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Bay Area Reporter :: Sri Lanka queer drama: Shyam Selvadurai & Deepa Mehta's 'Funny Boy' ebar.com - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from ebar.com Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.
Funny that way Set against Sri Lanka’s 26-year civil war, ‘ Funny Boy’ holds messages for today Gregg Shapiro | Screen Savor Based on the acclaimed 1994 novel of the same name by gay writer Shyam Selvadurai (who co-wrote the screenplay), Funny Boy (Array) is directed by Deepa Mehta (who co-wrote the screenplay with Selvadurai). Mehta, who is straight, is no stranger to queer material, having written and directed the award-winning 1996 lesbian feature Fire. Set in Colombo, Sri Lanka, during the mid-1970s and early 1980s, especially turbulent years leading up to the beginning of the civil war between the Tamils and the Sinhalese that lasted for 26 years, Funny Boy is timely for a variety of reasons. At a time when tensions are particularly high here in the U.S., with our own civil war seemingly looming daily, Funny Boy serves as a kind of warning. Equally important is the central theme of sexuality and acceptance that propels the story. ....
Photo: ‘Funny Boy’/Netflix ‘Funny Boy’opens with an image of Sri Lanka that evokes paradise. Children navigate through pockets of shade among cavernous palms, like fawns prancing through the forest, as they run along the sand of an azure seashore. We see a mock bridal procession led by our young protagonist Arjie (Arush Nand), who wears bright red lipstick and a sari to match. His younger sister Sonali (Araina Nand) runs alongside him, dressed in a groom’s suit–trailing behind them are their girl cousins. Arriving at their family’s estate, where much of the film takes place, they continue the ceremony. One of the cousins officiates as Arjie and Sonali exchange their “I do’s” and kiss each other on the cheek. The bridal party erupts in applause and cheers, tossing flower petals into the air, but cousin Tanuja (Thenaya Senarie Geeganage), a visitor from England, is not amused. ....