My Hindu Friend Review

You rarely see a director use his own life as the canvas for a film. Maybe I’m just a sucker for it, especially after seeing Abel Ferrara offer up some of the best examples in the likes of Tommaso and its follow up, Siberia. With his final film, My Hindu Friend documents a director struggling with a bout of terminal cancer, as he dedicates himself not just to one last feature film, but wrapping up his life in as clean and fulfilling as he can. Replicating the real-life ordeal of Hector Babenco, and applying that final farewell to his family, friends, and film.

As expected, Willem Dafoe gives a tremendous performance as a dying director, determined to make one last feature film despite his terminal diagnosis. It doesn’t surprise me that Dafoe also featured as the lead in Tommaso and Siberia, the comparisons between the trio of films don’t end at just self-reflection. His role as Diego sees Dafoe take on the inner-narrative of the director behind the camera, and there’s a definite lack of nuance to what Babenco wants to deliver to his audience. I can appreciate his desire to craft one last film, he reminds me of Nicholas Ray in that department, but far more successful because he finalises his piece and is seemingly at peace with the narrative presented throughout.

He presents the mood swings, pain, and hardships of a diagnosis, the impact that it has on not just himself but his family and friends who care deeply for him. Babenco muses on the idea that a man without anything to live for will not live without hope, but without manners. He utilises this well, with Dafoe playing a scowling, fed-up individual who has no patience for those that may or may not wrong him. His love and care are underdeveloped, found only for those that are of pure innocence and heart.

Where My Hindu Friend falls apart, however, is found in its title. The Hindu friend, played by Rio Adlakha, is there solely for Dafoe to dictate to. He’s used as nothing more than a prompt developer, offering out a graceful hand of plot progression. There’s never a moment where we learn more about him, and the sporadic scenes he features in make the title come into question entirely, given how little he is involved, merely an observer than an actual participant in either conversation or action. A shame, too, since these moments feel pandering and are a major blow to the pacing of the film

There’s no denying the self-indulgence and frank portrayal of Babenco’s battle with cancer, but it does feel like he has earned the right to be hedonistic with his swan song. His final curtain call sees him apply the more simplistic touches of a drama piece, and has the rare charm of using the vivid experiences and inspiration of the director himself. My Hindu Friend articulates the final thoughts of a dying man, but his clumsy technical aspects detract from what should have been a bittersweet end to his career.