Mansion by the Lake

Name: Wekande Walauwa
Genre: Drama
Released: 2003-08-27
Duration: 1 h 46 min
Rating: 5.7
Cast: Malini Fonseka, Vasanthi Chathurani, Sanath Gunathilake

Original title: Wekande Walauwa

2002
1h 46m

IMDb RATING

5.7/10

YOUR RATING

Drama

Very loosely based on Anton Chekov's the Cherry Orchard, the film follows a family of formerly wealthy, expatriate Sri Lankan landowners, now impoverished, as they return from England to the... Read allVery loosely based on Anton Chekov's the Cherry Orchard, the film follows a family of formerly wealthy, expatriate Sri Lankan landowners, now impoverished, as they return from England to the magnificent country estate they left behind. A deeply moving study of a caste and a count... Read allVery loosely based on Anton Chekov's the Cherry Orchard, the film follows a family of formerly wealthy, expatriate Sri Lankan landowners, now impoverished, as they return from England to the magnificent country estate they left behind. A deeply moving study of a caste and a country torn apart by social change.

See production info at IMDbPro

IMDb RATING

5.7/10

YOUR RATING

See production info at IMDbPro

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Trivia
Official submission of Sri Lanka for the 'Best Foreign Language Film' category of the 76th Academy Awards in 2004.

Connections
Version of Sakura no sono (1936)

User reviews3

Review

Featured review

Authoritative work of the most noted film maker from Ceylon.

Can this really be the director who made REKAVA a half century ago? It does have the measured authoritative quality of the films that Carl Dreyer or G.W. Pabst made in their seventies - should we add Clint Eastwood? Peries is not overshadowed in this company.

However MANSION BY THE LAKE is warmer and more involving than the work of these other seasoned directors. The Chekov plot is visible but the people seem so firmly located in their own setting that it is hard to think of it as an adaptation. Sharp, high key color picks out the lush foliage, fabrics, skin textures and the central image of the still imposing family house, as we get into the machinations that take away it and the way of life the family knew, as part of a salvage effort and revenge by the one time servant.

Perhaps it would not be so surprising if we could see the other films made by the people involved. The novelty certainly adds to the film's appeal. It is odd to write about a film's dignity as it's major asset.