line – the first one in erstwhile Travancore – is more than a century old.The 50-km journey from Punalur to Shencottah is perhaps the best portion on this route in terms of nature's lushness and architectural marvels.

The train chugs through the Shendurni wild life sanctuary and picturesque stations such as Kazhuthurutty, Thenmala, Ottakkallu and Bhagavathipuram, passing by verdant mountains and many a cascade. The Palaruvi and Kazhuthurutti waterfalls and the Thenmala eco-tourism centre are on the fringes of this line, and the majestic Courtallam waterfalls at the destination make this route perfect for nature lovers.

The railway line was constructed by the British on the foothills of the Western Ghats to transport forest products, spices and cashew from Kollam to Chennai, their southern headquarters. The longest tunnel on this route (built in 1901) is here. The picturesque Aryankavu viaduct, where the road, river and rail run parallel, is also part of this route.

This railway line is an architecture marvel. “It was built jointly by South Indian Railway Company, Travancore State and Madras Presidency. After the survey in 1888, the work started in 1900 and completed by 1903 and the total expenditure was Rs. 1,12,65,637. according to records, the Punalur to Shencottah stretch was the most difficult one to construct as it lies around 2,800 metres above sea level and it took almost two years to complete the Aryankavu tunnel. One can notice the conch symbol of the erstwhile Travancore regime at both ends of the tunnel and the year of construction on the nearby pillars.The 102.72-m bridge at Kazhuthurutti with 13 arches is so strong that not even a crack has developed so far. The railway engineering department has decided not to demolish this 5.18m height bridge. Instead they will strengthen and widen it. In 1904, the first train was flagged off from Kollam by Moolam Tirunal Ramavarma, the then King of erstwhile Travancore with a 21-gun salute.

I had got an opportunity to travel through the meter gauge which stretches from Punalur to Shencotta and which is going to be memorable for ever in every keralites.It took only two hours from punalur to reach shencotta. The train passed through so many ways which brings to every ones life about an incredible journey where there was about 4 tunnels and around 8 bridges which includes the famous 13 arched bridge which is a photographer’s delight. Another thing is that before reaching the Aryankavu station there is a tunnel which is around 1km in length. That was very much exciting for me.

story about parassinikadavu muthappan

Sree Muthappan is a Hindu deity worshipped commonly in Kannur district of north Kerala state, South India. Muthappan and Thiruvappan, are considered to be a manifestation of Shiva and Vishnu, and hence Muthappan wholly represents the idea of Brahman, the unity of God, as expressed in the Vedas.

Worship of Muthappan is unique, in that it does not follow the Sattvic (Brahminical) form of worship, as in other Hindu temples. The main mode of worship is not via idol worship, but via a ritual enactment of Muthappan, performed daily at the Parassinikadavu temple. Fish is used as an offering to Muthappan, and people of all castes, religions and nationalities are permitted to enter the temple and take part in the worship.

Muthappan is also the principal deity in the ritualistic Theyyam dance (Muthappan Theyyam) performed in the famous Parassinikkadavu temple. The ritual performers of Muthappan Theyyam belong to the tribal community of Kerala. It is unique because in Kerala both the upper-caste Brahmins, and the lower-caste tribals, both have a significant contribution to the major forms of worship.

The traditional story of Parassinikkadavu Muthappan describes the background of the deity.

The Naduvazhi (landlord) Ayyankara Illath Vazhunnavar (a Nambudiri Brahmin) was unhappy, as he had no child. His wife Padikutty Antharjanam was a devotee of Lord Shiva. She made a sacrifice to Shiva for children. One day in her dream she saw the Lord. The very next day, while she was returning after a bath from a near by river, she saw a pretty child lying on a flower bed. She took the child home and she and her husband brought Him up as their own son.

The boy used to visit the jungle near their house (mana) for hunting with His bow and arrows. He would then take food to the poor and to the backward communities with Him. As these acts were against the Namboothiri way of life, His parents earnestly requested Him to stop this practice, but the boy turned a deaf ear to their warnings. Ayyankara Vazhunavar became very disappointed.

