Coming in hot from winning the Grand Prix at the 77th Cannes Film Festival, All We Imagine as Light is a hopeful story. The themes revolved around sisterhood, keeping the dying hope alive and finding peace with the reality that is present versus holding on to a burnt out wick of dreams. The analogy of the light(s) is great for a lively city like Mumbai, but also as a symbol of the light within all human beings’ souls.
The story follows Prabha (Kani Kusruti) and Anu (Divya Prabha) are Malayali nurses living together in Mumbai. Prabha is strict and upright, and yearns for her husband who migrated to Germany soon after their marriage. Anu is more outgoing, and is having a secret affair with a Muslim man named Shiaz. The two are also close with the hospital cook, Parvaty (Chhaya Kadam), fighting against a capitalistic builder who wants to demolish Parvaty’s chawl to build a high-rise.
Indian filmmaker Payal Kapadia had already had her debut feature documentary film A Night of Knowing Nothing win the Golden Eye award at the 74th Cannes Film Festival, back in 2021. Now, she invited audiences back to a drama-romance film which does an amazing job of following the lives of these three women.
“All We Imagine as Light is a hopeful story about sisterhood, keeping the dying hope alive, and finding peace with the reality that is present versus holding on to a burnt-out wick of dreams.”
A fourth hidden character would be the city of Mumbai itself, which Kapadia captures so well in this film, supported by some voiceover of various people and their native dialects. As someone who has not been to Mumbai, I could tell the storytelling was made in a way of expressing how Mumbai is a melting pot of languages and cultures from various parts of India—almost like Toronto but less of an international mix. The voiceover dialogue had people speaking Hindi, Malayalam, Marathi, Gujarati, Tamil and more.
All We Imagine as Light employs Azees Nedumangad’s Dr. Manoj as an exemplary illustration of the diverse dialects spoken in Mumbai. If I am not mistaken, Dr. Manoj spoke Malayalam, but he stated in the film how he was slowly trying to speak the more common tongue with Hindi.
The scene between Prabha and Dr. Manoj was so cute here, as Dr. Manoj asks Prabha to help with his Hindi pronunciation. Many subtleties in the dialogue built great chemistry between characters, which is to Kapadia’s writing credit as well. But, it is also to the credit of the captivating actors who deliver the well-written script.
Kusruti and Prabha are the two that have the most drama between each other on-screen, since their characters are almost completely opposites. To throw a third party into the mix, Kadam’s Parvaty is like a perfect blend of the two, more leaning towards Prabha’s Anu caricature—just closer in age to Kusruti’s Prabha.
Parvaty is the most complex character of the three women, and was the person I was most interested in watching surprisingly enough. She recently lost her husband and cannot legally prove she has land ownership, and with her experience, she decides to just let it all go. It takes a really brave person to acknowledge the situation is unwinnable, so let me find an alternative solution to live out the rest of my days. While it can be a negative trait to seem like a pushover, it takes a strong sense of a person to lose a life battle in order to win the war that is life.
All We Imagine as Light features a film style that resembles 70s and 80s films taking place in New York City, which explores the intricacies of dating and relationships. Cinematographer Ranabir Das does so well to encapsulate this familiar feeling and look. Das’ shot selections made this film feel part-documentary, part-feature film, which makes sense since Das and Kapadia both worked together on A Night of Knowing Nothing. From the shots of city life in Mumbai to the sunsets on the beaches of Ratnagiri, every location mattered.
“All We Imagine as Light is a meaningful film that does not overstay its welcome with too many lingering shots.”
The b-roll is done so well, capturing the simple lives of those working and playing in everyday Mumbai. There is one shot of b-roll that transitions to the main scene so well too! I was left shocked and awed like ‘wow, not many films would shoot it that way’. What sells the introspection look of All We Imagine as Light is the aspect ratio. It almost looks like it is a moving Polaroid picture.
Most stylistic films like Saltburn, Longlegs or Poor Things, to name a few recent ones, played around with aspect ratio to fit the vibe of the overall film or a scene. All We Imagine as Light does this too with its own unique look of playing with the 1.66:1 ratio that films like A Clockwork Orange, Jackie or New York, New York used. All We Imagine as Light used it as a way of giving off the vibes that this film was capturing memorable scenes in these women’s lives that they would remember like a picture that lasts generations.
All We Imagine as Light is a meaningful film that does not overstay its welcome with too many lingering shots. The shots that do linger tend to have voiceovers to supplement the perspectives of Mumbai, and all the stories about the city—”the city of illusions” some would say. It explores the mixture of religions, cultures, relationships and beliefs too. The feelings of hope and heartbreak are similar to recent emotional-life dramas like Past Lives, We Live in Time, and Minari. If you enjoyed those life tales, this one may bring you to tears as well.
