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Sita Sings the Blues
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Wikipedia article
'Sita Sings the Blues' is a 2008 American animated musical romantic comedy-drama film written, directed, produced and animated by American artist Nina Paley. It intersperses events from the 'Ramayana', light-hearted but knowledgeable discussion of historical background by a trio of Indian shadow puppets, musical interludes voiced with tracks by Annette Hanshaw and scenes from the artist's own life. The ancient mythological and modern biographical plot are parallel tales, sharing numerous themes.
Plot
The 'Ramayana'
The film uses a pared-down adaptation of the legend that retains many of its finer details while adopting a perspective sympathetic towards Sita; in the director's words, the film is "a tale of truth, justice and a woman's cry for equal treatment."Director Nina Paley's [http://www.sitasingstheblues.com/press.html long synopsis] from the press section at [http://www.sitasingstheblues.com/ SitaSingstheBlues.com], retrieved May 4, 2008The plot joins the legend at the exile of the prince Rama from the kingdom of Ayodhya, at the behest of king Dasharatha's favorite queen, Kaikeyi. Having earned the right to any single favor by saving the Dasharatha's life, Kaikeyi attempts to secure her own son's inheritance over the eldest and favorite, Rama, by ordering him banished from the court. Sita, Rama's wife, determines to accompany her beloved husband, although the woods are dangerous and overrun with demons and evil spirits.
The demon king Ravana, encouraged by his spiteful ogress sister, Shurpanakha, hears of Sita's beauty and determines to kidnap her. He sends a golden hind, Maricha, past their dwelling to distract Rama, who tries to impress Sita by hunting the hind into the woods. In his absence, Ravana abducts Sita and demands that she submit to him on pain of death. Sita remains staunchly devoted to Rama and refuses to entertain the idea; Ravana sets a deadline for the ultimatum and Sita waits faithfully for Rama to rescue her.
Aided by the monkey prince Hanuman, Rama eventually discovers Sita's location and brings the monkey army to assist in her rescue. Ravana is slain and Sita is restored to her husband, although he expresses serious doubts concerning her fidelity during her confinement. She submits to a trial by fire, a test of her purity; upon throwing herself into the flames, she is immediately rescued by the gods, who all proclaim her devotion and fidelity.
She accompanies Rama back to the palace and soon falls pregnant. Rama overhearing one of his subjects beating and ejecting an unfaithful consort (claiming he is no Rama to accept and forgive her unfaithfulness), he reluctantly orders his brother Lakshman to abandon Sita in the forest. In the company of ascetics owned by the Sage Valmiki, she gives birth to her twin sons, Lava and Kusha, and raises them to love and praise their absent father.
Years later, Rama overhears their hymns of adoration to their father and locates their dwelling. Distressed and disappointed by Rama's actions during her reunion with Rama, Sita prays to the earth goddess, Bhumi-Devi, to swallow her as final proof of her purity and devotion, and the prayer is duly answered, despite the pleas of Rama and Lakshman.
Contemporary parallel
In an episode taken from the director's own life, animator Nina Paley starts the film living happily in a San Francisco apartment with her husband and cat. Her husband then accepts the offer of a six-month contract working in Trivandrum, India, and moves there alone to take up the position. After a month of no contact, he calls to inform his wife that the contract has been extended another year.Bewildered by his callous indifference to their separation, Nina sublets their apartment, leaves their beloved cat behind, and joins her husband in India. Upon her arrival, he appears deeply unenthusiastic to be reunited and demonstrates neither affection nor sexual interest. A while later, Nina flies to a meeting in New York, where she receives a brief e-mail from her husband telling her that their relationship is over. Sad and alone, she stays in New York, finding comfort in a new cat and her study of the 'Ramayana'.
Cast
* Sanjiv Jhaveri as Dave, Dasharatha, Ravana, Dhobi, and Valmiki
* Nina Paley as Nina
* Aseem Chhabra as Shadow Puppet 1 (Hanuman)
* Bhavana Nagulapally as Shadow Puppet 2 (Sita)
* Manish Acharya as Shadow Puppet 3 (Rama)
* Deepti Gupta as Kaikeyi
* Debargo Sanyal as Rama
* Reena Shah as Sita (Speaking)
* Annette Hanshaw as Sita (Singing)
* Pooja Kumar as Shurpanakha
* Aladdin Ullah as Maricha and Hanuman
* Nitya Vidyasagar as Lava and Kusha
Style and narrative
The film uses several different styles of animation to separate and identify the parallel narratives.
approaches Sita during her captivity.
