Search a film or person :
FacebookConnectionRegistration
Elippathayam is a film of genre Drama directed by Adoor Gopalakrishnan with Karamana Janardanan Nair

Elippathayam (1982)

Elippathayam
If you like this film, let us know!
Length 2h1
Genres Drama
Rating74% 3.7289353.7289353.7289353.7289353.728935

Elippathayam (Translation: The Rat Trap; Malayalam: എലിപ്പത്തായം) (1981) is a Malayalam film, written and directed by Adoor Gopalakrishnan. It is critically considered by many to be one of the most outstanding pieces in Adoor Gopalakrishnan's filmography.

This film documents the feudal life in Kerala at its twilight. The protagonist is trapped within himself and is unable to comprehend the changes taking place around him. The film won the British Film Institute award for Most Original and Imaginative film shown at the National Film Theatre in 1982. The film was shown at a number of film festivals around the world, including the 1982 Cannes Film Festival.

Synopsis

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 '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.

Actors

Trailer of Elippathayam

Bluray, DVD

Streaming / VOD

Source : Wikidata

Comments


Leave comment :

Suggestions of similar film to Elippathayam

There are 378 films with the same actors, 10 films with the same director, 61709 with the same cinematographic genres, to have finally 70 suggestions of similar films.

If you liked Elippathayam, you will probably like those similar films :
Face to Face, 1h47
Directed by Adoor Gopalakrishnan
Genres Drama
Actors Kaviyoor Ponnnamma, Karamana Janardanan Nair, Thilakan, Alummoodan, Ashokan, Azeez
Rating68% 3.4318353.4318353.4318353.4318353.431835
The film starts in the early 1950s showing Sreedharan, the protagonist, as a very popular communist leader and trade union activist. He is forced to go underground after his name was associated with the murder of the owner of a tile factory. He is considered to be dead by his party and they even erect a memorial for him. But he makes an unexpected comeback almost 10 years later, after the first communist ministry gained and lost power in Kerala and after the Communist Party of India has split. On his return, he spends his time sleeping and drinking. His come back is first a puzzle and then an embarrassment to his comrades and family. As the disappointment on his new face grows, he is found murdered. The film ends when both the communist parties jointly celebrate his martyrdom.
Swayamvaram, 2h11
Directed by Adoor Gopalakrishnan
Genres Drama
Actors Madhu, Sharada, Adoor Bhavani, K. P. A. C. Lalitha, Thikkurissy Sukumaran Nair, Bharath Gopi
Rating70% 3.5230953.5230953.5230953.5230953.523095
A newly wed couple, Vishwam (Madhu) and Sita (Sharada), have married against the preference of their families, and left their hometown. Both want to start a new life at a new place. Initially, they stay in a decent hotel but soon due to financial reasons they move to another, ordinary hotel.
Mathilukal
Mathilukal (1990)
, 2h
Directed by Adoor Gopalakrishnan
Genres Drama, Biography, Romance
Actors Mammootty, Murali, Krishnan Kutty Nair, Sreenath, Karamana Janardanan Nair, Thilakan
Rating81% 4.088494.088494.088494.088494.08849
Confined to the narrow space of a prison cell, Bashir falls in love with a woman in the neighbouring prison compound. They are separated by a high wall so that they never see each other and have to devise ingenious ways for communicating. Narayani, Bashir's love is presented as a female voice and never appears in person in the film.
A Climate for Crime, 1h55
Directed by Adoor Gopalakrishnan
Genres Drama
Actors Nedumudi Venu, M.R. Gopakumar, Vijayaraghavan, Seema G. Nair, Sudheesh, P. V. Jagadish Kumar
Rating64% 3.24463.24463.24463.24463.2446
The four chapters of the film tell stories, which are independent of each other. The only connection between them is the recurring theme of crime. With the flow of the movie, there is an increase in the complexity of the crimes.
Four Women
Four Women (2007)
, 1h45
Directed by Adoor Gopalakrishnan
Genres Drama
