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For the last few months, I’ve been in a bit of a movie funk. With the exception of my four days at the Cleveland International Film Festival, I’ve generally been starved for smart, beautiful, captivating films. But then I met Sita.
Sita Sings the Blues tells two stories at once. On one hand, it’s filmmaker Nina Paley’s autobiography—the story of how her marriage suffered when her husband took a contract job in India. At the same time, it also tells a parallel story, based on the traditional Indian epic, The Ramayana.
The Ramayana tells the story of Rama (voiced by Debargo Sanyal), the son of a powerful king (and also a god incarnate). Just when Rama is about to take the throne, one of his father’s jealous wives begs the king to send his son away for fourteen years. When Rama is sent away, he’s joined by his loving and devoted wife, Sita (Reena Shah), who vows to endure any hardship at her husband’s side. But when Sita is kidnapped by an evil king, her loyalty comes into question—and her marriage is suddenly in jeopardy.
Dubbed “the greatest break-up story ever told,” writer/director/animator Paley’s feature-length debut is the most unusual film I’ve seen in quite some time—and it’s delightfully enchanting from beginning to end.
Visually, Sita Sings the Blues is strikingly beautiful—and, at times, even whimsical. The stories are told using a variety of different styles of animation—five or six at last count. Nina’s modern-day story is animated in a sketchy, scribbly style. The telling of Sita’s story is animated to look like it came right out of a traditional Indian painting. And then there’s the cartoonish animation style of the musical numbers.
Yes, you read that right…musical numbers. In the midst of the tales of love, sacrifice, and heartbreak, there are several musical numbers—performed by a Betty Boop-like cartoon Sita and sung by 1920s jazz singer Annette Hanshaw—which tell even more of the story through song.
Though the subject matter isn’t exactly light-hearted (as you might have gathered), Paley tells the story with a wonderful sense of humor, in a way that makes it enjoyable to watch. From the colorful animation to the musical numbers to the three narrators, who argue about the details of Sita’s story, Paley makes the story accessible and entertaining. And she does so in the most artistic and expressive of ways.
Part cartoon, part autobiography, part traditional folklore, and part vaudeville show, Sita Sings the Blues is unlike any film you’ve ever seen. It’s a unique and memorable adventure—one on which I highly recommend embarking.
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