The Song Of Scorpions which previously did premiere at the prestigious Locarno Film Festival, follows the story of Nooran who has learnt an ancient art of healing from her grandmother, meeting a camel trader who is absolutely head over heels for her. Yet, following a disturbing incident, Nooran is left to seek revenge for treachery. The story here does have a rustic charm that almost unfolds like a folktale which is enchanting in many ways. The landscape of the desert does make the drama rooted to reality yet there are streaks of mysticism through the actions of a couple of characters that does make the drama mesmerizing. The screenplay standing at about 2 hours does make for a captivating drama that does make for an immersive ride. It is more about absorbing the vibes of the area and the characters that does fuel the drama ahead. Mild spoilers ahead!

First things first, the drama is a niche in every sense of the word. The wide frames and its sleepy narration are testimony to the slow life of the desert which is beautifully captured here. There are long transition shots between two events that do allow plenty of thoughts to run through your head. While this does make the drama textured, it also is an acquired taste in many ways. In times of the fast paced thrillers, this drama is a breath of fresh air that gives complete authority to the audience on the levels at which they are willing to submerge themselves in the narration. So the drama does open with the introduction of the protagonists, one who is a healer who heals people being bitten by scorpions, through her songs. And the other, a camel trader who has been smitten by the beauty of the former.

The proceedings are engrossing in this drama which is a slow burn. Each event here is layered and filled with metaphors. The first meeting between Nooran and Aadam does have a reluctant vibe to it wherein the former not only dismisses his proposal of marriage but does not flinch when the locals beat him up for harassing her. There is a sense of ambiguity to her decision as a later reference in the film wherein she reveals that she did not ask the locals to beat him up(while not stopping them either). Yet, it is the latter(Aadam) who uses tropes of religion(his friend Munna is a Hindu) in trying to get what he actually wants at any cost. As a result, a harrowing crime is committed leading to a dead end for Nooran, represented beautifully through the loss of her voice that she did use to heal people. Another angle of the same incident could be that each time she does heal a person, she sucks in some poison within herself.

One small criticism that I did have about the film was that it did delay the revenge angle until its final act. So the grand reveal to Nooran regarding her now husband Aadam takes place only in the final act, thus allowing very little screen time in the eventual revenge. And a part of me did take me back to the ambiguity of the character – a decision on whether she did want to extract revenge by living life on her own terms or being reduced under the shackles of patriarchy. This segment does include an elaborate love making sequence with the focus being on the faces of the protagonists. And this sentiment of ambiguity was prevalent given that Nooran was now in love with Aadam(who did show consent in an earlier scene) yet she couldn’t fathom the revenge angle that had displaced her off her home and made her grandmother disappear(she had already extracted revenge on Munna). This brings us to the moving final scene wherein Nooran does choose to heal Aadam while sacrificing herself and her infant while wanting Aadam to continue to suffer in a sea of regret. This scene did perfectly sum up the drama which was subtle, nuanced and quite well written although a niche in many ways.