Actors Padmapriya, Nandita Das, Kavya Madhavan, Geetu Mohandas, Murali, Manju Pillai
Rating64% 3.233533.233533.233533.233533.23353
Naalu Pennungal is the story of four women from Kuttanad in Alappuzha district in Kerala. The stories are set in the years between the 1940s to the 1960s.
Man of the Story, 1h47
Directed by Adoor Gopalakrishnan
Genres Drama
Actors Aranmula Ponnamma, Narendra Prasad, Urmila Unni, Babu Namboothiri, K. P. A. C. Lalitha, Oduvil Unnikrishnan
Rating70% 3.538443.538443.538443.538443.53844
Kunjunni's (Vishwanathan) parents separate soon after his birth, and he's left to be cared by his mother, void of paternal care and affection. He is brought up by his mother with the help of his grandmother, an estimate manager and his friend Meenakshi (Mini Nair), the daughter of a maid servant working in Kunjunni's house. Inspired by his Uncle (Narendra Prasad), who was initially a Gandhian, and eventually a Marxist, Kunjunni finds himself drawn to left-wing ideologies during his studies at college, believing that communism is the answer to heal all social hardships and inequalities. Eventually he joins an extremist Marxist group, and his affairs land him in trouble. After an attack at a police station, Kunjunni is arrested and taken to court, but later acquitted of all charges.
Vidheyan
Vidheyan (1994)
, 1h52
Directed by Adoor Gopalakrishnan
Genres Drama
Actors Mammootty, Tanvi Azmi, M.R. Gopakumar, Sabitha Anand, Azeez, Babu Namboothiri
Rating82% 4.136314.136314.136314.136314.13631
Thommy, a Christian migrant labourer from Kerala is an obedient slave of his aggressive, tyrannical landlord Bhaskara Pattelar. Thommy obeys all the orders of his master, whether it is to make his own wife sexually available to his master or in killing Pattelar's kindly wife, Saroja. When Pattelar escapes to a jungle, due to his own deeds, Thommy escorts him like a pet. But when Pattelar is killed Thommy exults in freedom.
Anantaram
Anantaram (1987)
, 2h5
Directed by Adoor Gopalakrishnan
Genres Drama
Actors Mammootty, Ashokan, Shobana, Thikkurissy Sukumaran Nair, Sudheesh, Bahadoor
Rating79% 3.9586153.9586153.9586153.9586153.958615
The film develops through a commentary by Ajayan (Ashokan) about himself in the first person. Later he tells another story about his life with the same background. Finally both these stories fuse together.
Kodiyettam
Kodiyettam (1978)
, 2h8
Directed by Adoor Gopalakrishnan
Genres Drama
Actors Bharath Gopi, K. P. A. C. Lalitha, Thikkurissy Sukumaran Nair, Kaviyoor Ponnnamma, Kuttyedathi Vilasini, Adoor Bhavani
Rating71% 3.584543.584543.584543.584543.58454
The film captures the ascent of the protagonist, Shankaran Kutty, from a carefree individual to a mature responsible adult. The opening sequences, canned by the director himself, shows Shankaran Kutty- attending a temple festival. The film proceeds to show the irresponsible and often nomadic life style of Shankaran Kutty. Shankaran Kutty, though seemingly at the beginning of middle age, spends most of his time playing around with children, joining political processions and helping the villagers when he is not attending temple festivals. He is provided for by his younger sister who works as a house maid in the city of Thiruvananthapuram. His sister in an attempt to get his life organized arranges a marriage for him. But to the dismay of his new wife, Shankaran Kutty continues his life style often staying away from home for weeks. The already pregnant wife soon leaves him, and Shankaran Kutty does not make any attempt to have her back at home.
Nizhalkuthu, 1h30
Directed by Adoor Gopalakrishnan
Themes Films about capital punishment
Actors Oduvil Unnikrishnan, Sukumari, Murali, Sivakumar, Narain, Shivaji
Rating72% 3.626193.626193.626193.626193.62619
The plot is set in the 1940s in a village of Travancore, British India. Kaliyappan, the last hangman of Travancore dynasty is dragging his remaining life by consuming alcohol and worshipping the Mother Goddess. The reason for this self-destruction is the remorse born out of the feeling that the last man he hanged was an innocent.