One day the boy revealed His divine form (Visvaroopam or Viswaroopa or Cosmic All-Pervading form) to His parents. They then realized that the boy was not an ordinary child but God. They prostrated themselves in front of Him and He blessed them.

He then started a journey from Ayyankara. The natural beauty of Kunnathoor detained Him. He was attracted by the toddy of palm trees.

Chandan (an illiterate and uncivilized toddy tapper) knew that his toddy was being stolen from his palm trees, so he decided to guard his palm trees. While he was keeping guard at night, he caught an old man stealing toddy from his palms. He got very angry and tried to shoot the old man using his bow and arrows but fell unconscious before he could let loose even an arrow.

Chandan's wife came searching for her husband. She cried brokenheartedly when she found him unconscious at the base of the tree. She saw an old man at the top of the palm tree, and called out to Him as "MUTHAPPAN" ("Muthappan" means grandfather in the local Malayalam language). She earnestly prayed to the God to save her husband. Before long, Chandan regained consciousness.

She offered boiled grams, slices of coconut, burnt fish and toddy to the Muthappan (Even today in Sree Muthappan temples the devotees are offered boiled grams and slices of coconut). She sought a blessing from Him. Muthappan chose Kunnathoor as His residence at the request of Chandan. This is the famous Kunnathoor Padi.

After spending some years at Kunnathoor, Sree Muthappan decided to look for a more favorable residence so that He could achieve His objective of His avataram. He shot an arrow upward from Kunnathoor. The shaft reached Parassini where the famous Parassini Temple stands today. The arrow, when it was found, was glowing in the Theertha (sacred water) near the temple. The arrow was placed on the altar of the temple. Since then, Lord Sree Muthappan has been thought to reside at Parassinikkadavu. As a boy, Muthappan was rebellious. He was a great hunter and would skin the animals that He killed and wear their skins as clothes. One day, He came across a coconut tree that was being tapped for toddy, the liquor fermented from coconut sap. He climbed the tree and emptied the jar that was holding the toddy. When the toddy tapper returned and saw Muthappan, he immediately challenged Him. Muthappan turned the man to stone for daring to address such a powerful God as Himself in such a manner. During performances of Muthappan Theyyam, the performer consumes the toddy liquor and passes it around to the spectators. In this act, Muthappan “breaks” the temple rules by allowing alcohol into temple grounds.

Sree Muthappan is always accompanied by a dog. Dogs are considered sacred here and one can see dogs in large numbers in and around the temple.

One can see two carved bronze dogs at the entrance of the temple that are believed to symbolize the bodyguards of the God. When the Prasad is ready it is first served to a dog that is always ready inside the temple complex.

Local legends enhance the importance of dogs to Sree Muthappan, such as the story that follows:

A few years ago, temple authorities decided to reduce the number of dogs inside the temple; so they took some dogs and puppies away. From that very day, the performer of the Sree Muthappan Theyyam was unable to perform; it is said that the spirit of Sree Muthappan enters the performer's body for the duration of the ceremony. But He probably refused to enter the Theyyam performer's body because the dogs had been removed. Realizing their mistake, the dogs were brought back to the temple by the temple authorities. From that day onwards, Theyyam performances returned to normal.

Several Muthappan Temples are seen in different parts of Kannur and Kasaragod districts. This signifies the popularity of the God in the minds of the people of this region of Kerala. Each Madappura has its own tradition. One interesting story relating to God Muthappan is about the Nileshwar Muthappan Madappura. The Sree Muthappan temple near National Highway No 17 in Nileshwar has a rich heritage. It conveys the philosophical, devotional and educational importance of Nileshwar. There is an interesting story regarding the construction of this Sree Muthappan Temple. An elder member of the Koroth family regularly visited the place now known as the Muthappan temple and drank madhu (Toddy), the liquor fermented from coconut sap, a kind of intoxicating drink. He was a famous scholar and got the title Ezhuthachan for his commendable achievement as a teacher. Before drinking madhu, he poured a few drops of madhu on the nearby jackfruit tree as an offering for the God Muthappan. He regularly repeated the practice. Several years after the death of the above mentioned scholar the natives experienced various kinds of serious problems and called upon an astrologer for assistance in finding out the cause behind all this. The astrologer concluded that as a result of the regular practice of giving madhu to God Muthappan, the God had started residing there. After the death of the scholar, He no longer got madhu, and in a fit of pique, began creating disturbances. Then the natives erected a Muthappan temple there. The Koroth Family then got the right of Koymma [patron] in the temple.