Episodes from the 'Ramayana'
Episodes with dialogue from the Ramayana are enacted using painted figures of the characters in profile, which strongly resemble the 18th-century Indian tradition of 'Rajput' painting. The 'Rajput' style of brush painting was principally enacted on manuscripts and commonly employed in the telling of epics such as the 'Ramayana'. In the film, they serve as a more traditional style of dramatic narrative, although the dialogue is frequently ironic, inappropriately modern, or otherwise humorous.The background in each scene is usually static and the poses of each character are kept minimal, with movement achieved by simply transporting the character across the screen in its set position. Speech is enacted by alternating the set pose of the face with a slightly liquified version where the jaw is lower.
s discuss Rama's attitude towards Sita after her trial by fire.
Narration and discourse on the 'Ramayana'
Aseem Chhabra, Bhavana Nagulapally, and Manish Acharya provided the voices for three silhouettes, traditional Indian shadow puppets. They link episodes of the Ramayana with a lively, unscripted discussion of their personal impressions and knowledge of the epic.Silhouette animation was also employed in a similar but analogue fashion in the animation 'Princes et princesses' by Michel Ocelot. They provide context and commentary for the story, which has innumerable incarnations and regional variations.[http://www.azibaza.com/lecture/ramayana.htm Analysis of different variations of the Ramayana] from the book 'Ramayana in the Arts of Asia' by Garrett Kam, published by Asia Book, Bangkok in 2000, page retrieved May 4, 2008.The voices are clearly contemporary and somewhat irreverent, unlike their visualisations, which further establishes the theme of contrast between "ancient tragedy and modern comedy";[http://www.sitasingstheblues.com/ Front page] of the official website, SitaSingstheBlues.com Chhaya Natak shadow theatre, for example, was commonly used in retellings of the Ramayana.[http://www.puppetindia.com/shadow.htm PuppetIndia] feature on shadow puppetry, retrieved May 4, 2008.
During these sections, the ideas and contradictions raised over the course of the puppets' discussions are visualized in animated photographic compositions in the background.
mourns her privation from her husband and his callous behaviour towards her.
Musical episodes from the 'Ramayana'
Episodes set to certain songs performed by jazz singer Annette Hanshaw are visualized, with Sita as the singing performer, using the strikingly modern technique of vector graphic animation.The slick, bold style driven by digital animation software is at odds with the somewhat rustic quality of the old musical recordings but allows close synchronization with the vocals. The smooth, repetitive, side-scrolling movement affects assists in suspending the musical episode from the more consistent narrative plot.
, Nina's husband seems distant.
Contemporary parallel
The modern, more personal element to the contemporary part of the story is narrated using the rough, energetic Squigglevision technique of traditional animation. It conveys the kind of restlessness inherent in the story and achieves a more light-hearted, universal tone with its simple, highly stylized renderings of character and environments.Production
The production was largely completed by Paley, with support from Jake Friedman in the "Battle of Lanka" scene,
primarily using 2D computer graphics and Flash Animation.
In addition to the central numbers recorded by Hanshaw, music was provided by Rohan, Rudresh Mahanthappa, Nik Phelps, Todd Michaelsen, and Reena Shah of the duo My Pet Dragon and by Pierre-Jean Duffour, composer and musician for the band Masaladosa. Reena Shah contributed the voice of the Sita character, in addition to choreographing and performing the dance sequences rotoscoped by Paley for the animation.
Paley estimated her total hours of work on the film to 9,360 and calculated she needed 6,240 people to see the 1.5-hour long film to make an "attention profit".Nina Paley. "[http://blog.ninapaley.com/2011/02/23/attention-economics/ Attention Economics]", ninapaley.com, 23 February 2011. Retrieved 13 February 2016.
Copyright problems
The film uses a number of 1920s Annette Hanshaw recordings. Although the filmmaker initially made sure these recordings were not covered by US copyright law, a number of other copyright issues surfaced, including state laws prior to US federal copyright law on recordings, rights to the compositions and the right to synchronize the recordings with images. These recordings were protected by state commerce and business laws passed at the time in the absence of applicable federal laws and were never truly "public domain".Without a distributor, Paley was unable to pay the approximately $220,000 that the copyright holders originally demanded. Eventually, a fee of $50,000 was negotiated. Paley took out a loan to license the music in early 2009.
