Funny Boy
Film poster
Directed byDeepa Mehta
Screenplay byDeepa Mehta
Shyam Selvadurai
Produced byDavid Hamilton
StarringNimmi Harasgama
Ali Kazmi
Agam Darshi
Seema Biswas
Rehan Mudannayake
Shivantha Wijesinha
Brandon Ingram
CinematographyDouglas Koch
Edited byTeresa Font
Music byHoward Shore
Distributed byARRAY
Netflix
Release date
  • December 4, 2020 (2020-12-04)
CountriesCanada
Sri Lanka
LanguagesEnglish
Tamil
Sinhala

Funny Boy is a 2020 drama film, directed by Deepa Mehta.[1] An adaptation of Shyam Selvadurai's 1994 novel of the same name, the film centres on the coming of age of Arjie Chelvaratnam, a young Tamil boy in Sri Lanka who is coming to terms with his homosexuality against the backdrop of the increased tensions between Tamil and Sinhalese people before the breakout of the Sri Lankan Civil War.[2]

Shot on location in Chennai and Colombo, the film stars Arush Nand as Arjie in childhood and Brandon Ingram as Arjie in his teenage years, as well as Nimmi Harasgama, Ali Kazmi, Agam Darshi, Seema Biswas, Rehan Mudannayake and Shivantha Wijesinha.[2] Its production was first announced in 2018.[3] The film will have a theatrical release in Canada and selected cities in the United States, and will be distributed internationally via Netflix.[2] The movie rights for the United States have been acquired by Ava DuVernay’s ARRAY Releasing who will handle worldwide distribution.[2]

It was broadcast December 4, 2020, on CBC Television and was released for streaming on CBC Gem the same day.[4] It was selected as the Canadian entry for the Best International Feature Film at the 93rd Academy Awards,[5] but was disqualified from that category by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences due to not meeting the Academy's requirement that fifty percent of the dialogue be in a language other than English.[6]

Cast

  • Arush Nand as younger Arjie
  • Brandon Ingram as older Arjie
  • Nimmi Harasgama as Amma / Nalini
  • Ali Kazmi as Chelva
  • Seema Biswas as Ammachi
  • Agam Darshi as Radha
  • Ruvin De Silva as Anil
  • Shivantha Wijesinha as Jegan
  • Rehan Mudannayake as Shehan

Controversies

Following the trailer, opposition towards the film grew regarding the lack of Tamil actors in the cast despite the film's focus on the Tamil characters.[7] In response, Mehta stated that while she initially cast Tamil actors in the film, they were unable to continue for various reasons, including refugee statuses interfering with visa applications, and the fear of making a film about homosexuality, which is still illegal in Sri Lanka.[8] She claims to have had difficulty finding additional Tamil actors willing to be part of a gay film.[9][8][10] Because of the lack of native Tamil speakers from Sri Lanka in Mehta's depiction of Funny Boy, the Tamil language spoken in the film was described as disjointed and sometimes unintelligible.[11] There have also been claims that the inaccuracies in the language contribute to the erasure of the Tamil identity.[11] Mehta responded to the criticisms surrounding the Tamil language by sending the film to India for dubbing post-production.[8] After screening the final film, some members of the community have said that while the Tamil spoken in the revised version is better than the original, it is still not the Tamil spoken in Sri Lanka.[8]

Selvadurai himself responded to the casting controversy by directly comparing the political and social pressures that affected actors' willingness to appear in the film with the political and social pressures he had written about in the novel: "What are the political structures that don’t allow you to come out? The patriarchy. And that same patriarchy is applied to the nationalist discourse, which results in these kinds of civil wars, or war, period. All my work comes from, in a way, queering the discourse around nation and state and race.”[12]

Reception

Critical response

The film received positive reviews from critics. On Rotten Tomatoes, the film holds an approval rating of 82% based on 33 reviews, with an average rating of 6.6/10.[13] On Metacritic, the film has an aggregated score of 62 out of 100 based on 9 reviews, indicating "generally favorable reviews".[14]

