Sita Sings the Blues (2008)

Featured Audience Ratings

• Jennifer X

  
  An oddly cute and unorthodox film utilizing hilarious shadow puppets and really nice cross-cutting blues music with Annette Hanshaw. I got to learn a little bit about Indian religion, experienced a real-life breakup semi-familiar to me, enjoyed some soothing music, and sometimes… More
  An oddly cute and unorthodox film utilizing hilarious shadow puppets and really nice cross-cutting blues music with Annette Hanshaw. I got to learn a little bit about Indian religion, experienced a real-life breakup semi-familiar to me, enjoyed some soothing music, and sometimes laughed my head off.

• Stephen M

  
  A delightful little animation, unfortunately stuck in litigious limbo for the time being on account of its unlicensed jazz soundtrack, which is a great pity because it is enormous fun and deserves to reach the widest possible audience. I cannot say I knew anything about the… More
  A delightful little animation, unfortunately stuck in litigious limbo for the time being on account of its unlicensed jazz soundtrack, which is a great pity because it is enormous fun and deserves to reach the widest possible audience. I cannot say I knew anything about the <i>Ramayana</I> before watching <I>Sita Sings the Blues</I>. However, not the least of its achievements, the film is remarkably educational with respect to its sources, somehow managing to be simultaneously reverent <I>and</I> humorously critical. There are several component parts to the narrative, each with its own individual style of animation. Wonderfully voiced, with an almost improvisational feel, a trio of shadow puppets set the scene, introducing the characters and discussing the events of the <i>Ramayana</i> before we watch them unfold. In addition, writer/director Nina Paley contrasts the turbulent relationship of Rama and his wife Sita with her own autobiographical tale of marital break-up. Finally, interspersed throughout are the Twenties jazz songs of Annette Hanshaw, as lip-synched by Sita. What with kidnap, banishment, single motherhood and trial by fire among her woes, there's little wonder she's singing the blues, poor girl! Women, dump your men and get a cat! <I>"That's all"</I> :D

• Stella D

  
  absolutely adorable! yes, it's a flash-animated version of the ramayana set to 1920's jazz music!! it's completely enchanting, gorgeous and hilarious and u can watch it here: http://www.thirteen.org/sites/reel13/blog/watch-sita-sings-the-blues-online/347/

• Mike N

  
  Sita Sings The Blues brings interesting, vibrant animation to the legendary story of the Ramayana, a Sanskrit epic of Hindu lore about star-crossed lovers Sita and Rama, and is paralleled with the filmmaker's (Nina Paley) own love and heartbreak. But the net effect is one of… More
  Sita Sings The Blues brings interesting, vibrant animation to the legendary story of the Ramayana, a Sanskrit epic of Hindu lore about star-crossed lovers Sita and Rama, and is paralleled with the filmmaker's (Nina Paley) own love and heartbreak. But the net effect is one of limited impact, despite the occasional dazzle and sprinkle of pathos. There are essentially 4 different visual mediums on display here: 2D painting-like characters moving like paper dolls for exposition, more 2D with the narration portion from Indian shadow puppets, a more fluid animation (vector graphics -- giving everything a pronounced geometric feel) for when Sita sings out her blues via (deceased blues singer) Annette Hanshaw, and scribbly animation for Nina Paley's modern parallel to Sita's sufferings. The vector graphics anchor the film visually, bursting with color and hypnotically swaying movement that arrests your attention -- a similar effect as the recent The Secret of Kells. Smartly, the film had those 3 sub-myth characters (Indian shadow puppets) "narrate" from a modern point of view as the epic is being told, sorting out the how's and why's of the story with humorous exchanges and colloquial grounding. Interspersed are the crudely-drawn sequences of Nina's life, and the progress of her relationship with Dave, and the 2D renderings of the Ramayana's advancing story. Then there's Sita singing the blues in buoyant animation, lending gravity to an otherwise simple film about women getting the shaft, and perhaps more earnestly about women drawing inspiration from strong women of legend. The blues singing was pretty and nice, but again it kept the movie from developing into something more complex than just creating Indian animated music videos. It was entertaining enough, and cleverly rendered (occasionally exciting) with some quirky touches, but the plot was as narrow as Sita's alluring waist.

