Sita Sings The Blues" RIVER TO RIVER, FLORENCE 2010 – PARTING SHOTS A BLUESY RAMAYANA CLOSES FEST by Iskandar Sinha
Sita Sings the Blues To start with last things first, this highly varied Florence Indian film week came to a rousing close on December 11, 2010, with a brilliant feature length animation entitled "Sita Sings The Blues". SITA is the heroine of the Indian national epic known as the Ramayana, a tale close to the heart of every Indian person. In the story she follows her husband Prince Rama into exile in a forest where she is kidnapped by the evil king Ravana of (Sri) Lanka. While remaining faithful to her husband, Sita is subjected to a variety of temptations... Director Nina Paley is an American animator who was inspired by a reading of the Ramayana in 2002. In this hilarious semi-modern adaptation of the classic Indian epic Sita looks like a Sanskritic Betty Boop, and does indeed sing the blues at various stages of this rip-roaring 82 minute piece of work. In the film filmmaker Nina finds herself in a similar situation when her husband who is in India on business decides to break up their marriage via e-mail. Shadow puppets narrate both the ancient Indian tragedy and the modern Western comedy which are intertwined, all with musical numbers choreographed to 1920 Jazz standards. The visuals are a juicy blend of Walt Disney and classic Indian imagery and the result is a totally enjoyable flick that I hope will be seen widely for the sheer joy it radiates. PS: All the songs are by twenties American blues singer Annette Hanshaw,
Sita Sings the Blues To start with last things first, this highly varied Florence Indian film week came to a rousing close on December 11, 2010, with a brilliant feature length animation entitled "Sita Sings The Blues". SITA is the heroine of the Indian national epic known as the Ramayana, a tale close to the heart of every Indian person. In the story she follows her husband Prince Rama into exile in a forest where she is kidnapped by the evil king Ravana of (Sri) Lanka. While remaining faithful to her husband, Sita is subjected to a variety of temptations... Director Nina Paley is an American animator who was inspired by a reading of the Ramayana in 2002. In this hilarious semi-modern adaptation of the classic Indian epic Sita looks like a Sanskritic Betty Boop, and does indeed sing the blues at various stages of this rip-roaring 82 minute piece of work. In the film filmmaker Nina finds herself in a similar situation when her husband who is in India on business decides to break up their marriage via e-mail. Shadow puppets narrate both the ancient Indian tragedy and the modern Western comedy which are intertwined, all with musical numbers choreographed to 1920 Jazz standards. The visuals are a juicy blend of Walt Disney and classic Indian imagery and the result is a totally enjoyable flick that I hope will be seen widely for the sheer joy it radiates. PS: All the songs are by twenties American blues singer Annette Hanshaw,