Bahrani’s ‘The White Tiger’ is a study of class and rage

Above : Adarsh Gourav (far right) stars as an ambitious man in the Oscar-nominated Netflix film “The White Tiger.” (Photo/Netflix)

Movie review : “The White Tiger,” directed by Ramin Bahrani, starring Adarsh Gourav, Rajkummar Rao, Priyanka Chopra, Vijay Maurya. Streaming on Netflix.

A scene near the end of Lina Wertmuller’s 1974 film “Swept Away …” tells us all we need to know about the rage of the working class.

Though Wertmuller’s film – the full title of which is “Swept Away … by an Unusual Destiny in the Blue Sea of August” – still rouses criticism because of its complicated gender politics, its basic message is meant as a commentary on class consciousness.

(Side note here: I’m referring to Wertmuller’s original work, starring Giancarlo Giannin i and Mariangela Melato , and not Guy Ritchie’s 2002 remake starring Madonna and Giannini’s son Adriano.)

Giannini stars as Gennarino, a crew member on a yacht that is serving as a vacation vehicle for a bunch of arrogant one-percenters led by Rafaella (played by Melato). When a storm separates Gennarino and Rafaella from the others, the two end up deserted on a desert island with their social roles reversed. Over time, though – regardless of whether you can accept the notion – the two ultimately grow close.

Which, ultimately, is a fantasy that could never continue when they return to the real world. And which ends up with Gennarino standing alone on a pier, cursing at Rafaella as she departs in a helicopter, saying something like – working around the profanity – “Never trust the rich, they’ll get you every time!”

That single scene could stand as the central theme of “The White Tiger,” a film directed and co-written (with Aravind Adiga) by Ramin Bahrani . Adapted from Australian-Indian writer Adiga’s 2008 novel of the same title, Bahrani’s film has been nominated for an Academy Award for Best Adapted Screenplay.

Central to the story is Balram Halwai (played by Indian actor Adarsh Gourav ), a low-caste nobody from an obscure Indian village whose working-class fate seems to set him up for a life of servitude. This is despite the fact that he shows enough aptitude to be described as a “white tiger,” referring to the rare animal said to be born only once a century. Balram is told he is that special.

Yet nothing comes easily in Balram’s world, which he likens to living in a chicken coop. As he sees it, India’s so-called underclass is destined to live like chickens in a coop, always serving those higher up in the social order who wield wealth and all its attendant power. So Balram has to struggle, first to break free from his own family, whose members are so tied to India’s social norms – not to mention simple day-to-day survival – that none of them can see what confines them. This blindness applies especially to the family matriarch, Balram’s grandmother.

Balram, though, has vision, and he sees how he can rise by becoming the driver for the family that essentially owns, or at least controls, the land upon which his family’s village is set. He targets the family’s youngest son, Ashok, as the man to be his virtual meal ticket – and soon he is living beyond his wildest dreams.

This is where Bahrani and Adiga comment on life in India, where money might mean power but corrupt politics requires something from even the wealthy, who have to pay to retain their social position. Bribes, which Ashok is tasked carry to one official to the next, are what allow them to avoid paying taxes.

And which means, as we know from the opening scene of “The White Tiger,” that Balram’s education is only starting. Gradually, and finally clearly, he sees that he has traded one chicken coop for another. Though far fancier, it’s still a coop – and he will never rise higher unless he takes matters into his own hands. Which, of course, he does – though as he warns us, he does so in a way that’s far darker than we are likely to imagine.

You may be familiar with Bahrani’s other films. His early works, 2007’s “Chop Shop” and 2005’s “Man Push Cart” both concern characters struggling to make a better life. And his 2014 film “99 Homes” is a stark look at the world of unscrupulous real-estate brokers.

Following Adiga’s novel, Bahrani has shaped “The White Tiger” as a letter that Balram – now older and a successful owner of his own taxi business – is writing to the Chinese premier, who is scheduled to visit India on a trade mission. In it he explains how he has made the transition from nobody to entrepreneur and how it was worth sacrificing all his former ties, both family and employer, to achieve the kind of success long denied those of his caste.

In doing so, Balram conveys the same sense of frustration that Lina Wertmuller’s Gennarino feels in “Swept Away …” The difference, of course, is that Gennarino returns to his chicken coop while Balram ends up sitting on top of his.

Social unrest being what it is, there’s an object lesson in Bahrani’s film for all of us living in this turbulent era of the 21st century.

A version of this review was broadcast previously on Spokane Public Radio.