Changes in the Village
(Gamperaliya)

The first novel in Martin Wickramasinghe’s celebrated trilogy, Changes in the Village, was adapted for the screen in 1963. This film portrays a village in transition, where the old aristocracy is crumbling and capitalism is quietly beginning to reshape society. Fleeting human emotions are depicted against the backdrop of ancient, rustic vessels collecting water dripping from a broken, antique roof, and letters discarded into a cupboard by a woman trying to forget her lover. The lives of Nanda and Piyal, once young lovers from different social classes, are irrevocably altered by life’s hardships. Years later, they reunite — but neither is the person they once were, and their love is no longer pure or innocent.
Jayashika Padmasiri