“The Eyes of Summer” is the latest experimental short by the Sri Lankan director and visual artist Rajee Samarasinghe. The black-and-white film was shown in numerous festivals around the world and has won an award at the Ann Arbor Film Festival.
Created in collaboration with the filmmaker's family members and shot in his mother's remote hamlet in Southern Sri Lanka, the movie has a semi-improvised story about a young girl's contact with ghosts. This is based on his mother's stories about her interaction with the village spirits. These scenes of what the director calls spectral ethnography intertwine with abstract shots of nature and of the hamlet's inhabitants after the end of the protracted civil war.
Experimental shorts such as this are notoriously difficult to understand and interpret. This is because, by nature, they are more open and suggestive than direct. They create atmosphere, evoke feelings, and suggest themes rather than tell stories. And when they do it well, it is one of the most satisfying experiences for the viewer. With “The Eyes of Summer,” Rajee Samarasinghe manages to do just that. Using the character of a small child and that of a specter, he shows a reality so imbued with the devastation of war and its toll on the psyche that its inhabitants have stopped distinguishing between life and death. Even more, for the many born to it, this is the normal state of affairs. And this is simply devastating.
Shot in monochrome by the director and lacking any dialogue, the movie is beautiful in a very haunting way. Using high-contrast imagery with extreme blacks, at times eye-piercing whites, and loads of what seems like practical effects that remind us of Apichatpong Weerasethakul's work in “Blue,” the movie manages to create an atmosphere that amplifies its themes. An atmosphere that threads the line between fantasy and realism, nostalgia for a magical past, and the imminence of destruction.
The lack of dialogue and the experimental sound design further strengthen the feeling created by the visuals. Speaking about the sound design that mixes field recordings taken during the shooting with what seem to be manipulated natural sounds. The result is sound pieces that, again, are on the verge between being realistic and ethnographic and otherworldly. This results in a very satisfying aural experience, a beautiful piece of experimental sound art, even. However, this makes it feel more of a video art piece in an exhibition than a short film. This might chase many people away; however, we think that it's one of the movie's strongest points.
With its abstract presentation and fragmentary narrative, Rajee Samarasinghe's “The Eyes of Summer” might not be everyone's cup of tea. Yet, it is worthy for the people who like video and sound art and experimental visual ethnography.
