Reading Notes: Sita Sings the Blues, Part B
Notes as I watch:
1:00:28 -- Dang, Dave. That was a brutal breakup email. And wow, Rama. I know you're a king, but dumping your pregnant wife who was proven pure by a trial by fire because people are saying stuff about you? Make them respect you in a way that isn't banishing your wife and unborn child. This extension of the story, which wasn't in Narayan's Ramayana, is interesting.
1:06:31 -- Bedbugs? Yikes, Nina. And the animals in the second song after intermission are really sad, with all of them getting dumped. It's funny that Sita feels 'blue' considering that Rama is actually blue. Her sons singing the praises of Rama are sad and funny; I wasn't expecting the sudden musical number. But that they are being taught to extol the man who dumped them into the forest is sad.
1:10:56 -- I think the narrator's discussion of unhealthy reactions to bad breakups is another way to give the story some modern context, as a way to challenge what (probably) considered to be a virtuous story of Sita, who won't move on from Rama who ruthlessly banished her. Also, in the musical number (there are a lot more of these in the second half of the movie it seems) I really like the old violin player.
1:17:18 -- Another trial by fire? Trial by water like the witch trials? Cool it, Rama. Sita does a good job of saying just that with her ballsy trial by Mother Earth. She gets Rama to look scared; does this mean he still loves her? And the song that happens while everyone is frozen is funny, and all the gods from the intro musical number returns. Though I wasn't expecting Sita just to disappear like that; I guess that was the way she made her point. And one more time with Nina! The narrators on her walls in picture frames is a fun way to incorporate them. Her apartment is nicer and she has a new cat! And she's reading the Ramayana! Boom out!
Last thing: That the main modern character is named Nina, like Nina Paley who led the making of the film, is either really meta or a not-so-subtle way of her telling her own story and calling out the guy who dumped her like Rama did Sita. And the note that Lexi the cat was adopted was really sweet.
This movie was really fun to watch! I really enjoyed this retelling of the Ramayana.
Bibliography: Nina Paley's film, Sita Sings the Blues
1:00:28 -- Dang, Dave. That was a brutal breakup email. And wow, Rama. I know you're a king, but dumping your pregnant wife who was proven pure by a trial by fire because people are saying stuff about you? Make them respect you in a way that isn't banishing your wife and unborn child. This extension of the story, which wasn't in Narayan's Ramayana, is interesting.
1:06:31 -- Bedbugs? Yikes, Nina. And the animals in the second song after intermission are really sad, with all of them getting dumped. It's funny that Sita feels 'blue' considering that Rama is actually blue. Her sons singing the praises of Rama are sad and funny; I wasn't expecting the sudden musical number. But that they are being taught to extol the man who dumped them into the forest is sad.
1:10:56 -- I think the narrator's discussion of unhealthy reactions to bad breakups is another way to give the story some modern context, as a way to challenge what (probably) considered to be a virtuous story of Sita, who won't move on from Rama who ruthlessly banished her. Also, in the musical number (there are a lot more of these in the second half of the movie it seems) I really like the old violin player.
1:17:18 -- Another trial by fire? Trial by water like the witch trials? Cool it, Rama. Sita does a good job of saying just that with her ballsy trial by Mother Earth. She gets Rama to look scared; does this mean he still loves her? And the song that happens while everyone is frozen is funny, and all the gods from the intro musical number returns. Though I wasn't expecting Sita just to disappear like that; I guess that was the way she made her point. And one more time with Nina! The narrators on her walls in picture frames is a fun way to incorporate them. Her apartment is nicer and she has a new cat! And she's reading the Ramayana! Boom out!
Last thing: That the main modern character is named Nina, like Nina Paley who led the making of the film, is either really meta or a not-so-subtle way of her telling her own story and calling out the guy who dumped her like Rama did Sita. And the note that Lexi the cat was adopted was really sweet.
Last scene in the movie--role reversal from the beginning! Source.
This movie was really fun to watch! I really enjoyed this retelling of the Ramayana.
Bibliography: Nina Paley's film, Sita Sings the Blues
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