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‘The Shameless’ Review: A Remarkable Lead Performance Illuminates Radical Visions of Indian Womanhood
Konstantin Bojanov's "The Shameless"
The chain-smoking, foul-mouthed Renuka is an ill-fitting puzzle piece in any corner of Indian society, whose deeply conservative dynamics are illuminated through subtle details that hint at the religious and caste structures that make up the movie’s backdrop. While she embodies some of the most volatile symptoms of repression (including a particularly incendiary depiction of self-harm), her style of acting results in a strange aesthetic bifurcation, as cinematic naturalism clashes with the filmic equivalent of classical Indian dance, in all its operatic glory. However, despite its lacking emotional throughlines, the film’s frankness with regards to femininity and women’s bodies, and its vicious depictions of the violent forms of control enacted by men — ideas mapped out on Sengupta’s painful expressions in every scene — create a vivid texture, and a tactile sense of reality.
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