Trishna

Premiering at the 2011 Toronto International Film Festival®, Trishna is a provocative interpretation of Thomas Hardy’s groundbreaking work of Victorian fiction Tess of the D’Urbervilles. The third adaptation of Hardy’s work by the prolific British director Michael Winterbottom (The Trip), having made Jude (Jude the Obscure) in 1996 and The Claim (The Mayor of Casterbridge) in 2000, Trishna revitalizes the classic text by transposing the story to modern India with captivating results. A luminous Frieda Pinto (Slumdog Millionaire, You Will Meet a Tall Dark Stranger) stars as the titular Trishna, a young woman who lives with her family in a poverty-stricken village in Rajasthan, India’s largest state. When her father loses his livelihood in a traffic accident, she must find work to help pay the bills. Jay (Riz Ahmed, Four Lions, The Road to Guantánamo) is the wealthy British-Indian son of a property developer. When he takes up managing a resort at his father’s request, he spots Trishna at a dance and is immediately captivated by her. The infatuated Jay – a composite of Tess’ two suitors from the novel – hears about Trishna's plight and offers her a job at the resort; and so begins their complicated and fateful relationship. Shot with Winterbottom’s typically agile camera in the picturesque expanse of Jaipur and the modern bustle of Mumbai, Trishna is drenched in beauty — but beauty is only one of its interests. It is also a perfect setting for Hardy's story, powerfully encapsulating the tension between ancient privilege and modern equality, between the codes of urban and rural life, and ultimately between men and women. Rooted in enchanting visual rhythms and aided by an incredible original score, Trishna is a hymn to both the glory and the tragedy that comes with beauty.

Director: Michael Winterbottom
Featuring: Freida Pinto, Riz Ahmed, Kalki Koechlin
Year: 2011
Runtime: 117 minutes
Country: UK
Language: English
Distributor: Mongrel Media


Ratings: ON NR / BC NR / AB NR / SK NR / MB NR / QC NR / Maritmes NR

SCREENING DATES 

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