Mali (Dharker) is a teenager in Sri Lanka, trained as a killer by jungle guerrillas; she executes a traitor to prove her worthiness to serve their fanatical cause, and later hacks up a soldier during her guided trek to another camp where she will be groomed for martyrdom. During her training designed to kill a visiting politician, Mali begins to doubt her beliefs, question her motives, and entertain a number of youthful misgivings about her final desperate mission.

Cinematographer Santosh Sivan (maker of Asoka) made his directorial debut with this accomplished, but slow-moving drama. Frequent images of water in the contemplative scenes evoke a spiritual context for Mali's meditations in the midst violent action. As death always occurs off-screen, this lacks the intense horrors of Shekhar Kapur's Bandit Queen (1994), but its superbly creative camerawork and a hauntingly beautiful score are adequate compensations in a production offering memorable character studies instead of plot.

First up was The Terrorist, an Indian film about a suicide bomber who starts having second thoughts about her mission. Of course, given the current world situation, the film's premise feels rather appropriate, and even prescient given that it was made in 1999. However, rather than a political "message" film or espianoge thriller like I was expecting, The Terrorist is actually a very moody, atmospheric character study.

Those looking for political intrigue will probably be disappointed, as the film practically eschews the politics of the situation altogether. Instead, it focuses almost exclusively on the internal agonies and stresses that Malli, the young woman selected for the mission, undergoes. Although Malli has been a terrorist ever since she was a little girl, it doesn't seem that her world's violence and bloodshed begins affecting her until she steps outside of her "sheltered" existence.

Posing as an agricultural student, she stays with a local farmer named Vasu while preparing for her mission. Although Vasu is a talkative old coot who seems to be in love with his own voice, he is also filled with a love for life and nature. This, combined with his concern for Malli (he treats her more like a daughter than a houseguest) and his comatose wife, begins to chip away at Malli's black and white outlook and opens her eyes to the world around her. However, the final twist comes when Malli discovers that she's pregnant. Before, she was willing to throw away her life for the cause, but what about the life of her unborn child?

As I've said, this is not a political thriller. There's very little exposition throughout the movie, or at least it feels that way. Instead, the director loves to show us long, langorous shots of Malli as she wrestles, internally, with her mission. The film has style and atmosphere to spare, its camerawork reminiscent of Hong Kong cinema at times - the opening scene, where Malli executes a traitor, could've been lifted from a Johnnie To movie - and I got a major Wong Kar-Wai vibe at times.

I was also reminded of the few Iranian films I've seen, mainly due to film's meditative pacing and gorgeous, affecting images. One especially affecting shot finds Malli, dressed in a white gown for her suicide run, caressing her belly (and her unborn child) - only to then strap on the explosive belt. And the film's final shot, which could've been taken from any Majid Majidi film, is a powerful image - though those looking for all of the loose ends and intrigues to be tied up will probably leave disappointed or just plain perplexed.

There are times when the film could use a bit more exposition. As lovely as Ayesha Dharker (Malli) is, one can only take so much her staring pensively into the camera as the rain washes down her thick black hair. However, the film does pack a considerable punch. And given today's rhetoric-filled climate, as political leaders on all sides bluster and rant, the film's final, evocative image is as powerful a statement on war as I've ever seen.