As a result of the formation of a committee and the work done by the members of the committee the temple has developed as a famous centre of pilgrimage and hundreds of people visited it daily. There is a strong belief that the God will cure all diseases and will bestow prosperity on His devotees. The devotees get Payakutti from the temple; and it continues to develop as a great centre of pilgrimage like the Sree Muthappan temple at Parassinikadavu.

Theyyam or Theyyattam is a popular Hindu ritual of worship in North Kerala state, India, predominant in the Kolathunadu area (consisting of present-day Kannur and Kasargod districts). As a living cult with several thousand-year-old traditions, rituals and customs, it embraces almost all the castes and classes of the Hindu religion in this region. The performers of Theyyam belong to the indigenous tribal community, and have an important position in Theyyam. This is unique, since only in Kerala, do both the upper-caste Brahmins and lower-caste tribals share an important position in a major form of worship. The term Theyyam is a corrupt form of Devam or God. People of these districts consider Theyyam itself as a God and they seek blessings from this Theyyam.A similar custom is followed in the Tulu Nadu region of neighbouring Karnataka known as Bhuta Kola.

Theyyam or Theyattam is a ritual art performed in the Malabar region i.e. in North Kerala. Kolathunaad (Kannur and Kasargod Districts) is famous for this dance. Theyyam or Theyatam derives is name from Deyvam meaning ‘God’ and Attam meaning 'Dance'. It is hence an awe-inspiring dance of the Gods. It is also known as Thira or Thirayattam in the southern Malabar region. Theyyam is one of the profound ritual arts performed in Kerala with utmost fervor and supreme ardor. Religious reverence runs high and the artist himself is said to experience a oneness with the Divine in the course of performing this dance. Theyyam is also known as Kaliyattam. The Occasion: Theyyam is performed in the Kavus and Kottams during the festivals. Usually these festivals are held between November and May. Theyyam and these festivals are held in shrines and temples. For example, the Muthappan Theyyam is performed in the courtyard of the Parassinikkadavu temple near Kannur town. This Muthappan Theyyam is performed round the year. Karivalloor, Nileswaram, Kurumathoor, Parassini, Cherukunnu, Ezhom and Kunnathoorpadi are other shrines where Theyyams are performed during the Theyyam season. The most prominent Theyyams of Kerala are those of Raktha Chamundi, Kari Chamundi, Muchilottu Bhagavathi, Wayanadu Kulaveni, Gulikan and Pottan. The Theme: There are more than 400 Theyyams performed in Kerala. Since it is performed by the lower clans of the Hindu social sructure, the main deity of worship or whose dance is performed is Shakti in her various forms such as Bhadrakali, Bhagavathy etc. Theyyams are often performed to appease the spirits and ghosts of the heros and forefathers. Their praises and glory are sung. Deities such as Naga (Serpent) and other spirits like the forest deities or animal deities etc. are also propitiated. As mentioned earlier, the presence of above 400 Theyyams in the state testifies to the worship of these wispy spirits and the fierce yet benevolent guardian deities such as Mari Amman, Vishnumoorthi, Pottan, Chaamundi, Rakteshwari, Karrupan Swamy, Ayyapan etc. When the Theyyams are in praise of the Goddess it recalls her battles against evil and her victories over the Asuras (demons). Theyyam represents the common man's spiritual and metaphysical beliefs as it encompasses the opportunity where the performer identifies with the gods/goddesses or the spirits of the ancestors or bygone heroes and guides the society even in matters of contemporary interest. However aggression is a common trait among all the deities or spirits worshipped in a Theyyam. As the dancer transcends to the divine realm his words are heeded as the deities will and his touch is regarded therapeutic. However the fiery natures of the deities, disregard to the word of prophecies is seldom shown as fear of their wrath exists in every heart. The Artist: In a staunch Brahmin based society, Theyyam comes as an alleviating counterbalance. Theyyam is performed by some of the lowest castes of the hierarchy. The performers are essentially from the Velan, Malayan and Vannan communities. The dance performed by these communities is essentially with regard to the established deities such as Bhagavathy Amman, Vishu or Shiva. Other communities from which performers perform Theyyam are Mavilan, Vettuvan, Pulayan and Koppalan but their Theyyams are dedicated to their ancestors and spirit gods. The Theyyam dancers are always men from these tribes and the female characters are