Sita Sings The Blues
by Nina Paley
Buy this DVD movie at online store in your country
Canada
Canada
DVD details
Actor: Annette Hanshaw, Aseem Chhabra, Bhavana Nagulapally, Manish Acharya, Reena ShahDirector: Nina Paley
Brand: Victor
DVD: Region Code 0
Audio: English (Unknown); English (Original Language)
Format: Anamorphic, Color, NTSC, Widescreen
Picture Format: 1.78:1
Running Time: 82 minutes
DVD Release Date: 2009-07-28
Audience Rating: Unrated
Studio: FilmKaravan
DVD Reviews of Sita Sings The Blues
DVD Review: Absolutely bursting with creativity!
Summary: 5 Stars
SITA SINGS THE BLUES is a marvel of imagination and ingenuity. An animated film that has very low production values, yet every frame drips with inspiration. The term "labor of love" is thrown around a great deal...but when you see this film (and if you understand a little of its background)...you remember what the cliché was meant for.
Writer/director/animator/editor/designer/etc. Nine Paley went through a traumatic and abrupt breakup a few years ago. Left adrift in NYC, she found strength in the old Indian tales of THE RAMAYANA, particularly the character of Sita. She was the wife of a most noble Indian ruler...a man with a mighty reputation who nonetheless treated his devoted and faithful wife horribly. I won't provide more details, but suffice it to say that Paley drew some parallels between the treatment Sita received and her own.
Yet at the same time, Paley also was inspired by the `20s era Blues of Annette Hanshaw, a legendary singer...a singer whose music should have no place in the story of Sita in about 1000 B.C. and Paley herself in current times. Yet what Paley has imagined is a beautiful melding of those three elements, in animated form...thereby creating a work that would have been hugely diminished had any 3 elements been missing. If Sita did not frequently burst into song (using the voice and tunes of Hanshaw) a richness of feeling would have been lost (to say nothing of reintroducing Hanshaw's singular talent to a new audience). If the modern part of the story had been left out, the effort would have felt like a quaint look at a dusty old story, without any modern resonance. And so on.
So, yes, SITA SINGS THE BLUES was crafted almost totally by Paley herself. She received excellent voice-over work, but otherwise, she put the whole thing together herself. While one might argue that she didn't compose the music (a critical element) one could say that just the fact that she chose to use it in the manner she did showed immense creativity.
As with many ancient folk stories, there are many versions of Sita's story. Also, the motivations of the characters in myths often seem arbitrary or, frankly, unmotivated. Paley takes on this problem directly, through the use of three very funny narrators who clearly disagree on the facts of their story and who can only theorize on why Sita or her husband or others acted the way they did. This acknowledgement that the ancient story has its holes becomes not only an amusing device, but it is a commentary of the very nature of story-telling and shared mythology.
The animation is "crude" by the standards of today...but Paley, working mostly on a personal computer, makes up for the lack of technical wizardry by fully utilizing the tools she DID have at her disposal. And she uses several very distinct styles during the different portions of her story...and this very jumpiness in style becomes a storytelling element.
I have deliberately left out all but the barest suggestion of the plot itself. To me, the plot is not as important as the journey. We see Sita and her husband banished for 14 years from the palace of his father, their humble but happy time together in the forest, Sita's kidnapping at the hands of the ruler of Lanka (now Sri Lanka) and all the adventures that follow. Sita occasionally speaks her mind, but most often, expressed herself through Hanshaw's songs. Juxtaposed throughout is Nina's story of a happy life in San Francisco, brought to an end when her guy gets a job in India. While the stories are charming, it is again the style and the passion that makes SITA SINGS THE BLUES a unique experience.
There are minor problems. A few of the "numbers" Sita sings feel a tad repetitious, as though we've covered very similar ground before. The film ends more abruptly than it needs to...frankly, to fully understand the modern portion of the story, you need to know that it is autobiographical. That "ah ha" realization adds the final touch to the film...but you don't get unless you do some additional research. (The DVD extras MIGHT address this...I don't know, though, because I saw the film in a theater.)
