Sita Sings the Blues (2008)

After having to miss its one night stand at the university, I was happy to see Sita was playing at our local theatre for a week when I would be in town. I had heard of this because of its winning the Gotham Award for Best Film Not Playing at a Theatre Near You and nomination for the Independent Spirit Someone to Watch Award. Mary Ellen and I went to see this today, on Earth Day, because that Disney documentary, Earth, will be playing long after Sita has left town. We had the best time! Now I find that Nina Paley (previously director/animator of 2 short films), who wrote it, directed it, edited it, and did "everything else unless otherwise indicated," according to the credits, is offering it to viewers to watch online RIGHT NOW (or after it leaves your city, because I think there's still much to be said for a really big screen). For more details, see her website, sitasingstheblues.com. imdb.com calls it "The Greatest Break-Up Story Ever Told: an animated version of the epic Indian tale of Ramayana set to the 1920's jazz vocals of Annette Hanshaw." The narration style is hilarious, with 3 people telling the story of Ramayana in a conversational style, speaking Indian-accented-English. There are several distinct styles of animation in the movie: 3 main ones for the Ramayana story, with silhouettes overlaid depicting the narrators, and, for a section of the movie featuring the contemporary American couple Nina and Dave, a jumpy style which reminded me of the Comedy Central series from the 1990's, Dr. Katz, Professional Therapist. In fact the narration style reminded me of that show as well. The songs by Annette Hanshaw are delightful, in fact, all of the music is great. Even before the Oscar success of Slumdog Millionaire (including its soundtrack), I liked Outsourced very much, and bought the soundtrack from his website. If Indian and/or jazz music pleases you, see this movie. If you've had a break-up or are considering one, see it. If you would like a laugh, see it. If you have a house pet, see it. Just see it. You can take the kids, too, as long as they understand about jealousy and wouldn't be bothered by cartoon battles.

PS. It's nearly a week since I posted this and I've been feeling a little guilty about revealing that this is a break-up story. I wondered if the trailer, which I didn't see, would have revealed that fact. No trailer is available on imdb, nor on the film's own website. However the poster says so, first thing. See it here. Whew. I feel much better now!