[**** stars/*****]
There is a framed black and white photograph of two smiling friends on an indistinct wall. A hand picks up the frame, places it on the ground, picks out the photograph.
Then with a sharp pointed knife, the photograph is cut into two.
In the deadly silence, the photograph is further cut to the size of a profile from the chest up. We are introduced to an untidy, stubble-faced Balan (Mohanlal) looking down gravely at the photo of his childhood friend Raju (Salim Ghouse).
Then with a view of pointed cliffs, beautiful streams and a green landscape, Balan sets out in search of Raju.
What has transpired between the two friends? What is it a weary Balan seeks among Kerala's desolate hills and valleys?
Friends, foes and lovers
Thazhvaram (The Valley) is a Malayalam thriller coloured in shades of Spaghetti Western movies (The Dollar trilogy), nature of an old world tale of deceit, innocence, revenge and greed.
It is also a fascinating study of rural life, human settlements, good and evil, life choices and consequences.
Balan has shades of Clint Eastwood's unnamed character from the Sergio Leone trilogy on the exterior. But as the tale unfolds, we see a simple, naive village man who is undone by the company he keeps.
The extended battle with a former friend is constantly fascinating, as Balan and Raju try to outwit each other, leading to a fiery climax featuring vultures and explosives.
Thazhvaram is also a window to Kerala's enigmatic allure.
The southern-most Indian state, with its isolated, resplendent unspoiled natural beauty, earthy people and snail-paced urbanization makes a far-off, abandoned appearance.
Mohanlal, the born actor
The Johnson background score is sparsely, effectively used. Silence adds to the suspense and gravity in key scenes.
Bharathan directs with sure-footed assurance, building on noted writer M. T. Vasudevan Nair's gritty story, using simple every day elements and mirroring basic human nature to carve out a throbbing realistic drama.
Mohanlal is extraordinary, and Thazhvaram is further proof of why he is considered among the best actors in the world.
Hindi movie audiences will remember Mohanlal as Mumbai Police Commissioner V. Srinivasan in Ram Gopal Varma's underworld drama Company (2002).
Venu's cinematography is steady, editing cuts by B. Lenin and V.T. Vijayan keep it crisp. Lip-synced songs, though brief, mar the narrative.
Watch Thazhvaram to witness how cinema can exist in minimalism, and consistently engage thanks to sheer film-making passion.
Cinema, down south
The golden age of Malayalam cinema extended from the 1980's to the mid-1990's.
Directors like Bharathan and Padmarajan balanced art and commercial elements in free-flowing narratives to create compelling middle-of-the-road cinema.
Many of these films are regarded today as iconic, path-breaking and classic.
As a cinema lover, would love to see many early Malayalam classics restored and redistributed to a larger world audience.
In popular culture, Bharathan is best-known for directing the Kamal Hassan Tamil starer Thevar Magan (1992), later remade as Virasat (1997) by Priyadarshan.
The multi-talented Bharathan passed away in 1998, he was only 51.
(Thazhvaram is streaming with English subtitles on Disney + Hotstar (India).)
