Ship of Theseus - Movie Review

Ship of Theseus is not a film for the masses. The direction is flawless, camera work eloquent and storytelling mesmerising.  It's cinema that makes you think and leaves you with multiple questions and interpretations.  The film is devoid of dialogues, all it has are conversations each so simple yet so complex, it's hard to wrap your head around them and look at the bigger picture. 

The first story is about a blind photographer who captures and chronicles her life through photos.  Her boyfriend vectors them, etches them and she takes a judgment call on whether they are good or bad by running her fingers across the printed canvas.  Although she's accomplished she often feels that she isn't good enough.  The apprehension stems from the fact that she can't see & believes her pictures are appreciated simply because she's blind. Then she gets an eye transplant and begins to see the world in colour.  But the chaos of the world she lives in is far too much for her to take.  She finds it difficult to use all her senses to replicate the great photos she used to take.  Her story ends with her at a crossroads coming to the realisation that it's about time she experienced the world rather than just purely chronicling it. 

The second story is about an ascetic monk who is fighting a legal battle to stop the mistreatment of animals used for drug testing. Somewhere down the road the monk finds out that he has liver cirrhosis and to survive he would need to do a transplant which would involve taking many medicines.  Since the monk is against animal testing he refuses to take the medicines and decides to cease existing.  The one piece of conversation he has with the law intern is particularly engaging where he asks him, what is the point of existence, if what we do doesn't affect the world in any way? His story ends with him realising that his time was not up and deciding to go ahead with the operation. The monk's inner battle between staying alive and compromising on his beliefs is compelling.

The third story is of a stock broker who gets a kidney transplant.  He lives with his grandmother in Mumbai who is not in favor of his job.  She would much rather have him fighting for something he truly believes in.  The thing is that there is nothing he believes in strongly besides money and the respect that comes along with it.  By absolute chance he learns about the plight of Shankar, a poor brick layer whose kidney was stolen whilst an appendix operation.  This revelation leads him to believe that the kidney he had was stolen from Shankar and so he tries to learn the truth behind it. Using his connections he finds out that the kidney now, belonged to a man from Stockholm.  He decides to help Shankar get his kidney back.  He goes to Sweden and convinces the recipient of the kidney to pay for Shankar's transplant. This leads to Shankar getting a cheque for 6.5l and a promise to be paid every month but no kidney which suits Shankar just fine. The director tackles the question of morality in this story. The three protagonists, the stock broker, the bricklayer and the man from Stockholm are all faced with moral dilemmas.

The highlight of the film however, is how the three stories come together and here's why the film stands out from any in its league.  The storytelling is different from anything I've ever seen and the punch line comes in its final few moments. I won't reveal the end but leave you with Theseus's paradox.