• Nicolas K

  
  Astonishingly imaginative, a true original, one might say. A work of art? Definitely. But that's as far as my appreciation goes, as Darjeeling is not really my cup of tea.

• Lesley N

  
  Two parallel stories of life and love and loss, the story of Rama + Sita interleaved with the story of the director's marriage breakup. Set to the songs of Annette Hanshaw which echo the same theme. Plus a dialog in the background of three Indians narrating (and arguing about)… More
  Two parallel stories of life and love and loss, the story of Rama + Sita interleaved with the story of the director's marriage breakup. Set to the songs of Annette Hanshaw which echo the same theme. Plus a dialog in the background of three Indians narrating (and arguing about) what actually happened in the 14th century, no 11th century, no BC, definitely BC. Plus the best two minute intermission I've ever seen. Written by, produced by, directed by, and a whole-lot-of-other-things by Nina Paley, who's distributing it by letting you watch it/download it for free. Check out "www.sitasingstheblues" where you can find out loads more information.. And then sit down and watch it. It's charming, chock-full of ideas and very very funny.

• Anoop K

  
  First things first: this is an animated film released under the CC-SA license, which basically means its free. It can be downloaded or watched at http://www.sitasingstheblues.com/watch.html Its perhaps the funniest cinematic adaptation of the Ramayana. The opening scenes are totally… More
  First things first: this is an animated film released under the CC-SA license, which basically means its free. It can be downloaded or watched at http://www.sitasingstheblues.com/watch.html Its perhaps the funniest cinematic adaptation of the Ramayana. The opening scenes are totally hilarious and with tongue firmly on cheek, the film is.. let's say irreverent towards Rama. The narrators themselves are shown to be not highly knowledgeable of Ramayana, and that in fact adds to the fun. Its a film from a feminist viewpoint and Rama is the err.. villain. Created by Nina Paley, the film also tells her breakup story along with Sita's. It's essentially a musical featuring lots of jazz numbers, and towards the end they just keep on coming, making the film drag a bit. A great attempt nevertheless.

• James B

  
  WOW! What a interesting mashup of concepts to bring us an original take on a classic Indian tale! Nina Paley wrote, directed, animated (and just about everthing else) this wonderfully vibrant, charming tale. Almost as amazing as the film itself, is the story by which it came to… More
  WOW! What a interesting mashup of concepts to bring us an original take on a classic Indian tale! Nina Paley wrote, directed, animated (and just about everthing else) this wonderfully vibrant, charming tale. Almost as amazing as the film itself, is the story by which it came to finally be released. Copyright issues over the use of Annette Hanshaw's music came into play. On a independently filmed movie such as this, the fees for using the songs would have cost more than the entire film to make! The director continues to be active in helping rewrite free speech/censorship laws. And if you're still on the fence about watching this movie, it's absolutely free! Check out www.sitasingstheblues.com and you can d/l it for ABSOLUTELY FREE! Ms. Paley thinks this is the best way to ultimately make money off this film and she may just be right. Filled with wry humor, classic 1920's jazz, and a unique animation style; this is seriously one of the best times I've had watching a film lately!

• Quinto W

  
  Unbelieveable. We've all seen it before when they take someone's music and create an original story with it (Mamma Mia!, Across the Universe), but Sita Sings the Blues does it better than anything I have evers seen before. Mixing the lovely jazz music of Annette Hanshaw with… More
  Unbelieveable. We've all seen it before when they take someone's music and create an original story with it (Mamma Mia!, Across the Universe), but Sita Sings the Blues does it better than anything I have evers seen before. Mixing the lovely jazz music of Annette Hanshaw with different styles of animation to tell th story of the Ramayana, Nina Paley has created something unique and has shown us how talented and promising she is. Something not be missed and definitely something to fall in love with.

Read all 9 featured audience ratings