{Adaptation} "Sita Sings the Blues" Film Review

Fig. 1: ‘Sita Sings the Blues’ poster (2008)

Sita Sings the Blues (2008) is a brilliant and surprisingly relatable musical indie film directed and almost entirely animated by the American cartoonist and animator, Nina Paley.

The film depicts events of the Hindu epic poem, The Ramayana, but told primarily from the perspective of Sita, along with the biographical story of the decline of Paley’s relationship with her ex-husband, and how she reacted to it; both these stories fit together extremely well. While Paley depicts her experience, she does not obsess over the pains of her past, instead the entire film benefits from her sense of humour, one visible even in the use of camerawork. Key characters include Rama, Sita and Paley herself.

Sita was mainly animated within Adobe Flash, but with some of Paley’s watercolours scanned in and animated within After Effects (Paley, s.d.). The film uses multiple different animation styles including those naturally inspired by Hindu art, as well as a more ‘squiggly’ art style when depicting events of Nina’s life, among others. Other techniques used include rotoscoping of actress Reena Shah for parts of the Agni Pariksha (Trial by Fire) sequence (Paley, s.d.).

Jazz and blues recordings of the late Annette Hanshaw are used as Sita’s voice, and add greatly to the appeal of the animation. Paley’s three friends Aseem, Bhavana and Manish discuss the Ramayana entirely unscripted, acting as narrators and appearing as shadow puppets within the animation (Paley, s.d.); this unscripted nature adds another level of comedy, appeal and honesty to Sita.

Sita Sings the Blues is online and sits within a Creative Commons license so can be viewed and distributed freely; it is a film so relatable, fun and inspiringly animated that the recommendation is that it be watched as soon as possible.

Bibliography

Paley, Nina (s.d.) Frequently Asked Questions [online] In: sitasingstheblues.com At: http://sitasingstheblues.com/faq.html (Accessed 06.03.15)

Paley, Nina (s.d.) Sita Sings the Blues – Collaborators [online] In: sitasingstheblues.com At: http://sitasingstheblues.com/credits.html (Accessed 06.03.15)

Illustrations List

Fig 1. Paley, Nina (2008) ‘Sita Sings the Blues’ poster [poster] At: http://sitasingstheblues.com/SitaEPressKit/SitaPosterAgniA2.png (Accessed 06.03.15)

@Alan -- [Narrative] 11: The Day After Tomorrow (2004) - Freytag's Pyramid

Fig. 1: "The Day After Tomorrow" Poster. (2004)

Exposition

This takes place between 0:03:00 – 0:21:45, as the audience are introduced to the film’s important characters.

Inciting Incident

This happens when paleoclimatologists Jack Hall and Jason Evans; NASA meteorologist, Janet Tokada; and head of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), Tom Gomez witness the destruction of Los Angeles via multiple large tornadoes on a live news broadcast.

Rising Action / Complications

01.   The first complication comes at the beginning of the movie when Jack, Frank Harris and Jason are drilling out ice cores from Antarctica’s Larsen B Ice Shelf. Jason is left to man the drill, soon after a large fissure quickly opens up of which Jason is saved from falling into.

In order to gather the core samples Jack jumps over the crevice. As the gap widens he tries to jump back over, saving the core samples and making it to the other side. Suddenly the ice caves in beneath his feet and he falls into the crevice, however he is saved by his ice axe, eventually being pulled to safety by his colleagues.  (0:03:00 – 0:06:00)

02.   In Tokyo’s Chiyoda District, a sudden very violent hailstorm with large hailstones brings the film’s first casualty as a man is hit directly on the head by a falling hailstone. (0:10:50 – 0:11:32)

03.   Multiple large tornadoes devastate Los Angeles at the same time, one of which destroys the Hollywood sign. (0:26:00 – 0:27:47)

04.   Three military helicopters fly into the eye of the storm, the helicopters quickly begin to freeze over and lose control. After the final helicopter crashes, one of the men tries to escape but he is quickly frozen in place as soon as he makes contact with the cold air.

05.   Heavy rainfall begins flooding the Manhattan streets, meanwhile a tsunami over two-thirds the total height of the Statue of Liberty approaches New York. At 0:46:52, the tsunami hits New York, flooding the city.  Some survivors including Jack’s son, Sam Hall and his friends are forced to quickly take refuge in the upper levels of the New York Public Library.