In July 2011, Paley made a protest video regarding the film's deletion from YouTube in Germany due to what she regards as fraudulent take-down notice under the aegis of GEMA, Germany's major music and performance rights organization, but which may be an instance of a larger on-going conflict regarding copyright and royalties between YouTube and GEMA.[http://www.techdirt.com/articles/20110714/00141315084/why-sita-sings-blues-is-perfectly-legal-germany-you-still-cant-watch-it-youtube.shtml Techdirt.com][http://www.billboard.biz/bbbiz/industry/publishing/gema-under-fire-for-royalties-dispute-with-1005250002.story Billboard]
On January 18, 2013, Paley announced that she has changed the Creative Commons license for the film from "CC-BY-SA" (the Creative Commons Attribution-Share-alike 3.0 Unported license) to "CC-0" (public domain); she made the ownership rights change in response to the continual red tape of rights procurement, even under the share-alike license.[http://blog.ninapaley.com/2013/01/18/ahimsa-sita-sings-the-blues-now-cc-0-public-domain/ Nina Paley: "Ahimsa: Sita Sings the Blues now CC-0 Public Domain", January 18, 2013.]
Distribution
Due to terms of the music license, one limited DVD pressing of 4,999 copies was printed.[http://questioncopyright.com/sstb-dvd-art01-ntsc.html SStB Store talking about limited DVDs] The film was released for [https://web.archive.org/web/20090309223637/http://www.sitasingstheblues.com/wiki/index.php?title=SitaSites free download] starting in early March, 2009 "at all resolutions, including broadcast-quality, HD and film-quality image sequences", at the time licensed under "CC-BY-SA".[http://sitasingstheblues.com/license.html From the movie's website.] The freely downloaded files counted as "promotional copies" and were exempt from payments to the copyright holders of the songs.
Paley plans to make money through voluntary payments, ancillary products, sponsorships, the aforementioned limited DVD sales, and possibly other methods.
A cornerstone of the distribution model is the "creator-endorsed" logo, developed by Paley in cooperation with QuestionCopyright.org. Although anyone is free to distribute the film, distributors who do so while giving a part of the profits to the artist can get the artist's endorsement and use the "creator-endorsed" logo on their promotional materials.MacQuarrie, David. [https://web.archive.org/web/20090321090724/http://www.cbc.ca/money/story/2009/03/17/f-sita-sings-the-blues.html Sita sings the copyright blues]. 'CBC'. March 17, 2009.[http://questioncopyright.org/creator_endorsed_mark The Creator-Endorsed Mark]. 'QuestionCopyright.org'. March 3, 2009. Exclusive right to distribute 35mm and HDCam prints of the film is split between GKIDS for all theaters East of the Mississippi River, and Shadow Distribution for all theaters west of the Mississippi River.
The film can also be rented via DVD on Netflix as of March 17, 2010.[http://www.netflix.com/WiMovie/Sita_Sings_the_Blues/70113539?strackid=779131efbb5f28b9_0_srl&strkid=282005711_0_0&trkid=438381 Netflix.com] When asked by a media provider on behalf of Netflix in April 2010 if she would also offer the film via the company's on-demand streaming service in exchange for a limited amount of money, Paley requested that the film be streamed either DRM-free or with an addendum telling viewers where the film was available for download. When the internet television service refused to meet these conditions due to a "No Bumpers" policy, Paley refused to accept their offer, citing her desire to uphold her principled opposition to DRM.[http://blog.ninapaley.com/2010/04/23/turning-down-netflix/ Blog.ninapaley.com]
Paley has qualified this distribution strategy as a financial success, citing that it earned $132,000 from March 2009 to March 2010.
Reception
Critical response
Since its release, 'Sita Sings the Blues' has attracted limited but consistent acclaim from critics. Rotten Tomatoes reports that 100% of critics have given the film a positive review, based on 32 reviews, with an 8.27/10 review average. The site's consensus reads: "A tour de force for filmmaker Nina Paley, 'Sita Sings the Blues' gives the Ramayana its animated due with a visually vibrant, dazzlingly imaginative triumph". The film also holds a score of 94 on the review aggregator website Metacritic based on 11 reviews, indicating "Universal acclaim".Film critic Roger Ebert of the 'Chicago Sun-Times' enthused, "I am enchanted. I am swept away. I am smiling from one end of the film to the other. It is astonishingly original. It brings together four entirely separate elements and combines them into a great whimsical chord... To get any film made is a miracle. To conceive of a film like this is a greater miracle."
