Elippathayam

A middle-aged man, Unni, and his three sisters struggle as the feudal way of life becomes unviable in Kerala. Eventually, succumbing to the adverse conditions surrounding him Unni becomes helpless like a rat in a trap. The films name 'rat trap' is a metaphor for a state of oblivion to changes in the external world, such as the disintegration of the feudal system, in which some are caught and which leads to destruction.

The film is set in the now derelict manor house of an aristocratic family, that has obviously seen better days. The film begins by showing the audience about a rat problem, and Sridevi taking initiative to catch and drown them. Unni, the patriarch, in spite of the looming changes in the family's fortune and the times retains the old attitude and is portrayed as proud, and incapable of adjusting to the impending downfall of his family and remains oblivious to it. He also doesn't show any manly aspects of a feudal patriarch. He is seen spending most of his day in idleness and sleeping. His only activities are reading the paper and oiling himself. He is taken care by his sisters and Scaria mappila. His sisters cook for him, clean for him, and do chores for him. He is careless regarding marrying off his sisters and selfish in order to keep his support system in order. The suriyani mappila handles all the financial aspects for Unni. Unni is scared and unbothered if people steal from his land, even if his younger sister is in a premarital relationship with a tutor, or if his sister's son steals from him and might be sleeping with a flirtatious women. He does not stand up for himself or for the family, and not ready to face the taunts or the threats of his extended family and the villagers. The middle sister Rajamma is destroyed by the silence of her brother, who does not support her when she wants to get married - he turns down an offer because he felt it was beneath his family - and keeps silent when she is ailing, and she eventually dies. The younger sister in general is unconcerned and elopes without informing anyone. The eldest sister comes in for her share of property but leaves without none, and sends summons through courts. Unni is left alone in the mansion, and he is without support and lives in the dark corners of his room. He does not respond to anyone and in the end some people enter in his house, and he runs out of fear, hits his head and becomes unconscious. They carry him to the pond where Sridevi used to drown rats and throws him in, and he is seen walking out of the pond scared and cold. This people could either be robbers or his brother in laws who came to forcefully takeover his property.

Gopalakrishnan says in his interview that the movie was inspired by the feudal characteristics of his own family. Silence is a huge trope in the move, with large swathes of silence in dialogue. The chief theme of the film, according to Gopalakrishnan, is Unni's obliviousness to external realities and how conflict of his worldview creates dysfunctional life for him. The character's mental health is closely compared to of the character in Anton Chekov's Ward No. 6.

Gopalakrishnan is very much into colors, palettes, and shades in the film.

Rajamma the middle sister wears blue. Gopalakrishnan says he gave her blue to show her gentleness, submissiveness, and being doomed. She is incapable of imagining how to chart her life outside the patriarchy. She is shown to be constantly working for others and faithfully looking after Unni.

The eldest sister wears green according to Gopalakrishnan to show earthiness, practicality and intelligence- she has survived within the patriarchy by marriage and bearing children. She worries about wealth and how to hold her power in her husband's family, and her main concern is to claim her share of the family property and income. She is portrayed as intransigent, protective of her children, and as self-centered as her brother.

The youngest sister, Sridevi wears red, which Gopalakrishnan says is to symbolize revolt, youth and life. She is very pretty and highly concerned about her looks. She runs away from the family, presumably with a lover.

Unni, according to Gopalkrishnan, is given a mixture of all three colours- white. He is stifled with losing the status he grew up with and incapable of negotiating the changing outer world.

The feudal characteristics of the patriarchy is shown through the way Unni treats his servants, the various people who visit him and most importantly how he treats his sisters. Especially, Rajamma, who takes care of him. The music is throbbing, incomplete throughout the movie to show the sense of sustained urgency, that the crippling patriarchal structure results in (symbolized by the crippling mansion which is infested with rats). As the rats are caught and drowned; Unni is eventually destroyed by the decline of the feudal way of life.

• Karamana Janardanan Nair as Unni
• Sharada as Rajamma
• Jalaja as Sreedevi
• Rajam K Nair as Janamma
• prakash

The film has won the following awards since its release:

1982 British Film Institute (UK)

• Won - Most Original and Imaginative film shown at the National Film Theatre - Elippathayam - Adoor Gopalakrishnan

1982 Kerala State Film Awards (India)

• Won - Kerala State Film Award for Best Film - Elippathayam - Adoor Gopalakrishnan

1982 London Film Festival (UK)

• Won - Sutherland Trophy - Elippathayam - Adoor Gopalakrishnan

1982 National Film Awards (India)

• Won - Silver Lotus Award - Best Audiography
• Won - Silver Lotus Award - Best Regional Film (Malayalam) - Elippathayam - Adoor Gopalakrishnan

• Elippathayam at IMDb
• Mathrubhumi article