Andrew Parker of The Gate stated that "Funny Boy handles both of the material's main angles with respect and compassion, which is a testament to Selvadurai's source material and some of Mehta's strongest visuals to date....this story can be viewed as another great example of how human rights abuses are allowed to run rampant because those experiencing them are staying silent in a bid to go along with the nationalistic flow."[15] Tracy Brown of the Los Angeles Times wrote that "It's both precious and refreshing when queer characters in coming-of-age stories fall in love without having to overcome any inner turmoil over their identities, so Arjie and Shehan's story is plenty heartwarming."[16] Jude Dry of IndieWire gave the film a grade of A-, writing that it "is a luminous coming-of-age tale seen through the eyes of a relatable yet entirely unique experience."[17] Deborah Young of The Hollywood Reporter wrote: "Vividly drawn characters portrayed by a lively, likable cast in a seductive tropical atmosphere make this a welcome return of Toronto-based Mehta to filming her native Indian subcontinent."[18]

Chris Knight of the National Post rated it 3 stars out of 5 and stated that "Certainly a little background into the conflict would help non-Tamil viewers find their footing. Even so, Funny Boy remains at one level approachably universal in its appeal."[19] Cath Clarke of The Guardian also gave it 3/5 stars, praising the first half of the film but criticizing the second half; she concluded: "In the end the story is told rather blandly, the edges sentimentally smoothed down."[20] Kevin Maher of The Times gave the film 2/5 stars, describing it as "a film of thoughtful themes (the poison of intolerance), crudely emblematic scenes and overwritten dialogue", and added: "Worst of all, it soft-sells the horror of ethnic cleansing, with a climactic neighbourhood massacre reduced to a few broken windows and some offensive chanting."[21] Roxana Hadadi of RogerEbert.com gave the film 2/4 stars, writing that it "falters when trying to link together the personal and political, making for a well-intentioned film that never delivers much depth."[22]

While holding Mehta accountable, Tina Hassannia of The Globe and Mail questioned Ava DuVernay's ARRAY distributing the film, writing that "the pioneering American director, a vocal supporter for onscreen representation, might have wanted to question the casting decisions of Funny Boy before taking it on.”[23]

The film was named to TIFF's year-end Canada's Top Ten list for feature films.[24]

Awards and nominations

Award Date of Ceremony Category Nominees Result Reference
Canadian Screen Awards May 20, 2021 Best Picture David Hamilton, Hussain Amarshi Nominated [25][26]
Best Director Deepa Mehta Won
Best Supporting Actress Agam Darshi Nominated
Best Adapted Screenplay Deepa Mehta, Shyam Selvadurai Won
Best Sound Editing James Sizemore, Jane Tattersall, David McCallum, Steve Medeiros, Krystin Hunter, Stefan Fraticelli, Jason Charbonneau Nominated
Best Sound Mixing Lou Solakofski, Joe Morrow, Randy Wilson, Ron Melgers Nominated
Best Original Score Howard Shore Won
Best Makeup Elizabeth Gruszka Nominated
Best Visual Effects Peter McAuley, Michael Bishop, Derek Gebhart, Armen Bunag, Luke White, James Marin, Marco Polsinelli, Andrew Rolfe, Davor Celar Nominated

