Finished/Unfinished (Purṇa/Apurṇa), 2015, 240 minutes
Synopsis:
The 8th-century craftsmen left Shiva’s rock-cut temple in Masrur unfinished. An earthquake left it half unmade. From the forest to the heart of the temple, the film follows the ancient plans, step by step. The rock breathes. What remains becomes a sign of the non-apparent.
On the Film:
“Purna/Apurna was initially conceived as an academic documentation (with bibliography) on the 8th century temple at Masrur, in the Kangra Valley, but now appears to us as an integral part of Amit Dutta’s filmography.
The interaction between nature and culture (the temple was partly destroyed during an earthquake in 1906), the tension between two-dimensionality and three-dimensionality (the film shuttles between the temple plan and the real building) and the superposition Cubist perspective are recurring elements in the filmmaker’s work. The soundtrack, which brings together the soulful veena of Mohi Baha’uddin Dagar and the haunting strings of Catherine Lamb, well reflects the struggle between doing and undoing that is embodied in the temple. Unlike Dutta’s other films, Purna/Apurna is firmly anchored in the present (…) and this freedom from narrative temporality leaves the viewer’s mind free to wander. There is an ontological question at the heart of the project: “Can the complete representation of an object completely exhaust it?”. While always remaining on the surface, Purna/Apurna continually mentions that which escapes any description.”– Srikanth Srinivasan, Affinità elettive, Città di Lugano