also played by them in appropriate costume and demeanor. However it is not an occupation that can be adopted at will. The rights of performing the Theyyam are reserved to these tribes and the right may only be acquired by virtue of birth through the maternal lineage or through marriage to a woman of the reserved clan. Strict observance of tradition in every aspect is imperative. The dancers are well versed in the history, stories and characteristic traits of the deity they play. Great emphasis is laid on the rigorous training and tradition shared by the dancers as it grooms them not only physically but spiritually as well to approach the divine trance in which the Theyyam is performed. The artist is taught all the nuances of the performance- from applying the make up to the songs; from playing the percussion to the legends and beliefs behind the deity’s worship. The artist is prepared not to be possessed as in case of the Oracle but to gain union with the deity. Ironically, these dancers’ words are venerated as the Divine Will while in the Theyyam state but even as the performance ends, they resume their mundane roles in the lowermost strata of society with no special distinction. The Costume: The most striking feature of the Theyyam is its costume and make up. The face and body paintings are of supreme significance. In no dance form is the eye make up so emphatic. To represent the fierce deities, the eyes are blackened with mashi; thick bold strokes highlight the eyes and the face painting of a Theyyam dancer is extolled. The artist ties a headband and allows the painters to paint his face and body. Colors commonly used are red, orange, yellow, black and white as these help in playing up the aggressive features of the deity worshipped. The different patterns of face-painting for Theyyam are viradelam, kattaram, kozhipuspam, kotumpurikam, and prakkezhuthu. The face painter is at liberty to try some variety or experiment in his art but in case of the body painting is strictly dictates of tradition are adhered to. A bold colored base is painted and intricate designs made on it. The different styles of these designs depend on the Theyyam being performed. Parunthuvaal Ezhuthu (eagle’s tail) and Anchupulli Ezhuthu (five dots) are some of the styles. The head-dress, known as Muti is made out of bamboo splicings and coconut bark. This head-dress differs according to the Theyyam performed. Some such Mutis are Pookkatti, Ponmuti, Vattamuti, Chattamuti, Valiyamuti, Kondalmuti, Puthachamuti, Onkaramuti and Peelimuti. The head gear is decorated with cloth, flowers, coconut bird feathers and palm leaves. In some Theyyams very lo Mutis (50-60 feet) are also used. It is then quite a balancing act for the artist. Other jewellery worn by are ornaments such as bracelets, bangles and anklets, flower garlands and female characters are provided a breast plate fashioned out of coconut shell called mularu. The skirts are made of bamboo splices and coconut sheaths painted red and black or from red cloth tied around bamboo sticks. A red waistband is usually worn. Painted wooden masks are worn in some Theyyams. The Performance: Theyyam is generally performed in the festival occasions in the various shrines and temples in Kerala. Both, the Thandava (aggressive) and Lasya (graceful) modes of dance are adopted in the Theyyam. The religious fervor lends vitality to the performance. The footwork is striking as the accompanying percussions such as Chenda, Veekuchenda, Elathalam and Kuzhal provide beats. Chekor Kalasam, Onnaam Kalasam, Eduthu Kalasam, Chavitti Thullal, Parakkam and Thiriyal are the various stages of the dance. Thudangal and Thottam are the beginning and the invocation. The dances may be slow moving (Pathiniyattom) or fast paced (Elakiyattom) as per the song chosen. A display of martial arts such as swordplay is not uncommon. Other props used are swords, shields, bows, arrows and other weapons. Lighted torches are held during the nightly performance to highlight the dramatic effect and to maintain a fiery ambience. Theyyam, the ritual performance is almost 2000 year old. The attraction of the art lies in the reverence it holds in the hearts of the devotees. This is probably also the reason that such an ancient and difficult art form survives till date. The presence of the divine in the artist while he performs the Theyyam is indicated by the many miracles associated with the ritual and also the outstanding feats performed by the artist. Dancing with a head-dress as tall as about 50 feet or walking through live embers or dancing with lighted wicks stuck to the waist are indeed dangerous feats but what evokes awe is that the artists come out unscathed. Therein maybe one realizes the presence on the supernatural among us mortals.

