The Glass That Would Not Be Quiet
The teenage years are marked with many kinds of battles – the internal almost emotional turmoil of being invisible, adamant about fitting in at all cost, and so on. Look Away, a movie created in 2018 and directed by Assaf Bernstein, is a psychological thriller whick expands on such battles. Its main character, Maria, is a highschool girl who is unquie and very lonely. As the plot thickens, she becomes alienated and is forced to socialize with herself, and here is where she meets her reflection in the mirror. When the reflection starts talking and offering her self-confidence and power and violence, she takes it all and it unveils the sad story about violent identity crisis.
The main focus of this movie, is not how creepy the plot is. The story goes far beyond the characters and moves into the elements of the crew’s lives as well. In India, this means dealing with unexpressed desire to be appreciated, family restriction, and lack of communication at home.
The father of India Eisley, Olivia Hussey, played the part of Maria, while having a darker side called Airam. Eisley always seemed to be in the shadow of her mother, who played a well known character as Juliet in the 1968 movie Romeo and Juliet. Eisen, like many others, was not recognized throughout the world, while in reality she possessed a great amount of talent. Maria is a perfect example of almost being invisible and is the perfect comparison to Eisen’s career; which was very clouded with legacy and very loud industry.
In Look Away, Eisley had to perform the delicate balance of timidity and chilling dominance. Eisley, in interviews, explained how difficult it was, emotionally and physically, to shoot long sequences in isolation, where she played both characters and reacted to herself in the mirror. The dual role became a personal challenge. Would she be strong enough to claim her presence in the cinema world?
In India, like many other places and during many other times, audiences see young actors, be it in Bollywood or regional industries, being measured against the fame of their parents. It is a tad easier for the star kids of the actors. Eisley, like Maria, had to establish her identity and brand herself, but in this case, it was needed to be done, in the case of every single one of them, twice for in a row.
Jason Isaacs: A Father Figure With Hidden Layers
In the film, the controlling father, Dan, is played by Jason Isaacs, famous for, among many other things, being Lucius Malfoy in the Harry Potter movies. In Look Away, his character is a perfectionist parent, obsessed with control, appearance, and dominance. In real life, Isaacs has spoken about his own battles with addiction and mental health. He recognizes the detrimental consequences of denial and silence, issues Dan represents.
In all showcases of discipline, silence plays a fundamental role. “Absence of love is not the silence but the hatred. True love is woven with an intricate silence. The most wonderful calm there is,” said Irvin D. Yalom.
Indian families frequently tend to experience same patterns relating to fathers whose love is unexpressed, masked by emotional desolation and absorbs love but exudes harshness and expects nothing less than perfection. Isaacs’ casts this archetype and, for the first time, offers to the Indian audience a reflection of their social predicaments regarding parental control, social standing, and the unexpressed fissures of ‘ideal’ families.
Mira Sorvino: Remaining an actress and a mother.
Mira Sorvino, who is an oscar award winning actress known for her participation in the #MeToo movement, brought to life the character of Amy, Maria’s emotionally absent mother, and in doing so added a dimension of depth to the character. On the surface Amy is a mother who, does not defend her daughter and becomes engrossed in her own emotional estrangement. Off the screen, Sorvino has spent several decades on the advocacy for the silenced and sidelined women, which is the opposite of everything she is known for in Hollywood.
Many Indian mothers, Sorvino’s character portrays, is the result of the cultural practices of submission and the the modern demand to empower their children. Sorvino’s presence makes Amy’s character — whose absence was more tragic than the rest of the film — an illustration of the fact that violence is not only personal, but structural.
The Director’s Shadow and His Choices
The Israeli filmmaker Assaf Bernstein, who has previously directed Look Away, along with Fauda and The Debt, has his interest in betrayal and hidden identity’s pulsating in the film. The fascination of his with duality and horror, he says, is self contained.
Assaf Bernstein sees repression through mirrors. He argues that anger, sexuality, and rebellion are routinely tucked away only to later emerge without rationality. In the realm of Indian folklore, mirrors are sometimes described as tests of truth, or as gateways to other dimensions. Maya and the cinematic representations of mirrors in the films Kahaani and Raaz is illustrative of how they endure in our civilization. Bernstein’s reflexive approach carries with it, the cross cultural notion that the most frightening encounters are within us.
The Atmosphere Surrounding the Release
Fans of horror, and other crowds, were quick to respond to the Look Away trailer. Across numerous platforms, people were drawn to the image of a teenager coving her mouth to whisper to a mirror. It was an uneasy image that many people found shared social experiences with. In forum discussions, people compared it to elements of Black Swan and Carrie. Both were described as films that created build up tension without the use of supernatural jumping scares.
Critics revealed their opposing views. Some reviewers appreciated Eisley’s captivating duality while others thought the story relied too heavily on clichés. Audiences who streamed the film later on, however, seemed to have unearthed its subtle strength. ‘Look Away’ was unique in India which was used to tacky comedic horror films appealing to a Westernized sense. This film presented, instead, the horror of repression and silence coupled to mirrors of ruthless illumination.
What Was Missing from Fan Discussion
One omitted aspect presented less frequently is that the epithet ‘Airam’ is the word ‘Maria’ reversed. It is hardly subtle, yet many watch the film for the first time and miss this point. This inversion illustrates how ‘the other’ Maria is not wholly other, but rather is a kept girl, inverted, and de-clothed from control.
The other ‘Maria’ sits cloaked in a cold and clammy world of lightless luminous blues and pure stark whites, under a debilitating hue of consciousness, free while Airam’s other selves supervene cloaked in morbid sanguinous shades. Pedro Luque, who previously worked on the film Don’t Breathe, was the cinematographer. Luque was said to have utilized shadow and light in such a way that it was like another sentient character within the story. Indian art forms, like Kathakali or Yakshagana, have distinct color symbolism. White for purity, sanguine for wrath. This delicate color balance on the other side of the planet bridges the gap between centuries old civilizations and storytelling.
Behind the Scenes Stories
Shooting the film’s eerie atmosphere set in Winnipeg was enhanced by the winter season. ‘It was like stepping on frozen set,’ said Eisley. ‘I felt like I was walking into Maria’s emotional world—cold, brittle, and lonely!’
Here’s another interesting tidbit. In the first cuts, Assaf Bernstein wanted a classic horror film score, but then chose delicate and ethereal sounscaping. He wanted the silences to be as frightening as the shrillest of screams, which was a brilliant move.
Though a seasoned actor, Mira Sorvino, in her interviews, said the emotional sequences were hardest because of her Eisley’s portrayal of her daughter. It made her performance as a delicate mother almost excruciatingly real.
What Makes It Connect With Indian Viewers
The core of the film, Look Away, is about being invisible which is the kind of suffering most young people endure when the family system puts a premium on respect, when the school system rewards popularity rather than kindness, and when love is utterly conditional. Maria’s suffocation is something Indians, living with ‘log kya kahenge syndrome’ have lived.
The culture’s collective shadow is also touched upon: the silent daughters, the suppressed mothers, the dictatorial fathers, and the unarticulated fury that, at times, erupts. In the classic Indian horrors like Mahal and Tumbbad, fear is not only about the monsters, but what is buried under the fabric of the society.
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