criterionforum.org

Rat-trap



....
Rat-trap
(Elippathayam)
A film by Adoor Gopalakrishnan
India / 1981
Second Run DVD 027
"A brilliant character study" - Sight and Sound
In Indian cinema, Adoor Gopalakrishnan is considered the true heir to Satyajit Ray. The first film to bring him international acclaim, Rat-Trap is outstanding for it's characterisations and detail. Set in Kerala in the early 1980's, the film takes a look into the life of a lazy feudal lord, unable to accept the socio-economic changes, who subsequently falls prey to the metaphorical rat-trap set by his own arrogance. Our first release from the Indian sub continent this will be the first time this film has appeared on DVD.

Wow! This sounds like a great film, and you have introduced me to yet another director whose work I'd not previously been aware of! I did a search and found an interesting article where the director chooses his ten favourite Indian films, and an interview with him:

Elipathayam (The Rat Trap) is even more tightly controlled and regulated. It is a detailed study of a character at many levels -- psychological, physical, social, even genetic, based on his roots. I gave primary colours to the characters' clothes and a predominant gray to the background. The music was also much more than a mere background score; it was employed as a significant constituent of the film in its thematic development.

This is simply the best news for me this year. I wonder if SecondRun had plans to release films by Govindan Aravindan as well. It's time for Malayalam cinema to be represented in digital format.

I am about to make my first purchase on this label!

Amazon has this as an April 23 release. The specs list an Interview, but specify nothing.

Both this and The Rat Trap are no longer available for pre-order at Play or MovieMail.

SR's latest newsletter lists this as Coming Soon, and mentions the inclusion of an interview with Adoor. Good to see this release is still happening.

Any update on when this is expected to come out?

Any update on when this is expected to come out?

Definite now to be a June release. Just finalising on the edit of the new interview with the Director. Exact day of June will be confirmed in our forthcoming Newsletter.

In the meantime, something we just learnt - RAT-TRAP had won the British Film Institute Award for the most original and imaginative film of the year in 1982.

Welcome back, Bikey. Was wondering why you guys have been so quiet in general.

Further proof that Rat Trap is, indeed, coming out after all.

I love the direction Second Run's art dept has taken lately

Me too! Classic, timeless, and consistent. Love it.

I had the pleasure of meeting Adoor Gopalakrishnan at a screening of his visually stunning new film "Four Women." A very modest yet opinionated guy, who savaged me when I told him the film was feminist. Haven't seen "Rat-trap" yet, but really looking forward to it. Thanks, Second Run.

Thank you all very much - you make our Designer very happy with your kind words about our Cover art.

RAT-TRAP's release date is now confirmed for 23rd June. And the DVD contains a newly-filmed interview with Adoor G, as well as having a booklet essay.
Can't wait for you to discover this terrific film...

Looking forward to this release!

I also love the cover. Since SR's cover art now eschews stills and is becoming so consistently interesting, perhaps we should start a SR cover art thread?

Because I watched this for the first time very late last night this extraordinary film has now assumed an appropriately hallucinatory intensity in my mind. Right from the first frames that clearly delineate the objects, colours and textures of the old feudal house in which the brother and sisters live, you know you are in good hands and can just let yourself be carried along with the film's style and structure. The eerie soundtrack too and its moments of slowed, treated music give an edgy, uneasy, menacing quality that underlines the decay prevalant in the place. This was my first Gopalakrishnan film. I need to see more. I can't think that anyone will be disappointed in this one.

Graeme Hobbs' review at MovieMail

Beaver

DVD Times

What a fantastic film. I was expecting...something of a minor film (5.0 on IMDB; even if you don't trust the site that's a somewhat dire prospect) out of this one, but I was completely blown away. I can't wait to view it again.

More Gopalakrishnan, please.

I'm not sure that the IMDB message board crowd is quite the audience for this film.

In any case, you are correct that it is extremely, unexpectedly powerful. I definitely see the thematic (and occasionally aesthetic) links to Ray. The transfer looks a little raw and grainy to my eyes, but that could possibly be a hallmark of Indian independent cinema back then.

It's interesting that Gopalkrishnan seems to be extremely active still today. Including the above-mentioned FOUR WOMEN, I'd be interested to know in which ways his craft has developed/changed since RAT TRAP. If he's maintained the quality of the latter film over the last 25 years, how can this guy not be better known and appreciated?

What A Disgrace wrote:(5.0 on IMDB; even if you don't trust the site that's a somewhat dire prospect)

Why? The IMDB ratings have no credibility.

franco wrote:This is simply the best news for me this year. I wonder if SecondRun had plans to release films by Govindan Aravindan as well. It's time for Malayalam cinema to be represented in digital format.

Funny timing, this DVD release... my boyfriend (who's from Kerala) recently told me about Malayalam parallel cinema and it sounded fascinating! Gopalakrishnan's SHADOW KILL is already on DVD here in the US, but I wasn't able to find *any* of the other directors he mentioned, including G. Aravindan, Shaji Karun, and John Abraham. The only Malyalam cinema you can get are recent popular films.

Besides Aravindan, I'm really eager to locate Shaji Karun's PIRAVI. And I'm greatly looking forward to sitting down and watching the two Gopalakrishnan DVDs later this summer. Thanks, Second Run!

I finally saw this DVD. A flat-out masterpiece, worth a blind purchase if any of you are curious.

I was really struck not just with the realism of detail, but the film's conceptual rigor--the way visual and audio patterns are repeated and accumulate significance over the course of the film. Gopalakrishnan also has a remarkable gift for mise-en-scene.

The print used may not be in great condition, but it's as good as any smaller-budget Indian film I've seen from that period. The transfer was also fine, though there was some prominent ghosting in one or two scenes. Still, anyone who is in the least curious should just go ahead and purchase it outright. This is one of the biggest rediscoveries I've come across in international cinema recently.