Death on a Full Moon Day

The face of Abeywickrama (playing the blind father) represents the soul of a nation suffering 20 years of civil strife as the state and Tamil fighters continue their war of attrition. His son, a state soldier, returns home in a casket (he's too disfigured to be recognisable), but the father receives a letter and refuses to believe his son is dead, to the annoyance of a local landowner who wants the man's compensation money. It's an observational, impassioned and impartial neo-realist movie, vaguely in the Satyajit Ray mould, which uses a spare, medium shot style and little music outside of natural sound, focusing instead on the excellent performances and the pathos and understanding of Tony Ranasinghe's script.