06.   Sam is forced to go to one of the Library’s flooded lower levels in order to access a payphone to call his father. Wading through waist deep water he successfully manages to contact his father, but nearly drowns beneath the rising floodwaters in the process. Jack tells Sam he will come for him. (0:54:15 – 0:57:00)

07.   Jack, Frank and Jason are forced to trek towards New York in snowshoes after their car breaks down when it hits an overturned lorry hidden within a snowdrift, while slightly north of Philadelphia. (1:15:00)

08.   Unbeknownst to them, Jack, Frank and Jason walk across the glass roof of a Galleria, while connected to each other and their sled via cord. Their heavy sled causes the glass to begin to crack until it shatters and the sled falls through, leading to the men being pulled towards the hole.

Saved by Jack’s ice axe, and with the sled cut loose, Jack and Jason attempt to pull up Frank, who is left hanging within the Galleria, however doing so causes the glass to begin to break further. In order to save his friends, Frank decides to cut his cord, falling to his death. (1:17:25 - 1:20:00)

09.   As they take refuge in the Library, Sam sees Laura shaking beneath multiple blankets and asks if she is okay, noticing that she looks like she has a fever, but she claims she’s fine and just can’t sleep. (1:22:20)

10.   The next morning, Laura does not wake up, having used a book to identify her symptoms they discover that she has a cut on her leg and has contracted blood poisoning through it. It is revealed that she needs a large dose of penicillin or broad-spectrum antibiotics to survive. (1:25:55)

11.   Via thermal data sent from astronauts aboard the International Space Station to Huston, Janet and Tom discover that the superstorm’s vortex is 50 miles in diameter while getting larger, and that it will hit New York within an hour. (1:27:50)

12.   As Jack and Jason trek towards New York in the snow, Jason passes out while attached to Jack. (1:28:15)

13.   Sam, Brian and J.D. leave the Library in search of medical supplies. They search a stranded ship, which had drifted in front of the Library at the mid point of the film, via the now frozen over flood waters.

During their search, three wolves climb onto the ship, and attracted by the noise, encounter the boys. Having gathered the supplies, the boys barely manage to escape, but not before a wolf bites into J.D.’s leg. (1:28:40 – 1:34:40)

Climax

This is reached between 1:35:10 - 1:37:22, as New York goes into a deep freeze as the superstorm’s eye reaches the city.  As this happens, the boys rush to escape being flash frozen by the freezing air, while dragging J.D. along in a life raft found on the ship; reaching the Library, Sam has to drag J.D. while Brian barely manages to close the doors to the fire heated “safe room” in time. To keep the fire burning they throw as many books into it as possible.

Meanwhile after reaching a Wendy’s while dragging an unconscious Jason along behind him, to escape the storm Jack drops Jason through a vent into the Wendy’s, barely avoiding the chill as he jumps through himself. He drags Jason through into the kitchen and slams closed the metal door. In an attempt to warm the room and stop the freeze reaching them, Jack quickly lights the burners on the kitchen’s stove.

Falling Action / Reversal

Jack, Jason, Sam and the others who took refuge in the Library’s safe room, survive the deep freeze. At 1:35:40 Jack reveals that the eye of the storm has passed, and that he and Jason are 40 miles from Manhattan. After reaching Staten Island in New York, Jack and Jason take refuge from the snowstorm in their tent, for the night.

The Reversal truly begins at 1:41:12 as an exterior shot of the Earth reveals the storms are dissipating, which is soon confirmed by an astronaut aboard the ISS. As the sun rises, Jack and Jason leave the tent and discover that the sky is clearing.

Resolution

At 1:45:40 Jack is reunited with his son, it is also revealed that Laura has survived. The next scene takes place at the United States Embassy in Mexico. Tom informs the US President of Jack making it to New York, as well as the fact there are survivors. Via a televised broadcast the President addresses America, as helicopters fly to New York and rescue the survivors. The movie ends with a shot of the Earth with an almost cloudless sky.