Theyyam Kerala's important culture.

FILM FESTIVAL REVIEW
I was able to watch 10 films in the 14th International Film Festival of Kerala. It was a good opportunity for me to watch films from different languages. From this 10 films I had seen, 7 of them remains in my mind as good films.

Films that I liked the most:

1. Treeless Mountain:


















1. "Treeless Mountain"- A film directed by So Yong Kim. This story tells us a relationship between two sisters who were left alone by all. The Director had given special care to make the film a perfect life. In the middle section of the film Bin and Jin are almost always seen wearing the same clothing – a princess play dress for Bin, remnants of her old school uniform for Jin. The little girls also learns how to grill and eat grasshoppers (on a stick) for making money and also to fed themselves. This shows how the big aunt cares for them. The film is very slow moving in its story telling.

2. True Noon :











2."True Noon" - A film directed by Nosir Saidov. The film tells us about the problems created by a fence which seperates two friendly villages. It creates anxiety in the minds of characters as well as in the viwers.

The army personnel put a barbed wire fence right across the village. Schools, hospitals, and many other institutions are on one side and many people are stranded on the other. It leads to some funny scenes, where a teacher stands and teaches on the one side of the fence and students sit and learn the other side. Thus the life of people, who have thus far enjoyed peace falls into a severe chaos.

3. "The Moment of Truth" -A film directed by Fancesco Rosi. This film explains about the changes happened in the life of a farmer, who wanted to earn money for better life. But the change- at last leads to his death. The bullfights helps to save money but not life, I think this is what the moral in the story. I like the film for its good moral and also the story.

A farm boy arrives in Barcelona with dreams of becoming a bullfighter, succeeds to the top of his sport, and then faces tragic end. Its quite natural that human beings run behind luck and if luck helps him for atleast one time he will start chasing for it again and again.
4. Shirin :

4. "Shirin" - A film directed by Abbas Kiorostami. This film was taken on an experiment basis. We had seen the film through the expression of women who were watching a Persian love story of 12th century.
We can say this film as a dramatic essay on specatorship which draws on the endless expressive potential of the human face.Here the director allows us to make reasonable guesses ourselves by observing the women’s reactions or examining their surroundings. We are introduced to the film -in the film indirectly. It is a different way of approching a film by the director for sake of the viewers. I like this way of approching the film very much even though many felt it as boring.

5. About Elly :














5. "About Elly" - Asghar Farhadi's Iranian film. Its one of the most remarkable Iranian films. The director had won to attain a technical perfection.
This film tells how web of lies can destroy innocent lives. Its human nature that we goes on telling lying to hide a single lie we said before, a woman’s disappearance gives rise to all sorts of issues of morality. Its common all around world. The same is the case in this film. The film continues in a comic mode until Elly’s disappearance. After Elly is found missing the story changes from the joyful context in to a very serious context.

