Tentigo

A family tragedy gives way to farce and then to something much more tender in Ilango Rananathan’s gentle funereal comedy, which screened as part of the 2024 Glasgow Film Festival. It follows events subsequent to the death of a family patriarch who quietly collapses in his chair, staring an empty screen – except that one part of his doesn’t collapse, and, despite the best efforts of his family members, cannot be persuaded to do so. His “thingy,” as they describe it in hushed whispers, is simply refusing to give up the ghost.

A smattering of puns, most of which don’t translate very well from Sinhala to English despite the bold efforts of the subtitler, are dispensed with early on, and the bulk of the film focuses on the efforts of the dead man’s sons – the quietly heartbroken, uptight elder one (Priyantha Sirikumara) and well-intentioned but wayward younger one (Thusitha Laknath) to handle the funeral arrangements in a dignified manner, so that as few people as possible find out about the embarrassing situation. This is not helped by the younger one’s tendency to seek comfort in alcohol, not by the constant prying of suspicious and gossip-addicted neighbour Mrs Kamala (Chandani Seneviratne).

Although it runs a little longer, overall, than the story can really sustain, there are some highly entertaining episodes along the way, and the film distinguishes itself from other comedies based around dean bodies by way of its sweetness. It mixes deadpan comedy with affectionate character work, and never overextends its jokes (apart from the central one), sparing viewers that feeling of frustrated embarrassment that aggressive farce can invoke. The characters are not unrealistically attached to their well-intentioned lies, and get into trouble in part because of the ease with which they give way to awkward compromises. As a result, they feel very human.

The funeral rituals, as one might expect, are culturally specific, but viewers unfamiliar with them shouldn’t have too much difficulty figuring out what’s going on. Some of the culturally specific humour is a little harder to translate, but if you’re familiar with Indian comedies, you’ll get a lot of it. There’s a good deal of comedy built around the clash between modern thinking and old superstitions, with each of the brothers following a different path. The old comic trope about a greedy uncle wasting no time in going through the dead man’s possessions makes an appearance, but in this case the uncle is after something a little different, and you will get another laugh at the end if you realise where you’ve seen it.

Despite juggling an increasingly large number of characters, most of whom are never named, the film keeps its balance well. Its various shocking moments are mild by Western standards but still work in context because we can see what they mean to those characters. Ultimately this is a film about grief and how humour can help people to come together at the most difficult times. It’s also about those moments in life when people are forced to let go of their secrets, making way for new beginnings.