In this comprehensive history of Sri Lankan film, the authors suggest four levels through which a national cinema might be understood. First, it can be explored in terms of economics. Second, it can be analyzed in terms of textuality -- content, style. Third, it can be investigated in terms of its perceived uniqueness. Fourth, it can be examined in terms of that nation's other means of symbolic expression -- art, poetry, drama. All four levels are utilized in this work in a thorough and critically sophisticated manner.
The economics governing Sri Lankan cinema are certainly important. Though over 50 years have passed since the first films were made in that country, the evolution of a truly national cinema has been much delayed by a lack of funding. Foreign, particularly Indian, films have proved more popular than local product, and even now getting the money together for a production is difficult. This is true in many countries, if the production is to be a truly serious one, but in Sri Lanka the problem proves chronic.
Nonetheless, dedicated filmmakers have created pictures that in their content and their style speak for Sri Lanka. Foremost among them is Lester James Peries, whose 1956 "Rekava" marked a watershed in the evolution of Sri Lankan cinema. A documentary maker, Peries brought to his native cinema a perception and an honesty it had rarely before known.