Films I :

1."Be Calm and Count to seven" - Directed by Ramtin Lavafipour. This film tells us about the story of a boy who is struggling to brought up his mother and sister. There are many missing links in this film that the film didnot reveal to the audience like - who put the smuggled bag in front of the house of Motu, a smuggler? Its all unrevealed events presented in the film that made me to dislike the film. In my opinion a film should be something that clearly communicates to its audience.There were several lengthy dialogue scenes between boy and man . I feel it as boring. Towards the end of the film I feel unclear about what happened to Motu.
I think that this film resembles the condition in Somalia .

2. "Nothing Personal"- Directed by Urszula Antoniak.Nothing Personal might have been more focused had it concentrated on fewer individuals, the film is intensely personal tale of a independent young woman's involvement with a widower in a remote area. It's about the personal conflict. Nothing Personal is resolved, there's also something about the ending that seems inevitable, obligatory, and more than a little manipulative.

3. The Fish Child:



















3. Film: "The fish child" is directed and written by Lucia Puenzo. This film is an exploration of the nature and importance of familial and romantic love. The love affair of the two women leds to the murder of a man (who is the father of one of the lady) and an escaping from the the cruel control of the moneyed upper class . At the middle of the film there are hidden and unexpected depths to events going on nearer the surface, something as if in myth and this i don't feel it as unclear to understand and so i dislike this film.

Review of the film I am Alive by Dino Gentili, Filippo Gentili

No matter how hard you’ve been hit by the credit crunch, don’t choose the same method of earning a little extra as the hero of the Gentili brothers’ intriguing directorial debut.Veteran scriptwriters in the Italian film and TV industries, their latest tale concerns Rocco (Massimo de Santis) a young factory worker with a dead-end job and mounting debt problems. When an older, and decidedly dodgy, friend offers him several thousand euros for one night’s work he jumps at the chance.

But if an offer sounds too good to be true... the job turns out to be standing guard for a wealthy businessman at his plush villa – over the body of his young daughter. Rocco’s mate immediately has a spliff and a beer, then drives off with a girl half his age in tow, leaving the more conscientious Rocco alone.

But not for long. Through the course of the night, the villa is visited by a series of people, each with their own connection to the dead girl. And it soon becomes apparent that the story of her short life is a good deal more complex and messy than the one her father told his hired hands. Her brother was jealous of her status as daddy’s favourite, and her Romanian boyfriend, ostracised by the family, is now bringing up the child she never knew on his own.

As Rocco tries to keep the peace between the warring factions, he finds himself more and more fascinated by the dead girl, and begins to question his own relationships with his girlfriend (a disembodied voice on the other end of a mobile phone) and his long-suffering father (a builder who lives out in the country and is constantly urging his son to come and “work for the family”). As he continues to find out secrets about the girl, her brother and her father, he decides to change from being a passive henchman, and try to do something positive for her family...

It’s a film that constantly keeps you guessing, and builds up a tense, claustrophobic atmosphere. But it suffers from a few logic-defying plot turns. It’s never adequately explained why the girl’s father can’t simply stay with her for the night (though it’s strongly hinted that his wealth, if not exactly ill-gotten, is based on the kind of business that takes place after hours) and at one point Rocco simply leaves the house to grab a sandwich. This enables him to strike up a burgeoning romance with Stefania (Giovanna Mezzogiorno), a waitress at a nearby all-night cafe, and creates a dramatic flashpoint when he returns to find some more unexpected visitors, but you do find yourself wondering, wasn’t there anything in the fridge? And when such banal questions start occurring it’s a sure sign that a film’s lost its hold on you.

It also seems uncertain as to whether it wants to be an existential thriller, jet-black comedy or ‘state of the nation’ comment on Italy’s class divides, anti-immigrant paranoia and obsession with wealth and status. Such a lack of focus is stranger considering the Gentili brothers’ writing track record, but can perhaps be explained by a natural desire to shove as many ideas as possible into their debut, whether or not they actually fit.

But it does yield some effective moments, and they clearly know the characters inside out. The film is, if nothing else, an intriguing snapshot of modern industrial Italy, a world away from the travel guide clichés of Rome or Tuscany. The sense here is of trapped and circumscribed lives and a final shot of the majestic countryside outside the town feels like a breath of fresh air.