And while there is little objectionable material in the film, I suspect that young children would find it quite boring indeed (as evidenced by some squirmy kids sitting a row over from me). Yet for older teens and adults with an adventurous spirit, SITA SINGS THE BLUES is a way to capture some of the feeling we had as kids when we saw an animated film take us to places we could barely imagine. It's a charming and original mini-masterpiece. 4.5 stars.
Description of Sita Sings The Blues
SITA SINGS THE BLUES - DVD MovieBestsellers in DVD
![The Story of Jeremiah [VHS] Image](/images/noimg.gif)
The Story of Jeremiah [VHS]Vision Video; VHS Tape; VHS Video
Wresting With God [VHS]by Vision Video
Vision Video; Published: 1990-10-01; VHS Tape; VHS Video
Price in other shops:
Study Bible Video with Workbook [VHS]Spring Arbor Distributors; VHS Tape; VHS Video
Best price: $7.95
Price in other shops:
Tempo:Childrens TV Favourites Video [VHS]HarperCollins Audio; VHS Tape; VHS Video
Best price: $9.17
Price in other shops:
Tempo.Herbs:Parseley'Sb/ Party Video [VHS]HarperCollins Audio; VHS Tape; VHS Video
![Strike the Original Match [VHS] Image](/images/Strike-the-Original-Match-VHS-0001374079-X.jpg)
Strike the Original Match [VHS]New Liberty Films; VHS Tape; VHS Video
Price in other shops:
![Medjugorje The Miracles and the Message [VHS] Image](/images/Medjugorje-The-Miracles-and-the-Message-VHS-0001373293-X.jpg)
Medjugorje The Miracles and the Message [VHS]JPN Film Production; Release date: 1995-12-15; VHS Tape; VHS Video
Best price: $29.99
Mayo Clinic Echocardiography Review Course for Boards and Recertification DVD 2008by Mayo
DVD
Price in other shops:
Pediatric Diagnostic Imaging DVD: Single Userby Oakstone
DVD
Price in other shops:
Cost Accounting [VHS]by Charles T. Horngren, George Foster, Srikant M. Datar, Howard Teall
Pearson Canada, Toronto; VHS Tape; VHS Video
Similar DVDs, VHS Video, Audio CDs
Princes And PrincessesKino International; Release date: 2008-07-29; DVD
Best price: $15.15
Price in other shops:
Elephant Prince: The Story of Ganeshby Amy Novesky, Belgin K. Wedman
Mandala Publishing; Mandala Publishing; Published: 2004-10-20; Hardcover; Book
Best price: $10.19
Price in other shops:
The Big Poster Book of Hindu Deities: 12 Removable Printsby Sanjay Patel
Chronicle Books; Published: 2011-08-03; Paperback; Book
Best price: $13.91
Price in other shops:
Mary and MaxMPI; Release date: 2010-06-15; DVD
Best price: $9.24
Price in other shops:
The Triplets of BellevilleSony Pictures; Release date: 2004-05-04; DVD
Best price: $7.70
Price in other shops:
Kirikou and the SorceressFacets; Release date: 2005-05-24; DVD
Best price: $10.89
Price in other shops:
Azur and Asmar: The Princes' QuestWellspring Media INC; Release date: 2009-03-17; DVD
Best price: $3.80
Price in other shops:
The Little Book of Hindu Deities: From the Goddess of Wealth to the Sacred Cowby Sanjay Patel
Ma's India; Plume; Published: 2006-10-31; Paperback; Book
Best price: $7.86
Price in other shops:
The Secret of KellsNew Video; Release date: 2010-10-05; DVD
Best price: $13.48
Price in other shops:
Ramayana: Divine Loopholeby Sanjay Patel
Chronicle Books; Published: 2010-02-10; Hardcover; Book
Best price: $19.25
Price in other shops: