(Nina Paley, USA, 2008, 82 minutes)
Sita Sings the Blues screens at the 34th Annual Seattle International Film Festival this weekend: Sunday, May 25 1:30pm, and Monday, May 26 6:30pm @ the Uptown Cinemas. You can buy tickets online here.
Two parallel stories--the tale of a modern woman whose husband moves to India and dumps her via email, and the epic Indian tale "Ramayana"--come to life in this beautifully animated masterpiece.
We learn the story of Sita and her husband Rama (AKA: The Greatest Break-Up Story Ever Told) through the narration of three shadow puppets who can't quite get their facts about the legend straight (which is just one of the many great things about the script). Sita sings us the blues to help the tale along, and in-between we get comedic snippets of the modern tale of Nina, her husband--and her cat.
Sita Sings the Blues screens at the 34th Annual Seattle International Film Festival this weekend: Sunday, May 25 1:30pm, and Monday, May 26 6:30pm @ the Uptown Cinemas. You can buy tickets online here.
Two parallel stories--the tale of a modern woman whose husband moves to India and dumps her via email, and the epic Indian tale "Ramayana"--come to life in this beautifully animated masterpiece.
We learn the story of Sita and her husband Rama (AKA: The Greatest Break-Up Story Ever Told) through the narration of three shadow puppets who can't quite get their facts about the legend straight (which is just one of the many great things about the script). Sita sings us the blues to help the tale along, and in-between we get comedic snippets of the modern tale of Nina, her husband--and her cat.
Multi-talented writer, director, producer, designer and animator Nina Paley has given us an amazing first feature mixing complimentary animation styles, the 1920's vocal styling of jazz great Annette Hanshaw, and humor throughout the entire length, including a super-cute two and half minute intermission.
Even if you're not normally a fan of animation, I highly recommend you give this film a chance. It's more than worth 82 minutes of your time.
Image from GKids (Sita as voiced by Nina Paley).
I saw this screened in San Francisco - besides featuring the singing of Annette Hanshaw (one of my all-time favorite singers), the animation was great, the premise amazingly clever, and the conversations about Sita and Indian religion absolutely hysterical. Definitely a must see!!!
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