Sony, the central character in Don Palathara’s Family, being screened in the International Competition section at the 28th International Film Festival of Kerala (IFFK), would seem like a familiar person, the do-gooder who can walk into any house in a village at any time.
He offers himself at service to everyone, from taking the lead to organise things after a death in the community, to helping out with a kid’s mathematics lessons and to offering some harsh words of advice to a boy who seems to have gone a bit astray. Some of these tasks Sony (played by Vinay Forrt) takes it upon himself, while some others invariably gets offered to him, thanks to his nature. He is a son to all of us, a nun from the community says at a particular point in the film, by when we know some uncomfortable facts about him.
Family appears partly to be a study of this character, but as the wide shots throughout the film indicate, its concerns are also wider, to include the close-knit Christian community which closes ranks further to protect, and even promote, the two-faced do-gooders in their midst. It is a community which keeps a close eye on its flock, and acts fast even when there are minor transgressions. After a failed elopement too, members of the community are at hand to offer the contacts of doctors who can “help”.
