Austere, affecting tale of a woman hounded. Saibal Chatterjee’s review of Sandeep Kumar Paul’s Bengali film explores privacy, moral policing and institutional prejudice through a restrained portrait of a teacher judged for her private choices.

In a nondescript secondary school in the suburbs of Kolkata, a gratuitous and repugnant inquest is conducted into the life and personal and career choices of a firm-in-her-convictions female teacher whose private social media photos trigger a mini storm.

The institution, represented by an indecisive headmaster, a group of disgruntled teachers and a three-woman disciplinary committee, and the harried central character, played with admirable poise and precision by Sreya Bhattacharya, are at the heart of About an Intimate Matter (original title: Ekanto Byaktigoto Bishoy), directed and co-written by debutant Sandeep Kumar Paul.

Awedacious Originals’ first Bengali film, About an Intimate Matter premiered at the 31st Busan International Film Festival’s A Window on Asian Cinema section. It is a strikingly spare, affecting portrait of a woman whose privacy is invaded and whose life is put under a scanner in a supposedly civilised but intrinsically judgmental environment.

About an Intimate Matter is a standout cinematic essay. It strikes hard at society’s deep-rooted biases against independent women who defy moral policing. That it does so without resorting to stridency of any sort enhances its impact manifold.

Sreya Bhattacharya’s Restrained, Powerful Performance

The principal character embodies both vulnerability and innate obduracy. Both ends of the emotional scale, and a lot else in between, are conveyed with stunning sharpness by Sreya Bhattacharya as her character moves back and forth between the personal and the public, between the awkward and the assertive.

Swarna, who has returned home after living and studying in Delhi for six years, is flustered by the turn of events and the prying eyes and unwanted questions. Her feelings are articulated not so much in words – she does have her share as the film unfolds – as in little gestures and acts that mirror what is going on in her mind.

A terrific script and the director’s unhurried, focused and sensitive approach combine to yield a phenomenally sure-handed film. It is composed largely of static long takes that reveal the inner (and outer) world of Physics teacher Swarna, who lives with roommate and partner Driti (Shimmli Basu), a PhD scholar who has her challenges to reckon with.

Cinematographer Prateek Pamecha captures both dissonance and intimacy with equal acuity in a film that depicts a woman who is put under scrutiny for decisions for which she need not, in an ideal world, owe anybody any explanation.

Moral Policing Behind a Civilised Façade

Explanations are precisely what Swarna is asked for by three women appointed to look into her social media posts that are summarily believed to be out of line with her position as a responsible schoolteacher. The members of the disciplinary committee (Chaiti Ghoshal, Sudipa Basu and Suchandra Chowdhury) aren’t named. They are older than Swarna. They aren’t overly offensive. In fact, the ‘judges’ are amiable and almost matronly. They speak gently and do not overly ‘humiliate’ Swarna. But they talk down to her constantly in ways that only go to lay bare their problematic belief systems.

On the face of it, nothing that they say would suggest that these ladies are not well-meaning. That is exactly what makes the positions they take and the questions they formulate more and more grating. It makes one squirm in discomfort.

About an Intimate Matter alternates between the ‘interrogation’ sessions and scenes of Swarna and Driti in the home they share, with almost every word the protagonist utters and every emotion she expresses revealing something new about her to complete a picture of a woman pushed to the wall.

In an early sequence, teachers sit around a rectangular table in the staff room and put to vote a proposal for a strike in support of their demands for better pay and working conditions. Swarna stands against the plan. Going with the crowd does not come easy to her.

Symbolism and the Weight of Social Judgment

A stained white dress serves as a metaphor for Swarna’s inner turmoil in the face of what she is dragged through and the ups and downs she encounters in her relationship with Driti. Getting rid of the taint on the piece of clothing proves to be no less of a struggle than tackling the one on the cloak of civility that society wears.

About an Intimate Matter is a quiet, genteel film about a situation in which subliminal tension simmers and steadily increases. The screenplay by the director and Sarbashish Sarkar (who is also credited as creative producer) steers completely clear of anything that could be deemed superfluous or unduly demonstrative.

They present to the audience only what is absolutely essential without expository back-stories, be it about Swarna or Driti or about their parents who are mentioned in passing as part of the malaise, and not as a source of solace.

About an Intimate Matter is a remarkable film in many ways, not the least of which is a commendably controlled tone that it never loses.