By Matthew Moorcroft

Highest Recommendation

• Directed by Payal Kapadia
• Starring Kani Kusruti, Divya Prabha, Chhaya Kadam, Hridhu Haroon
• Not Rated

The immediately gorgeous and tender All We Imagine as Light actually begins rather quaint compared to what you might expect considering the sheer amount of praise this has gotten since it’s debut at Cannes. The otherwise simple story of the friendship between three woman is a tale old as time; mostly told through small vignettes of life and longing as they navigate the big city and an eventual move to a smaller village in the outskirts of India. Even when you disregard director Payal Kapadia’s history – which is essential to understanding the context of much of the film’s grander ideas and themes – it’s, on the surface, feels like a “Little Women“-esqe story, one which is coming-of-age for different times in people’s lives. One is older and wiser, one is young and passionate, and the middle one is trying to hold it together at the seams.

But as the film progresses, and you start to see more of not just the women but Mumbai itself, and you start to fall into the meditative, melancholic quality at the heart of All We Imagine as Light. It’s a relaxing, hazy dream in a city that itself feels like a maze you can get lost in; one where secret love affairs can shine, one where it’s easy to wander into a new part you haven’t seen before, one where those that are forgotten about are easily forgotten about. Kapadia captures images here with a documentary like focus, each image filled with detail and texture in the little moments scattered throughout.

Each of the women have their own struggles. Prabha, the middle aged of the group and the heart of the piece, is struggling with the fact that her seemingly assigned husband ran off to Germany and hasn’t contacted her in a year. Prabha’s love for him is real to an extent though, and there is a real tenderness in how that story resolves itself as Prabha comes to terms with the very real fact she will likely never see him again. Anu, on the other hand, as the youngest, is opinionated and is rebellious, dating a Muslim against both the wishes of her parents and Indian society at large. Parvaty, the oldest, is struggling to maintain her living space, and as capitalism weighs in she finds she has to move away which segues into the second half of the picture.

All three of these women are, seemingly, only connected by each other. Threads are strong, threads are impossible to break, and even as the three of them find their own convictions tested they ultimately stand by each other. Once the second half of the film hits – which is where the beauty of the film really makes itself known – it becomes clear just how stifling the city can be. The busy streets, walls of concrete, and crowded subways are replaced by small houses, sand dunes, and the soft noise of the ocean. But even in the streets of Mumbai, the bonds are real, and they aren’t so easily broken.

And that city itself, with a soundscape that rotates from extreme quiet in the night to a bustling, nosy daytime, feels isolating despite it’s imposing nature. Those bonds, while unbreakable, feel distant when our leads are alone or at work. Despite being their own people, they also feel like cogs in a machine that doesn’t actually seem to view them with anything other then contempt. This is what makes their eventual leave a beautiful transactional affair; they ultimately escape that fate while reaffirming what they truly want in life.

And as the light figuratively shines in on our women, All We Imagine as Light beckons you to stay in it’s world for as long as possible even as the credits roll. It’s as soothing and soulful as these kinds of films get; so full of humanity and love that it’s easy to forget the world around us for around 2 hours. It’s a pretty standard thing to say at this point but yeah, this one really is worthy of all of the hype that is surrounding it and definitely one of the must watch international features of the year. Just a brilliant little film all year, remarkable stuff.