One of the pleasure of being in a film guild is the ability to see free movie screenings; not only Hollywood blockbusters, but also foreign films, independents, and documentaries. Tonight I saw the Indian film RANG DI BASANTI. Unfortunately, it was not very good.
The film is about a British woman who goes to India to shoot the story of Indian revolutionaries as told through her grandfather's eyes. The actress, unfortunately, is not very good, and looks way too much like Calista Flockhart, who I can't stand. The story also imposes a bizarre narrative structure that intercuts the movie-within-the-movie (which is interesting) with the story of the slacker college students who will act the parts (which is not interesting).
Not only is the structure weak, but the pacing is terrible. There are seemingly endless music montages which are completely out of tone with the rest of the film (although they would fit in a Bollywood musical), and at three hours, by the time you get to the third act, the film has become predictable, yet it also changes tone so drastically it's very hard to believe.
It's a shame; with the right first and second act, the ending might have been meaningful and moving, but as it stands, it's unsatisfying melodrama.
2 comments:
I read your review of Rang de Basanti and I thought it was harsh. I liked it very much; it was different from any other film I have seen out of India. The pacing for all Bollywood movies runs very slow, with character introduction often taking on average about 40 minutes. Once you get used to the pace of a Bollywood film you just take it for granted that you will get to know all of the characters very well really before the story starts. There is a lot of debate that occassionally pops up about their long running times, but Indian's expect a film that contains a lot of different elements, and directors try to give it to them, thus the term "Marsala Movie." One thing that I didn't pick up the first time I watched the film is the reincarnation motif that runs through the film that explains the strange moving back and forth between past and present. The poem that is recited for the first time when the character when the present character played by Atul Kulkarni reads for Sue and is later part of the lyrics of a song is very famous and has appeared in other movies. I love the music by A.R. Rahman, he is one of India's most talented composers and his music is unique and not repetitive like many of the other composers. He is also the first 'filmy' composer to try to maintain some control over his own song creations. He has a beautiful voice but does not often sing as a playback singer, though he sang one of his own creations in the movie "Swades" (this movie made my top 10).
Indian film critics are very harsh on their own movies. They rate their movies out of 5 possible stars, but have yet to award anything higher than 4 stars to any movie. This was a great year for Bollywood with 8 movies that rated 4 stars. Usually they don't have more than 2-3 that they rate this high. I have seen 7 of the 8 and I have to say that for the most part, using their USP, I agree with their ratings. It interests me that they have not even rated movies like "Sholay" or "Devdas" or "Lagaan" with more than 4 stars.
They take the Oscars very seriously; so seriously in fact that in 2003 they declined to submit an entry, not deeming any of their movies worthy of consideration. This is amazing because on average they produce ~800 feature length films and more than 1000 short length films.
It must be really hard to pick a best foreign film because our own prejudices on what makes a good movie are so strongly cultural. When you look at films that have made the final 4 cut they are primarily (almost 90% in fact) western in origin.
India narrows down their submissions to 4 before they pick one. This year they considered "Fanaa", "Kabhi Alvida Naa Kehna", "Omkara", and "Rang de Basanti". My favorite of these was KANK, but it took place in New York, has a lot of English, and deals with a subject that many people in India find controversial--divorce. "Fanaa" was another Aamir Khan film that also starred Kajol. The acting was great, cinematography was fabulous, the music excellent, but the story line sufferred. "Omkara" was an adaption of "Othello" and is very raw, wonderfully acted, beautifully filmed.
The use of English in Indian cinema is often critisized but most people forget that India is the largest English speaking democracy in the world. While Hindi is (controversially) the language of India many people in several states neither understand it or speak it, where everyone who passes the 8th standard grade can speak, write, read and understand English.
Thanks for posting!
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