Films about cheating spouses are not exactly uncommon in cinema. Mriganka Goswani, however, presents a rather unique attempt at the concept, by focusing almost exclusively on the aftermath rather than anything else.
“Whispering Tears” review is part of the Submit Your Film Initiative
Creating an atmosphere of mystery and disorientation from the beginning, Goswami begins his film with Meera talking with a man on the street, who is soon proved to be her lover with whom she plans to elope, leaving her police inspector husband behind. A phone call from the hospital, however, puts a pause to their plans, with Meera immediately going there to check what has happened with her husband. The news are shocking, while the sub inspector who accompanies her later on, shares with her a story about a case her husband was involved, about an old man walking into the police station to report a crime that he had committed 25 years ago.
Mriganka Goswami directs a film that thrives mainly in four aspects. The first is the overall atmosphere mentioned before, with the questions about what exactly has happened, and eventually the reasons behind them, retaining interest for the whole of the 28 minutes the short lasts. Conjunctively, the build up to what is happening, and the somewhat open ending, particularly regarding Meera's thoughts and what she will choose to do next, is also great.
This overall sense is also intensified by Devdeep Ganguly and Goswami's own cinematography, which presents impressive portraits of the night which frequently remind of David Lynch, with the reverse shot with the vehicles on the street and the frame with the close up on Meera through the hospital's bars being truly memorable. The choice to show almost always just one person, even if a dialogue is taking place, also works well, adding to the overall noir aesthetics here. The fourth trait comes through the acting of Aritraa Sengupta in the role, who gives a captivating performance, particularly in the aforementioned scene, while her rather expressive eyes speak volumes every time she appears on screen.
Ayan Ray and Akash Chakraborty's editing also implement the atmosphere well, through a fittingly slow pace, although I felt that some faster cuts would help the movie, at least on terms of entertainment.
In the end, the only significant fault of “Whispering Tears” is that the director probably did not have enough money to make it into a feature, since the material and the quality in shooting is definitely there. Hopefully, something that we will see in the future.
