Sunday, July 19, 2009

Sita Sings The Blues

I have to start off by saying that "Sita Sings The Blues" has to be one of the most influential movie I have ever seen. In the sense that it has prompted me to notice and think about a lot of things, and I think especially since I am from India.

There are many aspects of the movie I really like and I'll try talking about each one in as much detail as I feel necessary.

  • Lots of things have been left to the imagination of the audience even though a lot many have been explained by way of the random conversations that happen between the 3 narrators in the movie. I think it was very natural to make them say the things that they did, and the way that they casually argue with each other. Also, the conversations weren't casual enough to call them loose.

  • The music given is quite apt and makes you want to listen to it more often. The title track "Sita in Space" is trance-like in nature and makes use of instruments that sound Indian as well. I felt that the way Lord Rama is first shown being waited upon by Sita and the last scene which has the same scene with the roles reversed is quite an outstanding and representative of a lot of things.

  • The way that all the characters and their relationships to each other are shown upfront is something really neat. There have been times when I've seen movies and only towards the end have I fully understood how each of the characters are related to each other(when the story depended upon the viewer knowing these relationships up front).

  • I found the scene is which Kaikayee is shown to be a nurse taking care of Raja Dashrath quite hilarious.

  • There is another scene in which Nina is shown almost completely undressed, sleeping by her husband's side and her husband wants nothing to do with her when we hear a dog barking in the background. This was a scene that I was most impressed by because it felt so real, since that is exactly what I hear at many places(a dog barking in the night time). The level of attention to detail at places in the movie is really commendable!





This is a post in progress, and I shall keep updating it regularly.... Till then, you can watch the movie for free here. The song "Sita In Space" is really nice....

2 comments:

Unknown said...

SITA SINGS THE BLUES DVD RELEASE AND LAUNCH PARTY IN NYC ON JULY 28

FilmKaravan cordially invites you to celebrate the DVD Release of the critically acclaimed and festival-favorite film, SITA SINGS THE BLUES. Rent now on Netflix or buy on Amazon.
View the invite - http://tinyurl.com/nmy3h7

SYNOPSIS
Sita is a goddess separated from her beloved Lord and husband Rama. Three hilarious shadow puppets narrate both ancient tragedy and modern comedy in this beautifully animated interpretation of the Indian epic Ramayana. Set to the 1920's jazz vocals of Annette Hanshaw, Sita Sings the Blues earns its tagline as "the Greatest Break-Up Story Ever Told." Played over 200 Film Festivals and winner of over 15 awards including Gotham awards, Berlinale, Annecy, Athens and more.

New York Times - http://tinyurl.com/nt9x39
Trailer- http://tinyurl.com/79sv6n
Queue it on Netflix - http://tinyurl.com/kuzhg4
Pre-Book on Amazon - http://tinyurl.com/mp7t3j

Sandesh Singh said...

About the dog barking scene.

Yeah, it does seem that Nina paid attention to detail, however, to me it seems that a dog barking in the night might have struck her to be as Indian as cows on the road. We don't seem to think much of them, but it does strike outsiders as remarkable.