rajeev@sfmag.UUCP (S.Rajeev) (12/12/85)
Shankar Chatterjee writes: > Currently, as a part of Festival of India, a number of Indian films are being > shown at Melnitz theater at UCLA, titled as Film Utsav. Apart from showing > such 'box-office-hit' directors' as Raj Kapoor, Guru Dutt, V. Shantaram > films (sorry no Satyajit Ray), films by Benegal, Nihalni, Syed Mirza, Ritwik > Ghatak, Gopalkrishnan, Mahesh Bhatt and others are being shown. I could > post the whole list if there is sufficient interest in the net. I believe > this set of films are being shown at other places in this country. > Last weekend (Dec. 7), I had a chance to see a new film by Adoor Gopal- > krishnan, "Mukhamukham" (Face to Face), a story about an ex-active trade > unionist who after coming back from hiding (due to persecution by the > authorities) finds that the world has changed so much since his active days. > A sense of betrayal and frustration permeates the whole situation although > it is not that much graphic to 'drive the nail home'. The film is very > evenly paced (though some of my Indian friends who have stayed in this country > for shorter periods than I have, found it 'too slow' and 'void of reality') > and the photography is extremely good. In fact, I have found that the film > deals with extremely delicate problems of personal emotions and the message > is quite bold. > I never saw any of Gopalkrishnan's films when I was in India (till '79) > even though I had heard about him. You don't get to see this kind of films > unless you're associated with some film-clubs. As far as "Mukhamukham" goes, > language was not a problem for me at all. Incidentally, the film is sub-titled > in English by the National Film Development Council. I would like to know > if any of the other films by Gopalkrishnan are available on video cassettes > here. I understand these films are hard to come by at local Indian stores > because they are not 'popular'. I had terrible luck once in finding a copy > of 'Oka Ori Katha' (a Malayali version of Prem Chand's 'Kafan' by Mrinal Sen). > > Shankar Chatterjee USnail: USC Signal & Image Processing Institute (SIPI) Yes, I would like it very much if you'd post the list of movies shown at the FilmUtsav at UCLA. At the Museum of Modern Art, there has been a series of films; of which the Ritwick Ghatak and Mrinal Sen retrospectives were notable. Sadly, I only managed to see one of them, Mrinal Sen's "Interview", which is hardly his best. The first part of FilmUtsav at the MoMA ends on Dec. 15; this month's films are (have been): Mrinal Sen: Baishey Shravana, Akash Kusum, Bhuvan Shome, Interview, Oka Oorie Katha, Akaler Sandhane, Kharij. Mani Kaul: Mati Manas (Documentary on potters) Ten Days in Calcutta: A portrait of Mrinal Sen and a highly acclaimed documentary, "Mahatma: Life of Gandhi" by Vithalbhai Jhaveri, who was one of the Mahatma's associates. This was mostly documentary film footage, and runs for 5 hours Apparently Jhaveri was a close Gandhi associate, and this is a labor of love sponsored by the Gandhi Memorial Trust. As for Adoor's films, he is one of the better proponents of neo-realism in Indian cinema today; in some ways, he is a direct descendant of Ray in that he merely observes: he is no polemicist. His portrayals of rural Kerala life have often been extremely charming, humorous, and accurate. "Swayamwaram" won a National Award in 1971 (?) and portrays a young couple whose decision to marry for love faces harsh reality when the husband dies. "Kodiyettam (The Flag-Hoisting)" deals with wry humour with a young, irresponsible man and his sudden growth into maturity. "Elippathayam (The Rat Trap)" shows a man who lives his life as a parasite; it is notable as his first color feature, and captures the lush Kerala landscape beautifully. Adoor is known as a craftsman, and a painstaking perfectionist. He has managed to assemble an excellent crew; interestingly his first films were financed by a film co-operative, Chitralekha, that he founded in Trivandrum. The Urvasi-award-winning actress Sarada acted in several of his films. Adoor's films are, if I may be pardoned the metaphor, like fine wine: to be savored slowly; there is never intense action. Adoor Gopalakrishnan and Aravindan spearheaded a brief flowering of the Malayalam cinema in the 70's; unhappily, it does not appear to have lasted into the 80's. Aravindan's films are considerably more complex and textured than Adoors: "Uttarayanam", "Thampu", "Kummatti", "Estappan", "Kanchana Sita". Aravindan's sources tend to be more literary; it probably helps if you understand Malayalam. As a former (and very popular) cartoonist, Aravindan sometimes brings a bit of politics into his films (eg. Uttarayanam). He is also a bold experimenter: "Kanchana Sita" retells the Aswamedha Yaga in the Ramayana with all the characters played by members of a tribe; the whole story is set in the context of the tribe, and there are only four characters! Incidentally, Mrinal Sen's "Oka Oorie Katha" is in Telugu. It features Vasudeva Rao, whom people might remember from "Chomana Dudi" (Kannada). The art film nut, Sri Rajeev. ihnp4!attunix!rajeev (my employer, AT&T, wisely chooses to ignore my infatuation with movies and professes no opinion on them).