AllMovie

Always an acute dissector of human psychology, Adoor Gopalakrishnan, in Monologue, delivers his most complex narrative puzzle by funneling the film's story through one character's crumbling psyche. Gopalakrishnan's more experimental narratives always demand that the viewer pay close attention to details without the aid of telegraphing devices like intertitles or fades. The Man of the Story jumps decades in a single cut. Shadow Kill uses characters from the hero's life to illustrate an imagined catastrophe. Monologue is told from the point of view of a man who's ability to distinguish reality from fantasy disintegrates at the film progresses. As he narrates and re-narrates events from his life, the viewer is given the task of interpreting which are real and which are not. The result is a remarkable film that can produce different readings each time it is seen.