Film Review: Sita Sings the Blues (2008)

Fig. 1: Sita Sings the Blues Poster (2008)

Sita Sings the Blues (2008) was written, produced, directed and animated by American cartoonist and animator Nina Paley. The story combines the Ramayana -- an ancient Indian poem which tells the story of the divine prince Rama's struggle to rescue his wife, Sita, from the demon king Ravana -- with events from Nina's own life. The story is told from Sita's perspective, using music by 1930s singer Annette Hanshaw, and combining several different art styles for the animation, which was mostly created using Flash. 

Fig. 2: Sita.

The film is a combination of different episodes, each using a different art style to separate them from each other. Episodes telling the story of the Ramayana use painted figures that resemble 18th century Indian Rajput painting (fig. 3). Musical episodes, featuring the voice of Annette Hanshaw, use vector graphic animation, with extremely stylised versions of the characters (fig. 4) "This music also provides an unlikely but seductive accompaniment to the main story" (Scott, 2009). Aseem Chhabra, Bhavana Nagulapally, and Manish Acharya provide voices for three shadow puppets in episodes that detail and discuss the story of the Ramayana as the three recall it from their childhoods; "Paley adds a hilarious level of narration: Three voice-over modern Indians, Desis, ad-libbing as they try to get the story straight. Was Sita wearing jewelry or not? How long was she a prisoner in exile? How did the rescue monkey come into the picture? These voices are as funny as an SNL skit, and the Indian accent gives them charm" (Ebert, 2009). Their discussions are visualised in the form of an info-graphic behind the puppets (fig. 5). The modern day episodes, drawn in a similar style to Nina Paley's cartoons (fig. 6), contrasts Sita's story with Nina's own life experiences. 

Fig. 3: The Ramayana.

Fig. 4: Song episodes.

Fig. 5: Shadow Puppets.

Fig. 6: Modern day.

Despite the creator being American, the film is a clear attempt to embrace and celebrate an Indian story in an artistic way, though Paley faced some critique for her portrayals of characters, -- "there are Hindus who find “Sita Sings the Blues” offensive... I have heard reasoned, intelligent arguments against the point of view it puts forward." (Haas, 2011) -- as well as trouble with copyright issues which eventually resulted in the film being available to watch for free.

Overall, the film is charming, and the decision to include three people as shadow puppets allows an intriguing commentary and critique of the Ramayana. Though, it's questionable whether or not Paley was the right person to tell the story this way, the film is still beautiful, a work of art throughout, and it's clear a lot of love and research went into creating it.

Images:

Figure 1. Sita Sings the Blues (2008) [poster] At: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PLI1WVPkpgY (Accessed on: 16.02.2017)

Figure 2. Sita. (2008) From: Sita Sings the Blues. Directed by: Nina Paley [Film still] United States. At: http://www.sitasingstheblues.com/watch.html (Accessed on: 18.05.2017)

Figure 3. The Ramayana. (2008) From: Sita Sings the Blues. Directed by: Nina Paley [Film still] United States. At: https://parispens.wordpress.com/essay-2-crossing-time-and-space-a-critique-of-nina-paleys-sita-sings-the-blues/ (Accessed on: 18.05.2017)

Figure 4. Song episodes. (2008) From: Sita Sings the Blues. Directed by: Nina Paley [Film still] United States. At: http://www.sitasingstheblues.com/ (Accessed on: 18.05.2017)

Figure 5. Shadow puppets. (2008) From: Sita Sings the Blues. Directed by: Nina Paley [Film still] United States. At: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Jsq4ueHvHX8 (Accessed on: 18.05.2017)

Figure 6. Modern day. (2008) From: Sita Sings the Blues. Directed by: Nina Paley [Film still] United States. At: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1QkYOqI3jSM (Accessed on: 18.05.2017)

Bibliography:

Ebert, R. (2009) 'SITA SINGS THE BLUES'. In: rogerebert.com 29.08.2009 [online] At: http://www.rogerebert.com/reviews/sita-sings-the-blues-2009 (Accessed on: 18.05.2017)

Haas, S. A. (2011) '‘Sita Sings the Blues’ Brings out the Bullies'. In: Huffpost 25.07.2011 [online] At: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/saumya-arya-haas/sita-sings-the-blues-brin_b_907914.html (Accessed on: 18.05.2017)

Scott, A. O. (2009) 'Legendary Breakups: Good (Animated) Women Done Wrong in India' In: The Telegraph 24.12.2009 [online] At: http://www.nytimes.com/2009/12/25/movies/25sita.html (Accessed on: 18.05.2017)