Another Monday, another one for the “Hidden Gems” list. This week, we will be taking a look at Joju George’s breakout film – ‘Joseph’.
‘Joseph’ is a Malayalam crime thriller feature which was released in 2018, based on real life experiences of the writer, Shahi Kabir. Lead actor, Joju George went on to win the Kerala State Film Award for Best Character Actor and he also got a Special Mention Award in the National Awards. The film also went on to be remade in two languages – Ravi Bopanna starring V. Ravichandran (Kannada) and Visithiran starring R. K. Suresh (Tamil).
Like most crime-investigation movies, this film starts off with a murder scene within the first ten minutes. But unlike most movies, our titular protagonist solves this case within 20 mins of being on the crime scene – almost Sherlock-esque, but without the condescension we have come to be accustomed from Downey and Cumberbatch’s portrayal. This is shown to show the prowess of Joseph, a semi-retired policeman, who has exceptionally sharp investigation skills.
‘Joseph’ follows this titular character as he spends all night long alone at home, drinking away his days in retirement. His wife, Stella, left him several years ago, after he became an alcoholic (due to a personal case he got tangled in) and he lost his daughter also, to a car accident, a few years prior. When his ex-wife meets with an accident during a hit-and-run and eventually succumbs to her injuries, Joseph comes out of his retirement to investigate the accident. He soon finds out an insidious reason behind Stella’s death.
This movie has some good writing, editing and direction, but Joju’s acting takes the cake. His specific style of character acting had been noticed before, but this role changed the way this actor was perceived – by the film watching audience, critics and the Malayalam film industry.
‘Joseph’ is currently available for streaming on Amazon Prime Video.