I don’t know what to say; I’m still in shock and just a tad dazzled by the most amazing animated film I have EVER seen.
“Sita Sings the Blues”
This, my friends, is what animation was made for. No more silly talking animals or insipid fairy tales. No, this is a completely sipid fairy tale. The story of Rama and Sita from an old Indian folk tale told against the background of the breakup of a San Francisco based animator and her boyfriend.
Sorry, I have no words. My mind is still in a complete state of wonder. The absolutely amazing animation (I counted at least four different interlocking styles) is even more amazing as the entire film was done virtually by one woman, Nina Paley.
Sadly, you’ll probably never see it in theaters. Paley had a bit of trouble getting permission for use of songs by Annette Hanshaw that she wasn’t able to finance its distribution. So, in a remarkable move, she gave it our for free.
You have to see it. You HAVE to. I don’t wanna hear another word about how lame animated movies are these days until you’ve seen this.
What are you saying here: she couldn’t get legal permission to distribute the film with the music? So instead of paying to use it she put it online? If the problem is indeed not having the rights she still doesn’t have rights, right? Either your explanation is confused or this is a copyright violation and shouldn’t be linked here.
AFAIK, the rules and penalties for distributing content that includes other people’s work are different depending on the way you distribute it and/or whether you charge money. For instance, The Hitchhikers Guide To The Galaxy original radio episodes have never been released on record because it would have been too expensive to clear all the commercial music they used as the backing track. Also, it’s probably easier to make a “fair use” claim if you’re not charging money, or at least not get sued into bankruptcy.
I’ve also heard of more than one movie that was made on a budget with “borrowed” audio tracks that have never seen releases outside of festivals for the same reason, so all in all it doesn’t seem like a completely unreasonable strategy.
It’s an awesome piece of art (I highly recommend downloading the gorgeous 1080p HiDef version). And, yes, she does have permission to release the film, just not to collect any money for it. As a result, it has been released on a Creative Commons Share Alike license, free for all to download and distribute for free. There’s also a storefront setup selling merchandise (limited at the moment) as well as a donation button. I already donated the approximate price of a DVD. Well worth it, IMHO.
I haven’t bothered to watch the whole thing yet, I’m waiting for an ipod version or time to convert it to ipod myself. But I caught the beginning. I actually like the original soundtrack better than the copyright ballads. It’s available on the musicians’ website.
I saw this at the VIFF last year and was absolutely charmed; I waited for a DVD release, but since that was not to be, I’ve been spamming the link to all and sundry. The commentators are my favourite part. That, and Sita’s very hourglass figure.
Well, I just sat through the first six minutes. At no point did the creator feel inclined to tell me what her film is about, or to introduce anything resembling a character, story or plot. There were three sequences, none of which seemed to relate to each other, give me any information or move anything forward. So I stopped bothering to watch.
This may be a great artistic achievement, and I liked some of the music. But I didn’t get any sense that there was any structure, or that investing more time in it was going to be very fruitful. Just my ignorant two cents.
You serious? I did watch the first 7-8 minutes, and they couldn’t possibly set the story up any more clearly. Big blue letters that say Based on the Ramayana, some of the most recognizable deities in the world floating around, and then three silhouettes with indian accents that explain everything, with labels, even. Short of a trailer with all the highlight explosions and snappy dialogue, I don’t know what more you expect.
Sorry, I agree with ianzin. Six minutes, nothing happens. Since I have no idea what Ramayana is (other than a word that’s fun to roll around in your head), that’s not really a clue. Once they get locked into scribble mode, they lost me.
I notice even you “bookmarked for later”, so it certainly didn’t grip you with an irresistible fever to see it, now, did it?
Up until about the five minute mark, you’re basically watching an opening credit sequence without credits. Some movies have plot during the opening credits, but others (what comes to mind is the James Bond films) do not. In the Bond films and many others, what you get for the first few minutes is a series of pictures or animations riffing on themes from the movie. And that’s what you have in this film as well. I can understand having been thrown off by the lack of actual credit attributions. But that’s what’s going on.
As soon as that’s over, you start getting explicit and easy-to-follow plot development. There’s a mundane, happy couple in San Francisco, the male partner of which just got a job offer in India. That’s plot.
Yea I did, but that’s because I had a tutor coming over (just finished). Anyway, I think it’s interesting enough (the banter between the silhouettes was pretty funny) I’ll download the hifi version and watch it. Does anyone know if I can download the hifi without giving a donation?
edit: If you’re stuck at the 6 min mark, just watch for 2 more bloody minutes, more interesting characters appear. I mean come on, we have a fellow doper knocked off his feet here, and you can’t give him the benefit of the doubt for 10 minutes of your life? I’m convinced it’ll be worth it.
edit: Hmm, Eutychus did say “Best animated film you’ll never see”…
I should have said “in Theaters” … although this would be spectacular on a big screen.
You have to give it more than six minutes. And you don’t get “locked-down” into that squiggle-vision style. As I said, that’s just one style of animation used. Paley uses that style to tell her own story (although I really don’t know how autobiographical it is), and at least three others when she is telling the story of Rama and Sita. And the music is to die for.
