movie: Sita Sings the Blues

Sita Sings the Blues is an independent animated film by Nina Paley focusing on the role of Sita, the wife of Rama, in the Ramayana. It’s also a semi-autobiographical recounting of an episode in Paley’s own life that reflects on Sita’s tale, and her relationship with Rama.

I don’t particularly want to talk about the plot or even any deep thoughts I may have on the film, as I think it’s best watched relatively unbiased. I have little knowledge of the mythology involved (as with the Mahabharata, feel free to make Ramayana recs) but had little trouble following the movie, which offers crash courses in mythology, functional infodumps, and commentary mixed in.

It’s filmed in a variety of styles. Modern day scenes featuring Paley’s life are in a rather rough, squiggly style, narration and commentary feature shadow puppets, often superimposed over other animation styles, and episodes from the Ramayana are styles after the 18th-century Rajput (sp?) style of painting. My favorites, however, are the stylized framing sequences, and the somewhat old-fashioned (it has a certain Betty Boop quality to it) animated sequences where “Sita” sings Annette Hanshaw songs (I have ridiculous love for those sequences) and an utterly sunning fire dance sequence that I’m not sure how to describe.

Part of me wishes that it held up a criticism of Rama’s role as a hero against his treatment of Sita, as my (admittedly limited) understanding is that Rama is a heroic ideal in Hindu mythology, while Sita is the ideal wife, but I suspect that would have ended up shifting the focus away from Sita too much.

Here’s the trailer:

Some screencaps of the various animation styles.

( caps )

Sita Sings the Blues is legally available to download, and can be acquired at Nina Paley's website here.