Little Jaffna: identity crisis

Lawrence Valin’s Little Jaffna was one of the most exciting South Asian diaspora films at the 49th Toronto International Film Festival, TIFF, last month. An excellent thriller-drama with relentless kinetic energy and delightful humor. You still felt the pain of the protagonist’s conflict with dual identity – is he more French or is he more Sri Lankan Tamil – a dilemma universally experienced by migrants. The story concerns a French undercover agent of Sri Lankan Tamil descent, who is assigned to infiltrate the Sri Lankan Tamil criminal gangs in Little Jaffna, Paris, to deactivate them.

Born in France and of Sri Lankan Tamil descent, Valin is an alumnus of La Femis film school in Paris and directed two short films, Little Jaffna and The Loyal Man, before co-writing, directing and acting in his debut feature film, Little Jaffna . The film has a few autobiographical elements, and Valin told me he was tired of the roles he was getting as a brown actor in French cinema, so he became a director-writer and wrote a meaty role for himself.

Michael Beaulieu (Lawrence Valin) is a brown-skinned French police officer of Sri Lankan Tamil descent, who is assigned to infiltrate a Sri Lankan Tamil criminal gang based in Little Jaffna, Paris, in order to deactivate them, as they are also are extortionists who are financing the liberation of Eelam. movement back home to Jaffna, Sri Lanka, during the civil war that ravaged the island from 1983 to 2009. Michael finally gains the acceptance of his native community, even if it violates French laws (the European Union declared the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam, LTTE, a terrorist organization in 2006). He makes his mark when he gets involved in a fight between rival gangs, the Killiz (a Sri Lankan parakeet) and the Sura. He befriends Puvi (Puviraj Raveendran) and is accepted into the gang by the kingpin Aya (Vela Ramamoorthy). He starts out as a waiter at a restaurant owned by Aya, who runs multiple legal and illegal businesses – some with deadly collateral damage – and slowly rises through the ranks, slowly gaining the trust of his native community. In the climax, Michael is forced to contend with the dilemma of whether he can be loyal to one identity without betraying the other.

The direction is especially remarkable for a feature debut. Valin does mainstream and genre with panache, with full action, drama, crime, romance and suspense. His gripping, socio-political thriller drama about cultural identity and its roots in a faraway land – comes with a kinetic zigzagging through the streets of Paris amid gang battles, an explosion of celebration at the opening of a new film from Tamil star Vijay. laughs, even as we feel the power of his internal identity conflict. Despite an ensemble cast, Valin expertly etches each as a distinct character with compelling motivations. He discreetly observes even the villains with empathy, even as he absolutely refuses to condone any wrongdoing. His mise-en-scene and visual imagination are superb, including a terrifying scene on a terrace, featuring a brutal gang initiation ritual involving a cricket bat and ball, as well as a harrowing scene where TV news of new violence in Jaffna rushes the Tamils ​​in Paris to a row of public telephone booths to call home to ask if their loved ones are safe. There’s also a hilarious scene where a guy gets knocked out by a frozen tuna, and another in a restaurant where the Sri Lankan Tamil community lovingly mocks French-born Tamil Michael and calls him ‘Whitey’ (lovely reverse racism ). !) because he eats with a fork instead of his hand. “Pas de fourchette!” (No fork!) goes the chant throughout the restaurant, forcing Whitey to eat awkwardly with his left hand.

Valin, the actor, is also in excellent condition; only his eyes betray his emotions while his poker face masks his double life. In his feature debut as an actor, he even dares to play the main character with vitiligo – skin with white spots – to visually underline his double identity. The strong, silent Puvi and his love interest Selvi (Kawsie Chandra) are endearing, even when Aya is shocked. Tamil actress-producer-politician Radikaa Sarathkumar, of part Sri Lankan Tamil descent, is wonderful as Michael’s strong and practical grandmother. The exquisite and suspenseful screenplay by Valin and five others effortlessly brings laughter, tears, terror, disgust and more: a virtual navarasa. Maxence Lemonnier’s cinematography is vibrant and memorable; The editing by Anais Manuelli and Guerric Catala keeps us interested. Production designer Michel Schmitt and costume designer Joana Georges Rossi are fantastic. The original score by Maxence Dussère is effective and the music features songs by Jaffna-born, Toronto-based, Tamil-Canadian musician and rapper Shan Vincent de Paul. Charades handles international sales. Kudos to producers Simon Bleuzé (Mean Streets) and Marc Bordure (Ex Nihilo) for their support of this film. I hope we can see it worldwide soon.

Meenakshi Shedde is a delegate for India and South Asia at the Berlin International Film Festival, a national award-winning critic, curator of festivals around the world and a journalist.
Reach her at [email protected]