I’ve refrained from saying that I’ve really liked Nina Paley’s Sita Sings the Blues for awhile, but since it’s available on a real DVD I might as well praise it now. (Since I actually liked something, I had to wait awhile for it to stew and see if I still did later.)
As Mike Barrier plainly puts it in his brief post, I didn’t know Flash could look this good either. I was worried when I attended one of Cornell’s screenings of it in 35mm that my positive opinion of it (having already watched it on the Internet) may waver seeing it so huge. (Actual film projection and Flash don’t exactly fit together in my mind). Thankfully it didn’t.
What can I say that hasn’t been said ad nauseum; the film is awfully funny in both the writing and animation (I had to settle for a blurry capture of one of my favorite pieces in it since the DVD hasn’t arrived yet), moves at a brisk pace, and is personal without being quirky. Its meta-style is hilarious without being smug or obnoxious, and we’re not reminded that we should cry here or there every ten minutes. Coming out of Cornell Cinema, it was the first time in awhile I can think of (at a non-revival screening anyway) where I thought that I should have paid more for admission. (Then again, it was only four bucks.)
Eddie Fitzgerald mentioned to me awhile ago that what he likes best about cartooning is its “grass roots” feel (a term that we should use more since it hasn’t been abused like others); that anyone can pick up a pencil and try. Animation was basically an extension of the print cartoon, so it (for awhile) retained the same flavor. Yet very little animation these days (and arguably, cartooning) abides by this law. Even a lot of the best animated product these days feels like it was made by a machine, regardless of the talent poured into it. I’ve had the feeling for awhile that the really good stuff is going to come exclusively from the non-studios, and Paley’s film only further cements that idea.
As if it wasn’t obvious, I don’t anticipate to enjoy new movies much these days. All I can do is pray to the skies there’s more I like about something than dislike. A friend advised me that he refrains from commenting on certain things, like CGI, because “that’s not made for me.” What he and I get upset about though is: where is the stuff made for me? Sita is the kind of film made for me. I can’t think of an animated feature I’ve liked on the whole like this since Bakshi’s Heavy Traffic. My sole issue with it is that Paley should have had more money at her disposal, but then again, the film probably wouldn’t have been the same with it. I can’t say that her plans to get the movie out there were sound (and you can read all about them by going to her blog) but it was a huge gamble that paid off faster than it could have.
If Sita is playing at a theater near you, go see it, because if it fully convinced me that Flash can be used to create art rather than sausage, so imagine what it will do for you. If it isn’t playing, buy the DVD, and kick in a few bucks more so Paley can start her next movie. We need it.
(The audience reaction at Cornell was great, I might add. The only complaint I overheard was that it was too short, but I guess their brains must be fried from Speilberg, Lucas, Jackson, etc. and forgot that most movies used to wrap up within 100 minutes.)
