Watching North Country (2005) was a humbling experience. The movie moved me. North Country doesn’t have mind boggling performances, nor does it have remarkable narration. But it portrays, within the set scope, a reckless, insouciant, impulsive, foolish, strong, romantic but a deeply moral character, that can inspire or humble. In many ways it looks at you, unashamed, and questions the pretentious moral highhandedness of a male dominated society. Is it okay to to be ashamed of an act arising out of sexual desire ? Is it okay to hate for sexual choices and preferences ? Is it okay to take a woman for granted and brand her a whore because she explored her own body and mind in the ways she pleased and not always in accordance with societal expectations ? Is it okay to demand that she be ashamed of herself for a rape ?
This is scary. A few days back I saw a 22 year old ad being republished by the Delhi Police. I instantly argued in the comments thread that the language of the ad is sexist. Yes it is. But I realise now it was my moral highhandedness which led me wish away a tangible, lowly practice by reasoning that the language wasn’t good enough. But what good language can express what is ghastly and bloody and guts you mind ? What language can have the patience to wait for a finesse so that it sounds or reads suitable to our pleasure-seeking, decked up taste? Not the language of truth. The language of pain and shame is perhaps too strong for syntactical sanity. Perhaps too strong an emotion can find only a scream or a cry or an insane rage.
In fact the only problem with North Country is its resistant to orderlessness in its narration. Because bones can’t crush in rhythm.