References

  1. ↑ Radheyan Simonpillai, "Deepa Mehta's Funny Boy to premiere on Netflix". Now, October 15, 2020.
  2. 1 2 3 4 Ravindran, Manori (15 October 2020). "Ava DuVernay's ARRAY Releasing Buys Deepa Mehta's 'Funny Boy,' With Netflix Launch Set for December". Variety.
  3. ↑ van Koeverden, Jane (7 September 2018). "Shyam Selvadurai and Deepa Mehta adapting the novel Funny Boy for the big screen". CBC Books.
  4. ↑ Ravindran, Manori (27 October 2020). "Deepa Mehta's 'Funny Boy' Lines Up World Broadcast Premiere on CBC". Variety.
  5. ↑ Ravindran, Manori (29 October 2020). "Canada Enters International Feature Film Oscar Race With Deepa Mehta's 'Funny Boy'". Variety. Retrieved 29 October 2020.
  6. ↑ Naman Ramanchandran (18 December 2020). "Canada's Oscar Entry 'Funny Boy' Pulled From International Feature Film Race". Variety.
  7. ↑ Sunthar Vykunthanathan (20 November 2020). "'Funny Boy' isn't the progressive film it's made out to be". Hofstra Chronicle. Retrieved 27 November 2020.
  8. 1 2 3 4 Simonpillai, Radheyan (24 November 2020). "Funny Boy elicits love and anger from the Tamil diaspora". Now. Retrieved 28 November 2020.
  9. ↑ Ahearn, Victoria (26 November 2020). "Deepa Mehta on why more Tamil actors weren't in lead roles in new film 'Funny Boy'". CTV News. Retrieved 28 November 2020.
  10. ↑ Sunthar Vykunthanathan (20 November 2020). "Why Deepa Mehta's 'Funny Boy' isn't as inclusive as you may think". Toronto Star. Retrieved 27 November 2020.
  11. 1 2 Nedra Rodrigo (26 November 2020). "On Deepa Mehta's Funny Boy, the intimacy of violence, and the trauma of cultural erasure". The Globe and Mail. Retrieved 28 November 2020.
  12. ↑ Gordon Bowness, "‘Funny Boy’ is forever precocious and provocative". Xtra Magazine, December 4, 2020.
  13. ↑ "Funny Boy (2020)". Rotten Tomatoes. Retrieved 1 February 2022.
  14. ↑ "Funny Boy reviews". Metacritic. Retrieved 1 February 2022.
  15. ↑ Parker, Andrew (26 November 2020). "Funny Boy | Review". TheGATE.ca. Retrieved 15 December 2020.
  16. ↑ "Review: 'Funny Boy' is an ambitious story about growing up gay and Tamil in Sri Lanka". Los Angeles Times. 10 December 2020. Retrieved 16 December 2020.
  17. ↑ Dry, Jude (10 December 2020). "'Funny Boy' Review: A Gorgeous Queer Coming-of-Age Tale Set in a Divided Sri Lanka". IndieWire. Retrieved 1 February 2022.
  18. ↑ Young, Deborah (8 December 2020). "'Funny Boy': Film Review". The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved 1 February 2022.
  19. ↑ Knight, Chris (27 November 2020). "Funny Boy is a challenging adaption of a beloved coming-of-age novel". National Post. Retrieved 16 December 2020.
  20. ↑ Clarke, Cath (10 December 2020). "Funny Boy review – Sri Lankan rites-of-passage tale clashes with political reality". The Guardian. Retrieved 1 February 2022.
  21. ↑ Maher, Kevin (11 December 2020). "Funny Boy review — soap opera mixed up with ethnic cleansing". The Times. ISSN 0140-0460. Retrieved 1 February 2022.
  22. ↑ Hadadi, Roxana (10 December 2020). "Funny Boy movie review & film summary (2020) | Roger Ebert". RogerEbert.com. Retrieved 1 February 2022.
  23. ↑ Tina Hassannia (26 November 2020). "Review: Deepa Mehta's Funny Boy is both powerful and problematic". The Globe and Mail. Retrieved 28 November 2020.
  24. ↑ Victoria Ahearn, "Toronto International Film Festival releases Top Ten lists for 2020" Archived 4 January 2021 at the Wayback Machine. Squamish Chief, December 9, 2020.
  25. ↑ Brent Furdyk (30 March 2021). "Canadian Screen Awards Announces 2021 Film Nominations". ET Canada. Archived from the original on 30 March 2021.
  26. ↑ Zach Harper, "'Schitt's Creek' and 'Kim's Convenience' win big at 2021 Canadian Screen Awards". Hello! Canada, May 21, 2021.
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