Reading Notes: Sita Sings the Blues Part A
This week, I chose to watch Sita Sings the Blues to get a feel of another version of the Ramayana. The style of animation was very interesting, and I noticed a few differences between this version and the full story. Also, I thought the side-plot of the couple from San Francisco was a bit unexpected but had a good connection to the Ramayana.
0:00 introduced to the cosmos with Shiva, Brahma, Kakshmi, and Vishnu; see the beating heart of the universe
5:00 San Francisco: we see a happy couple, Nina and Dave, living their daily happy life with their cat
7:00 introduced to 3 narrators, who will tell the story of the Ramayana together. They introduce Sita, who is also named Janaki and Vaidehi.
9:00 king sends Rama into 14 years of exile because of his wife Kaikey
11:00 Sita insists on coming despite Rama's warnings of demons (rakshasas) Here, we see the first song of the story. Sita sings of their life in the forest, her with Rama, and Rama fighting off demons. I also noticed that there was no mention of Lakshmana in the forest with them.
14:00 Flash back to San Francisco. Dave is sent to India on a 6 month contract for his job.
15:00 back to narrators. We're introduced to Ravana, the demon king. They give us his backstory, how he was a praised man and used to pray to the right gods to give him great gifts. We see him in his throne room, where he is informed of Rama's killings in the forest and of his beautiful wife Sita. I thought this portrayal of Ravana was very true to his form. It shows how he is very simple minded, wanting to get revenge instead of pondering on Rama's successes that show his power.
17:00 Ravana plots to distract Rama with a golden deer--> we see this play out in the forest. Sita sees the deer and asks Rama to hunt it for her. Rama is led away as we see Sita singing about her love for him. Then Ravana sneaks up and steals her away in his chariot.
22:00 Narrators inform us that Sita drops her jewelry so she could make a trail for Rama to find her.
23:00 Hanuman is introduce. We are informed that he is some reincarnation of Shiva or Vishnu, fated to meet Rama.
Overall. I thought this version of the Ramayana was a very interesting take on the story. I watched the first half and overall the story went along most of the same plot as the written version.
"Sita Sings the Blues" by Nina Paley, from YouTube. Web source
0:00 introduced to the cosmos with Shiva, Brahma, Kakshmi, and Vishnu; see the beating heart of the universe
5:00 San Francisco: we see a happy couple, Nina and Dave, living their daily happy life with their cat
7:00 introduced to 3 narrators, who will tell the story of the Ramayana together. They introduce Sita, who is also named Janaki and Vaidehi.
9:00 king sends Rama into 14 years of exile because of his wife Kaikey
11:00 Sita insists on coming despite Rama's warnings of demons (rakshasas) Here, we see the first song of the story. Sita sings of their life in the forest, her with Rama, and Rama fighting off demons. I also noticed that there was no mention of Lakshmana in the forest with them.
14:00 Flash back to San Francisco. Dave is sent to India on a 6 month contract for his job.
15:00 back to narrators. We're introduced to Ravana, the demon king. They give us his backstory, how he was a praised man and used to pray to the right gods to give him great gifts. We see him in his throne room, where he is informed of Rama's killings in the forest and of his beautiful wife Sita. I thought this portrayal of Ravana was very true to his form. It shows how he is very simple minded, wanting to get revenge instead of pondering on Rama's successes that show his power.
17:00 Ravana plots to distract Rama with a golden deer--> we see this play out in the forest. Sita sees the deer and asks Rama to hunt it for her. Rama is led away as we see Sita singing about her love for him. Then Ravana sneaks up and steals her away in his chariot.
22:00 Narrators inform us that Sita drops her jewelry so she could make a trail for Rama to find her.
23:00 Hanuman is introduce. We are informed that he is some reincarnation of Shiva or Vishnu, fated to meet Rama.
Kaikeyi Takes Sita's jewels before exile
Overall. I thought this version of the Ramayana was a very interesting take on the story. I watched the first half and overall the story went along most of the same plot as the written version.
"Sita Sings the Blues" by Nina Paley, from YouTube. Web source
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