I've been perusing many of the ubiquitous 'best of' lists for books and movies over the holiday and keeping track of those that I want to see and read. My Netflix queue is once again ridiculously long and my 'to read' bookshelf on Goodreads is intimidatingly full.
In my web travels this weekend, I discovered that the animated film, Sita Sings the Blues, which has been buried on my Netflix queue is available online in its entirety here. While you are on filmmaker Nina Paley's website, be sure to spend a little time checking it out, she strikes me as a very interesting woman. I've added her blog to my RSS feed. You can check out the movie trailer below.
Nina Paley's cathartic rendition of the Hindu tale of Rama and Sita parallels the demise of her marriage. The film features several styles of animation while interweaving the two stories. The music of jazz legend Annette Hanshaw provides an additional layer of narrative to the film. I'm thrilled to discover Hanshaw's music. I'm a fan of this genre and can't believe that I didn't know of her before watching the film. This is one of my favorite Hanshaw songs from the movie.
I loved the movie. I found the animation style charming and appreciated Paley's novel approach to combining seemingly unrelated content (Hindu story, 1920s jazz, and her personal heartbreak) into one cohesive whole. Plus, it's free. You really don't have an excuse to not at least check it out for yourself.
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