Ambiguity is the trademark of any complex piece of art. The more complex a text, the more layered and interpretive it becomes in its scope.
The movie Carbon has all the ingredients necessary for the making of an unconventional storytelling. From the protagonist’s half-baked business ideas, his disregard for the low hanging fruits, to his fantastic quest for the unattainable and distaste for the mundane, the movie is cleverly designed to engage viewers in hero’s Kafkesque journey towards the unknown. The director deftly manages it by combining fantasy with a palpable sense of suspense.
It tells the story of Sibi, a starry eyed 30 something man who has no reservations about traversing the uncharted territories in search for the nigh impossible. The narrative subtly juxtaposes Sibi’s ill-conceived exploits with his real-life situations to which he remains blissfully oblivious. The movie picks up the pace as Sibi is sent out to a Forrest cottage where he learns about a lost treasure. What ensues is a chain of adventurous events shaped by hallucination, fantasy and suspense. The movie reaches its climax when reality meets fantasy, forcing Siby to reconsider his life choices.
You can either see it as a story about the successful treasure hunt of the archetypal loser, or look at it as a larger allegory on how Sibi eventually embraces the ‘Self’. By the end of the movie I found myself in the latter camp. The story is ultimately a powerful allegory about Self discovery and all the responsibilities it accompanies.
