...because this movie has it all.
As someone who has dealt with OCD throughout his lifetime, I found DIRTY, YELLOW, DARKNESS to be a starkly honest (sometimes to the point of being a brutal) look into the mind of someone suffering with obsessive compulsive behaviors. More accurately, this film looks through the eyes of the afflicted, rather than focusing on him as if he were a subject to be studied.
What struck me most about DIRTY, YELLOW, DARKNESS was its ability to blend little moments of humor (with both spoken and visual comedic beats) in with the drama and seriousness of what can be an admittedly debilitating disease. Just when things were getting possibly a little too heavy, these beautiful little moments of lightheartedness would pop up which not only acted as a way to move the story along, but also help ground our lead character in a very human and sympathetic way. I think there's a fine line between making fun of someone's disease and pointing out the admittedly funny moments that are sometimes born from it, and the Ariyawansa brothers handled that balance with perfection.
Of course, those kinds of balances become key to a film like this, which finds itself blending the seriousness of a drama, the emotion of a love story, and the lighthearted humor of a romantic comedy. The honest truth is this film is all of these things, and more, and therefore falls into its own genre category. Personally, I always find myself loving movies that aren't easily defined or categorized, mostly because these types of films are rarely made today. Hopefully this film will serve as a creative beacon to future filmmakers and show them the true potential of what a film can be.
Visually, the film is stunning. With bright, vibrant colors and a beautiful range of visual contrasts (from the sterile environment of our lead's apartment in Colombo, to the more dirty and dingy atmosphere of the hospital he checks himself into, for example), Kalpana's art school background is more than apparent in the frames of DIRTY, YELLOW, DARKNESS.
There are literally hundreds of films released every year that are worthy of being seen by the masses, but because of today's studio system most of the world watches the same ten or twelve movies each year. This year, do yourself a favor and seek out DIRTY, YELLOW, DARKNESS, because in addition to it being different from most of the films out there today, it's also better than most of them, too.
