Funny, witty, sarcastic,
creative, musical and above original! A few animation films bear all these
adjectives together. Compared to all those grand extravaganzas backed by
Hollywood animation giant studios and loads of creative credit, Nina Paley’s
‘Sita sings the Blues’ is all independent graphic venture and a brilliant
example of creative auteurism in multiple departments from direction to design.
The plot of the film bifurcates
in two tales. One belongs to grand Hindu epic ‘Ramayana’. It focused on
character of Sita who despite of her absolute and unconditional love for Rama
is repaid with suspicion, banishment in her pregnancy, humiliating trial by
fire till finally time and again she proved her purity by settling in Mother
earth. Along with this epic tale runs the parallel the contemporary personal
account of director’s own life. A modern day break up story shifting from San Francisco to Trivandrum .
Both of them are loaded with feminist discourse that raised many questions. The
three narrative voices clad in shadow puppet keep pointing their
interpretations in playful and contradictory voices that are both thoughtful
and skeptical re-interpreting the glorious epic. ‘Don’t challenge these
stories’, stated one of them. And that’s what makes the film entertaining. The
jazz score and soundtrack is pure delight for anyone.
Perhaps in the history of cinema
I’ve noticed a wonderful and most creative ever ‘Intermission’ in this film where
the characters of epic tale moves out of closed curtain and went out to
washroom and back with cola and popcorn while we hear the audio of audience chattering.
Paley made this film for free audience and decided to made it freely available
to audience. Checkout the site of the film to know her brave and gutsy effort
which is quite welcomed and well received by the audience all over the world.
In Paley’s own voice, the film is ‘a tale of truth, justice and woman’s cry for
equal treatment.’
Highly recommended to all.
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