The Girls review – poignant coming-of-age romance is an understated gem of Sri Lankan cinema

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Sumitra Peries’ 1978 film about teenage sisters and thwarted romance is laden with passions that can’t be spoken aloud Here is a gem of South Asian cinema from 1978, by the Sri Lankan director and editor Sumitra Peries. With its lucid monochrome cinematography and calm, natural, unselfconscious performances, there is a freshness and warmth to this film. It is often on the brink of melodrama or soap opera, many shots having a tendency to slow zoom into the actors’ faces, and yet The Girls is in fact rather understated. A great deal of its poignancy resides in this very suppression of emotion. We are in a world of passions that can’t be spoken aloud. It is a story through whose entire running time I wistfully hoped for a happy ending, but that is what Peries ruthlessly withholds from her audience. Kusum (Vasanthi Chathurani) is a studious, serious teen from a poor family with a scholarship to a very good school. Her father is seriously ill and her mother works hard to make ends meet. She...
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‘Oh my God, what will they think?’ How Katharine Hepburn was haunted by fear of audiences

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New documentary uses unheard tapes and unseen footage to reveal insecurities of legendary actor

Her classic films include The African Queen and The Philadelphia Story and she still holds an Oscar record for four wins and 12 nominations, but Katharine Hepburn was haunted by a fear of performing. Despite her success as one of the industry’s foremost actresses, she saw the audience as her “natural enemy” and would repeatedly seek reassurance of her talent from those closest to her.

Her nephew, Mundy Hepburn, recalled that her anxiety was extreme when she came backstage after live performances: “Now and again she’d puke in the wastebasket, because she was so wired and scared and ‘Oh my God, what’ll they think? I’ve got to do a good job’ … Then she’d go on stage and be absolutely brilliant … She’d grab me by the shoulders. ‘Was I any good? Was I any good?’”

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