Venice Days review - ISLAND CITY by Ruchika Oberoi

Modern life is not fun. ISLAND CITY is marks the directorial feature debut of director RUCHIKA OBEROI and was presented in the VENICE DAYS section of the 72nd VENICE FILM FESTIVAL.

Three different episodes make up the narrative of the film ISLAND CITY, the feature directorial debut by Indian director RUCHIKA OBEROI. 

The first is the satirical story of a man who works in a statistics centre who is ordered by his bosses to take a day off work and have fun by following instructions given to him, which obviously only have the opposite effect. 

The second trails the life of a family and the way in which their purchasing a TV affects their lives and lessens the importance of their real life in which their patriarchal figure is in a coma fighting for their lives, with the new appliance becoming a much welcomed and softer substitute. 

The third is the tale of a woman who trades her life as the predestined wife of a street urchin in order to entertain the flights of fancy of a romance with an mysterious secret admirer, who communicates with her through written correspondence.

The observations on everyday life are obviously influenced by modern day indian society, but the thoughts of the oppressed poorer proletariat can be related to a more universal setting. And while the episodes exist on the same universe, they are treated almost as separate short films, both in visual approach, which includes cinematography and colour schemes with the first episode's crafted meticulousness opposing for instance the third's documentary like realism and immediacy, and even in overall tone - the first a more blatant type of black comedy, the second a softer comedy drama and the third a much bleaker and more realistic episode. 

Expectedly, not all episodes are equally as interesting - the second one even seems a little watered down and the first is both impressive with a level of entertainment and creativity that the film somehow struggles to match throughout the rest of its duration. Furthermore the jumps of difference between the three really does make ISLAND CITY unflattering as a feature and feels more like a quick short film program. 

Nevertheless, the wit and cleverness of the screenplay, even whilst needing a little polishing in the narrative, still feels thought provoking and even slightly unsettling, particularly when dealing with the relationship with the drag of real life with the temptation of delusions of a more appealing imagined one.