Week 4 Reading Diary: Sita Sings the Blues

Sita Sings the Blues by Nina Paley

This was such a fascinating take on the traditional Ramayana! I thoroughly enjoyed it. I'm definitely a visual learner so seeing the scenes depicted in the epic was so helpful in getting the full impact of the story. The animations were spectacular--the colors, outfits, and shapes were so intricate and very well done. The mixing of stories was also an interesting idea for this film but it worked very well as it created two different, interwoven storylines throughout the movie. There were a few parts in the movie that I really loved.

Dasharatha about to crown Rama as King while Kaikeyi says otherwise (Image Source).

I enjoy anything with humor, so the parts where there were random characters debating the setting of the Ramayana or the time it took place was such a great piece of comedy. Every couple of scenes, they would talk about the next event in the Ramayana and debate whether it made sense or not and question the characters' motives for the way they acted. It was actually very insightful and similar to the questions I had while reading the epic. Also, throughout the movie, while explaining the different scenes in the epic, they'd alter the costumes, facial expressions, and certain phrases with such exaggeration that it really made the movie hilarious but informative nonetheless. The songs by Sita were so beautiful. It added a very nice touch to the story where parts of the epic were told through lyrics! It also provided such a stark contrast to what you expect form an Indian epic, with her singing the blues. I love how it depicted their banishment to the forest as something a little more pleasant and lovey-dovey than I read in the epic. The part where Ravana kidnaps Sita was also very well done with hilarious dialogue and reactions.

Sita and Rama banished to the forest (Image Source).

Later on in the movie, it talks about Rama and Sita's reunion and how, contrary to what we expected, it was not a loving reunion. It was nice that this was discussed right after Dave and Nina's reunion where he also acts cold toward his significant other, like Rama. I also loved how the "commentators" discussed Rama's reactions because it was something that bothered me a lot while reading the epic. I can't wait to finish watching the movie!

Rama rejects Sita (Image Source).