De Santis gives an excellent performance as a fundamentally decent, not too bright journeyman worker, simply trying to build a better life in an indifferent and occasionally hostile world; best-known in Italy as the star of the TV series Distretto Di Polizia 8, he has the looks and charisma of a young Gabriel Byrne. And Mezzogiorno makes the best of a somewhat underwritten part, proving once again that she was one of the better things about Mike Newell’s ill-conceived adaptation of Love In The Time Of Cholera.

Getting such a high-profile pair of performers for your debut is no mean feat, and shows the reputation the Gentili brothers have in Italy. I hope we’ll be seeing them behind the camera again, but perhaps next time they’ll play to their strengths and concentrate on a good, solid story rather than simply throwing ideas and incidents at the screen.

Review of the film A Fish Child by Lucía Puenzo

Coolly beautiful Inés Efron plays privileged 20 year old Lala, the daughter of a rich judge and a young woman with the world at her feet. Into her life comes the dark and simmering Guayi, the family’s similarly aged Paraguayan maid. Routinely abused by Lala’s father, Guayi conducts her love affair with Lala under the strictest of secrecy as the two methodically plan their escape to Paraguay.

Puenzo treats the lesbian love affair of the two women as secondary to their headlong rush to freedom. In fact they are escaping from the clinging vines of social dogma as much as from the cruel control of the moneyed upper class represented by Lala’s father the judge. La Guayi’s father Socrates is a mysterious, private man with secrets of his own. He tends the house that is falling down in ruin; the gate is covered with offerings to a deceased child, the fish child, who is seen now and then as in a dream. He is an actor, a stage performer living in a near-abandoned hovel seemingly outside of time. For him, time stopped when his daughter committed her terrible deed. No amount of offerings tied to the front gate can end his suffering.

Carlos Bardem, brother of Javier Bardem, plays hunky best friend Pulido who is instrumental is helping the two escape. Perhaps taking a page from his older brother's book Carlos plays a young tough with a heart of gold. He hangs out in the violent, dirty parts of town training attack dogs for his customers and driving the rattiest vehicle of a rattletrap van that can be imagined. Can the girls find help from someone like this? Do they dare trust someone of such tenuous circumstances with their very lives?

On the eve of their escape, the girl’s plan goes awry when Lala’s dad is found dead. From the audience point of view it doesn’t look like the girls committed the crime. Indeed, such a powerful man is very likely to have enemies in any country and there many prisoners’ friends and relatives sworn to revenge. But La Guayi is found with articles from the household, articles that could only have been stolen. As one of the under-class she is the immediate suspect. She will be easy to convict and represents a neat solution to a crime that if investigated too thoroughly will uncover deep seated corruption amongst the rich and powerful.

One night instead of simply delivering attack dogs to the grounds of the house of the local politico, Pulido drops Lala outside the house as well. Spying through the windows she sees the imprisoned women, her lover La Guayi included, entertaining the prison and law enforcement officials in the finely furnished house. This will be her last chance to redeem her forbidden love with an act of courage and self sacrifice. A mistake on her part now drops her into the caldron of sexual abuse that is the lot of the poor in the barrios of the world.

This film has great plot dynamics while presenting a valid commentary on South American politics and social inequality. Good acting and direction fill out the personalities of Lala, La Guayi, Pulido and Socrates. Good writing fills out those characters with mythical identities and the timeless qualities of guilt and redemption. The actor Socrates, played by Arnaldo Andre, is especially fascinating. Doleful and mysterious he tends his falling down residence as a combination hovel and church, nursing his past along to a slow and mournful end as his acting merges with his life. The camera follows the ins and outs of the barrios with fascinating accuracy as well as tracing the outlines of wealth and power in the suburbs where the prisoner girls are taken in the night to delight the ruling class.

The underwater shots are crucial to the film, showing the legendary fish child is his environment. We feel as foreign in his underwater world as do the rich in the barrios of those who form the core of the city. La Guayi leads us to explore all three places, the worlds of the rich and poor and the underworld of child spirits yet laid to rest in this fascinating thriller.