tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8453503290491393866.post133982766979740310..comments2023-06-15T19:46:44.549+05:30Comments on <i>Onlyne</i>: Baran ( 2001 ) : a breath taking filmS. M. Ranahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11186829793949408897noreply@blogger.comBlogger11125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8453503290491393866.post-51425574589849252712009-11-25T12:43:39.205+05:302009-11-25T12:43:39.205+05:30That, LD, may be the best movie essay I've eve...That, LD, may be the best movie essay I've ever read.<br />It takes its place beside his <i>Ikiru</i> essay, another one which moved me to tears.Ronak M Sonihttps://ronakmsoni.wordpress.com/noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8453503290491393866.post-72280102350171641842009-11-25T05:36:38.587+05:302009-11-25T05:36:38.587+05:30Speaking of Ebert and Ray, you can copy and paste ...Speaking of Ebert and Ray, you can copy and paste this link to Ebert's review of the Apu Trilogy in his Great Movies section. It certainly made me want to seek them out: http://rogerebert.suntimes.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20010304/REVIEWS08/103040301/1023Greg Salvatorehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00730593838362270359noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8453503290491393866.post-86207159272719949202009-11-25T00:35:19.960+05:302009-11-25T00:35:19.960+05:30That's certainly correct, LD. Ray's movies...That's certainly correct, LD. Ray's movies are specifically targetted at an Indian audience, even a Bengali audience, yet they portray universal themes. Suffering has a million names yet its still suffering. Clearly shows the more folks are different, the more they are the same,just as Ebert says.S M Rananoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8453503290491393866.post-25905613182159729492009-11-24T23:37:25.732+05:302009-11-24T23:37:25.732+05:30@Ronak
Yes, my list has just quadrupled, but that...@Ronak<br /><br />Yes, my list has just quadrupled, but that's not a bad thing. :-)<br /><br />Also, interesting article on Ray and the West. I'm sure the reason that most Western reviewers concentrate on the universality of his themes is that they do not know enough about Indian life or culture to do it justice by pointing out references to it in his films. On the other hand, didn't Ebert write that the more culturally specific a film is, the more universal it is (when I find the actual quote, I'll post it here--no luck so far)? So, in a sense, they are applauding both.Greg Salvatorehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00730593838362270359noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8453503290491393866.post-33172933607950305632009-11-24T21:38:17.942+05:302009-11-24T21:38:17.942+05:30Ray is the greatest Indian film maker known to mov...Ray is the greatest Indian film maker known to movie. His only Hindi movie, Shatranj ke Khilari, is the best Hindi movie, I'm sure. I have seen about half a dozen of his Bengali films and in terms of restraint and aesthetic sensibility he beats Majidi.<br /><br />Apart from a gentle, poetic and compassionate personality, he has a perfect sense of Indian history-Charulata, a love story set in conservative upper caste Bengali family in the 1870s is a perfect slice of history. So I think is the above Hindi movie, which is a hilarious account of the way the British insinuated into power. <br /><br />He is the most authentically Indian of all directors, for all his talked of influence from the likes of Vittorio de Sica's Bicycle Thief. He speaks straight to the indian-ness of our hearts.<br /><br />After seeing Majidi, I was keen to see Ray's first film, Pather Panchali, for a second time, but my copy seems to be the worse for years on the shelf. I hope to be doing it soon.S M Rananoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8453503290491393866.post-45144664511542921722009-11-24T18:23:35.087+05:302009-11-24T18:23:35.087+05:30And if we are talking about the relation between R...And if we are talking about the relation between Ray and the west, <a href="http://www.outlookindia.com/article.aspx?262710" rel="nofollow">here</a>'s an article that ran recently. I don't know what to make of it, as I have never watched Ray, but am thinking that it's inevitable that nuance will get lost in an international setting.Ronak M Sonihttps://ronakmsoni.wordpress.com/noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8453503290491393866.post-78743327314940339982009-11-24T15:46:52.456+05:302009-11-24T15:46:52.456+05:30@ Ronak
The purdah part seems more applicable to ...@ Ronak<br /><br />The purdah part seems more applicable to the Afghan emigres, who the film is more largely about.S M Rananoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8453503290491393866.post-13418375010407407352009-11-24T15:24:54.180+05:302009-11-24T15:24:54.180+05:30Also, Irani women are surprisingly beautiful (wher...Also, Irani women <i>are</i> surprisingly beautiful (where I'd expect life-hardened stubborn faces, I see frank faces with susurrating yet tinny voices).<br /><br />All the women were in purdah? In <i>The Song of Sparrows</i> and <i>The White Balloon</i> none of them are. I just assumed the tradition had never taken hold there.Ronak M Sonihttps://ronakmsoni.wordpress.com/noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8453503290491393866.post-8976723491155868852009-11-24T15:20:14.267+05:302009-11-24T15:20:14.267+05:30Thanks for linking to me.
As for idealism, it'...Thanks for linking to me.<br /><br />As for idealism, it's neither a mythical beast nor an extinct species, just endangered.<br /><br />This sounds really different from <i>The Song of Sparrows</i>, apart from its effect.<br /><br /><a href="http://passionforcinema.com/avaze-gonjeshk-ha-a-face-and-a-camera/" rel="nofollow">More Irani recommendation in the comments section.</a> Seems all the Irani directors are like this. (LD, your list has just quadrupled in size; mwuha hahaha)Ronak M Sonihttps://ronakmsoni.wordpress.com/noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8453503290491393866.post-67320519196901733342009-11-24T09:39:39.496+05:302009-11-24T09:39:39.496+05:30@Greg Salvatore,
This was different.
One can'...<b>@Greg Salvatore,</b><br /><br />This <i>was</i> different.<br /><br />One can't see 'em all any more than read 'em all. There are many books I wish I had read but am kind of reconciled to reading next time over ( lifetime, I mean ), like War and Peace, Dante, Milton. i agree, one lifetime is too, <i>too</i> short.S. M. Ranahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11186829793949408897noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8453503290491393866.post-10394654077243707572009-11-24T08:05:29.011+05:302009-11-24T08:05:29.011+05:30Another film to add to my list! I only hope I liv...Another film to add to my list! I only hope I live long enough to see all of these great films, hopefully multiple times.Greg Salvatorehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00730593838362270359noreply@blogger.com