'The New York Times' also praised the film's ingenuity, commenting that "[it] evokes painting, collage, underground comic books, Mumbai musicals and 'Yellow Submarine' (for starters)," and praised Paley for her use of 2D animation: "A Pixar or DreamWorks extravaganza typically concludes with a phone book's worth of technical credits. Ms. Paley did everything in Sita an amazingly eclectic, 82-minute tour de force by herself."
Although 'The Hollywood Reporter' declared the film to be "a rather rarified effort that will probably appeal more to adults than to children," it described it as "charming" and commented that, "Arriving amidst a tidal wave of overblown and frequently charmless big studio efforts, "Sita Sings the Blues" is a welcome reminder that when it comes to animation bigger isn't necessarily better."
The blog 'Sepia Mutiny' reviewed the film noting that it has "lovely, highly stylized characters" and that Paley stayed "reasonably faithful" to the original story.[http://sepiamutiny.com/blog/2005/04/21/sita_sings_the/ 'Sita Sings the Blues' | Sepia Mutiny]
Controversy
The film has drawn controversy from a number of sides. In April 2009, the Hindu Janajagruti Samiti started a petition calling for a complete ban on the movie and initiation of legal action against all those who have been involved in its production and marketing, believing its portrayal of the Ramayana to be offensive, with some members going so far as to call it "a derogatory act against the entire Hindu community."Ekadashi, Chaitra Shuddha. [http://www.hindujagruti.org/news/6547.html Hindus, Strongly Protest against movie denigrating Devi Sita!]. 'Hindu Janajagruti Samiti'. April 5, 2009.When the San Jose Museum of Art screened the film, a protestor said: "I'm very angry about this film and feel very humiliated by the portrayal of Lord Ram in this very perverted way...negative portrayals of Hinduism cause discrimination and religious intolerance."[http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/nri/nri-entertainment/Hindu-groups-protest-screening-of-Sita-Sings-the-Blues/pmredirectshow/9648895.cms?curpg=1 Hindu groups protest the screening of 'Sita Sings the Blues' The Times of India] Another protestor at the same event suggested: "Trying to promote India's rich culture in such a way is appalling."
Paley expressed surprise at the adverse reaction, saying "I thought it might be a bit controversial, but I wasn't fully aware of how art and artists are major targets of some right-wing nationalist groups in India. I always imagine an audience of smart, compassionate people I'd enjoy spending time with."Kohn, Eric. [http://www.forward.com/articles/13468/ "A Filmmaker's 'Blues' Prompts Traditionalists to See Red"]. 'The Forward'. May 29, 2009. However, in an interview with India-West, she did acknowledge that Lord Ram is not depicted well in the film. She added to the source: "No one has to like it."
Awards
'Sita Sings the Blues' has won a number of awards.[https://www.imdb.com/title/tt1172203/awards Awards for 'Sita Sings the Blues'] IMDB* Berlinale (Berlin International Film Festival), Feb. 2008, [http://www.berlinale.de/en/archiv/jahresarchive/2008/08_pressemitteilungen_2008/08_Pressemitteilungen_2008-Detail_4343.html Crystal Bear - Special Mention, Gen-14+], Germany
* Annecy, June 2008, [http://www.annecy.org/home/index.php?Page_ID=2047 Cristal grand prix for best feature film], France
* Avignon, June 2008, [http://www.allocine.fr/festivals/festival-314/palmares/prix-18353734 Prix Tournage for Best American Feature Film], France
* Athens International Film Festival, Sept. 2008, Best Script Award, Greece
* Ottawa International Animation Festival, Sept. 2008, [http://ottawa.awn.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=blogcategory&id=163&Itemid=806&limit=1&limitstart=2 Honorable Mention for Best Animated Feature], Canada
* Montreal's Festival du nouveau cinma, Oct. 2008, [https://web.archive.org/web/20100612022146/http://www2.canada.com/montrealgazette/news/arts/story.html?id=cbf1578e-fe5c-484a-ab57-ba46720b1f5d Grand Prix Z Tl, Grand Prize chosen by the public], Canada
