Before Spring (2023) Movie Review: The Quiet Struggles and the Tangled Realities of Life

In a hyperlinked narrative that centralizes the conflict of human lives against socio-cultural and economic barriers such as caste, class, gender, and also time, the characters of Shrutismriti Changkakoti’s debut feature film, “Before Spring,” are people who are living a negotiated life shaped by personal and emotional shortcomings like love and desire. Residing in a small town on the northern bank of the river Brahmaputra in Assam, the characters in the film are also crushed by societal pressures and economic limitations. Battered by the unending monotony of existence, Jun, a young boy, shows little to no urgency in passing the school exams he has repeatedly failed. After being abandoned by his love interest, who belongs to a higher caste, he joins the ferry business, transporting passengers across the river to support his mother.

Meanwhile, Monikanta (Moni da), whose beard and hair have turned white, is married to a significantly younger woman. He struggles to manage his ancestral shop, unable to provide financially for his family or his wife. His conflict lies against the unrelaxed passage of time, which he is unable to keep up with. While his age places him far ahead of his wife, the dilapidated shop pushes him equally behind compared to the newer shops emerging in the neighborhood. Hence, there exists an emotional and physical gap between the husband and the wife. And Majoni, the third central character of the film is a young girl preparing for her class 10th exams. She develops feelings for her home tutor, only to be exploited by him later. After taking advantage of her innocence, the tutor disappears, leaving her feeling abandoned and betrayed.

It is through these stories that filmmaker Shrutismriti Changkakoti focuses on the centrality of conflict in human lives. Even before the characters are fully introduced, their struggles are made evident to the audiences: a teenager from a lower caste background who has failed his exams multiple times, and a wife who is visibly displeased when a neighbor makes a comment on her husband’s declining business. These are among the first few opening sequences in the film. The socio-economic divides thus create a strong framework within which both the internal and interpersonal conflicts among the characters unfold. Writer-director Shrutismriti Changkakoti then explores the deeper, structural, and psychological dimensions of their struggles and the various forms of opposition in human lives to narrate the story of the three characters that arrive at multiple crossroads in life.

“Before Spring” is not a dramatic but rather a pragmatic take on the stories of Jun and Majoni. As they come to terms with life, their narratives univocally reflect the feeling of being liberated or breaking free from the constraints that hold them. It is rare to witness such a sensitive portrayal of budding love between a young girl and a much older man. The inner world of this young girl in love is painted with yellow, red, and blue. The art design of the film has to be acknowledged here for its rare use of colors as signifiers in Assamese cinema.

Majoni’s life is centered around the words of her tutor, Pradip (played by Monuj Borkotoky), as we witness her going about her daily routine, accompanied by a voiceover of her reading a handwritten letter from him. As a filmmaker, Shrutismriti Changkakoti succeeds in building her world, a world that has gradually withered like a flower pressed between the pages of a book for too long. The fragrance and elegance are no longer there. Only a harsh remainder of what’s come to an end.

Instead of grand gestures, there are simple scenes in which the protagonists slowly come to terms with their naivety and understand the world around them. Jun places his self-respect above his love when he recognizes that the divide between him and his beloved is rooted in a socially constructed separation, one that he cannot overcome on his own. In the case of Moni da, there is a reversal of traditional gender roles. As his shop in decay fails to attract customers, he assumes the role of performing all the household chores while his wife becomes the sole breadwinner for the family. This shift strips him of both the authority to speak and the agency to act.

His reaction is that of silence even when he finds a pack of cigarettes in his college-going daughter’s pockets. He initially struggles to break free from this realization but eventually comes to an understanding that it is too late to change his circumstances. He ultimately accepts the harsh reality of his position. His story is that of lament, for time, which cannot be defied, has left him unable to alter his fate. He definitely finds a job but also has to sell his shop.

Destiny is not kind to these characters but filmmaker Shrutismriti Changkakoti treats her subjects with a kind grace and allegiance. They face difficult odds yet they find ways to maintain their independence while also breaking free from the existing perils of their situations. Newcomers Upasana Priyam and Abhijit Roy delicately establish the collapse of the worlds of their characters, Majoni and Jun, respectively. At their side is actor Deepjyoti Kakati as Moni da who approaches his character with a refined calm and gentleness.

Majoni’s heartbreak can be felt through Upasana Priyam’s innocent portrayal of the character and her firm stand can be understood by her tender but strong voice of protest later. Meanwhile, Moni da realizes the failure of his role as a caregiver and provider and makes a determined choice between his wife and his daughter. Jun seeks to find hope as vast as the river Brahmaputra before him, but this hope comes at the cost of detaching himself from the attachments of affection which was also a force that dehumanized and devalued him. Thus, in their own ways, the characters rediscover themselves. The theme of finding oneself once more, after having been lost, carries a significant importance in the film.

“Before Spring” is shot by cinematographer Jayanth Mathavan who also serves as the producer for the film. His camera work captures the tender and broken portrait of the lives of these three characters – the emptiness around Majoni, the desolation and helplessness of Moni da, and the abandonment of Jun. In particular, there is a scene where Majoni sits at her study table, awaiting the arrival of her tutor, and the camera simultaneously captures both the presence and absence of Pradip in the room as well as in her mind. However, there are moments where the camera work could have been more stable. For instance, in the scene where Moni da hangs the clothes he has washed to dry, or when he follows his wife through the city to catch a glimpse of her sitting and leaving on someone else’s motorbike.

Apart from the primary characters, there’s a horde of secondary characters in the film who influence the lives of the primary characters – Jun, Majoni, and Moni da – to a dramatic extent. A non-dramatic closure for these secondary characters—such as Majoni’s tutor, Pradip, Moni da’s daughter, and Jun’s love interest, Dulu— could have equally contributed to the narrative’s questioning of life, choices, authority, individuality, and freedom. There’s a desire to know more about Moni da’s daughter—specifically, how she utilized the money that her father gave to her after selling his shop, given her previous dissatisfaction and desire to escape the family. Does she manage to break free, or does she ultimately come to terms with her own circumstances and luck?

However, these shortcomings do not diminish the fact that “Before Spring” works as a moving drama centered on the conflicts of the human experience and that it tells a powerful story of emancipation. Conflict is not just a clash of wills; it’s a lens through which we understand the complexities of the human experience. Before Spring shows exactly that. It offers a delicate examination of the quiet struggles and the tangled realities of life that define us.

Read More: 10 Essential Award-Winning Assamese Movies Of The Decade (2010s)

Before Spring (2023) Movie Links: IMDb
The Cast of Before Spring (2023) Movie: Monuj Borkotoky, Ranjita Boruah, Himbarsha Das
Before Spring (2023) Movie Runtime: 1h 26m, Genre: Drama