* Expotoons, Oct. 2008, [https://web.archive.org/web/20090304182713/http://www.expotoons.com/ESP/ganadores.html "First Mention" (runner-up), Feature Films], Buenos Aires, Argentina
* Leeds International Film Festival, Nov. 2008, Golden Owl Competition - Special Mention, UK
* Asheville Film Festival, Nov. 2008, [https://web.archive.org/web/20150906005057/http://www.ashevillefilmfestival.com/ Runner-up, Best Feature, Fiction], NC, US
* Starz Denver Film Festival, Nov 2008, [http://www.indiewire.com/article/iw_news_moscow_planet_lead_denver_winners/ Fox 31 Emerging Filmmaker Award], CO, US
* Gotham Independent Film Awards, Dec 2008, [http://gotham.ifp.org/ Best Film Not Playing at a Theater Near You], NYC, NY, US
* Les Nuits Magiques, Dec 2008, [http://www.lesnuitsmagiques.fr/ Audience Award for Best Feature Film], Begles, France
* Santa Fe Film Festival, Dec 2008, [https://archive.today/20130216065454/http://www.inforum.com/event/image/id/259029/ Best Animation], NM, US
* Boulder International Film Festival, Feb 2009, [https://web.archive.org/web/20100612090302/http://www.biff1.com/index.html Best Animated Film], CO, US
* Film Independent's Spirit Awards, Feb 2009, [https://web.archive.org/web/20100611213911/http://www.ifc.com/news/2008/12/2009-independent-spirit-award.php Nominee, Acura Someone to Watch Award], Los Angeles, CA, US
* Fargo Film Festival, March 2009, [https://archive.today/20130216065454/http://www.inforum.com/event/image/id/259029/ Ruth Landfield Award] and [http://www.fargofilmfestival.org/ Honorable Mention, Best Animation], ND, US
* Festival Monstra, March 2009 [http://diario.iol.pt/cinema/a-monstra-vencedor-iol/1050044-4059.html Jury's Special Prize], Lisbon, Portugal
* Cairo International Film Festival for Children, March 2009, Jury's Special Mention, Cairo, Egypt
* Tiburon International Film Festival, March 2009, [http://www.tiburonfilmfestival.com/eventInfo.php?event_id=202 Best Animation], Tiburon, CA, US
* Big Cartoon Festival, March 2009, [https://web.archive.org/web/20090826070211/http://www.rus.multfest.ru/news.php Grand Prix Sirin], Krasnoyarsk, Russia
* Animabasaui5, March 2009, [https://web.archive.org/web/20090503094634/http://www.animabasauri.com/en/?p=54#read_more Jury Special Award], Bilbao, Spain
* Akron Film Festival, April 2009, [https://archive.today/20110903144040/http://www.akronfilmfestival.com/?p=411 Best Feature Film], Akron, OH, US
* Philadelphia CineFest, April 2009, [http://www.indiewire.com/article/jury_duty_pressure_cooker_among_winners_at_philadelphia_cinefest/ Archie Award for Best First Time Director], Philadelphia, PA, US
* Salem Film Festival, April 2009, [http://www.salemfilmfestival.com/2009/films/features/sitasings.html Grand Jury Award], Salem, OR, US
* Indian Film Festival of Los Angeles, April 2009, [http://dearcinema.com/sita-sings-the-blues-wins-top-award-at-iffla/ Jury Award for Best Narrative Feature], Los Angeles CA, US
* Talking Pictures Festival, May 2009, [https://archive.today/20100613021405/http://media.www.dailynorthwestern.com/media/storage/paper853/news/2009/05/04/City/Talking.Pictures.Film.Festival.Brings.Together.Local.International.Filmmakers-3735568.shtml Best Animated Film], Evanston, IL, US
* Connecticut Film Festival, June 2009, [http://www.newstimes.com/ci_12573175 Best Animated Film], Danbury, CT, US
* Festival Internacional de Cine DerHumALC, June 2009, [https://web.archive.org/web/20100925004009/http://cineconmcfly.com.ar/2009_06_01_archive.html Signis Award, Best Film of the Official Competition], Buenos Aires, Argentina
* Indianapolis International Film Festival, July 2009, [http://indyfilmfest.org/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=93 American Spectrum, Best Feature], Indianapolis, IN, US
Cultural impact
In April 2009, the film inspired a Bangkok high fashion line designed by Roj Singhakul, titled "Sita Sings the Blues".Wenin, Samila. [http://www.bangkokpost.com/print/14560/ "Into the Blues"]. 'Bangkok Post'. April 4, 2009.See also
* Versions of Ramayana
* 'Seder-Masochism' (2018), Paley's second animated feature film
* 'Apocalypse Animated', Paley's upcoming animated feature film
References
Buy Sita Sings the Blues now from Amazon
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