Illustrations List

Fig 1. "The Day After Tomorrow" Poster. (2004) [Poster] At: http://media.tumblr.com/7371ddc10d124894c6f01a4560a9f262/tumblr_mja63kkf9l1rrhwflo1_1280.jpg (Accessed 12.10.14)

@Alan -- [Narrative] 10: The Descent (2005) - Archetypes

Fig. 1: "The Descent" Alternative Poster. (2005)

A year after Sarah, the main protagonist, loses her husband and her young daughter in a terrible car accident, her and her five friends go on a caving holiday in the Appalachian Mountains; as arranged by Juno. The six women enter the caves, only to be trapped within by a cave-in.

They soon discover that Juno had knowingly led them to an uncharted cave system; she explains that she wanted them to claim it and that she would name it after Sarah. Then begins their desperate search for a way out, all the while they are hunted by blind humanoid creatures, perfectly evolved for the darkness, which hunt by sound. Below are some of the main Archetypes depicted in the film…

Tragic / Reluctant /  Loner Hero

Sarah

Sarah becomes the tragic hero as the result of the death of her husband and daughter. She is reluctant to go on an exploration in the Appalachian Mountains. She becomes the loner hero when she is broken off from the main group, and when in the end she is left the last one standing.

The Shadow

Creatures

Carnivorous, they kill the girls one by one.

Juno’s dark side

When Juno accidentally stabs Beth in the throat with a climbing axe – thinking it is a creature behind her, she leaves her to die without even a sorry. She also had an affair with Sarah’s husband.

Sarah’s anger

After discovering from a dying Beth that Juno left her to die, Sarah is asked to put Beth out of her misery, of which she reluctantly obeys. Sarah also learns about Juno’s affair with her husband. When Juno and Sarah are the only ones left alive, Sarah reveals what she knows and stabs Juno through the leg with a climbing axe, incapacitating her.

The Threshold Guardian

The Cave

The cave’s claustrophobic composition as well as its many dangerous hazards provide constant obstacles as the girls struggle towards the exit; “guarding” its own exit via its hazards and the creatures within it.

Just as it seems Sarah is about to escape she falls down a hole and is knocked out. It seems that she then escapes the cave but it is revealed that she is simply hallucinating as she stares at a lit torch; the cave appears to have won.

Creatures

In order to reach the cave exit the girls must get past them – or die. When the entrance to the cave is blocked off by the cave-in, the girls must attempt to find another exit – they discover that there is a way out via ancient cave paintings on the wall.  At the end of the movie, the creatures can be heard, leaving it open as to whether or not Sarah survives.

It is to be noted however that in the sequel she does manage to escape but in the end, on a forced return to the caves, she sacrifices herself in order to allow another woman (a mother) to escape; unfortunately this woman is then knocked out by a shovel and dropped back in the cave – in the end, the cave and the creatures win.

The Quest

This begins as the girls’ original intention of exploring the cave, but becomes their quest to survive the cave and escape from within.

The Herald

Juno takes the role of the Herald, due to the fact that the exploration of the cave system was her idea. Sarah’s first sight of the creatures heralds the challenges that lay ahead.

The Shape Shifter

Both Sarah and Juno fill this role. Sarah could be descried as beginning as a Beta, she is the tragic mother who is reluctant to go on an adventure but becomes strong and able to do what must be done, she becomes a leader; when she incapacitates Juno, she removes the alpha-female status from her, claiming it for herself.

Juno fills this role in that the audience is first led to believe she is caring, with good intentions at heart e.g. wanting to claim the cave and name it after Sarah; however she becomes the enemy when she leaves Beth for dead, and when it is revealed that she had an affair with the husband of the very women she supposedly cared for.

The Mentor
The mentor takes the form of the girls themselves, working together in order to escape the cave.

Illustrations List

Fig 1. "The Descent" Alternative Poster (2005) [Poster] At: http://www.screenrelish.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/09/the-descent-alt-poster.jpg 
(Accessed 10.10.14)

[Narrative] 05: War of the Worlds (2005): The Hero's Journey

Fig. 1: 'War of the Worlds' (2005) Poster Art [Cropped]

1.    The Ordinary World

Ray Ferrier, divorced father of two children, Rachel and Robbie. Dock worker. Lives alone in Bayonne, New Jersey. Ex wife drops off their children, on her way to Boston with her boyfriend.

2.    Call to Adventure

The freak storm - lightning strikes the same place multiple times in quick succession. Investigation of the hole caused, rise of the first alien Tripod from within, leading to death of many people via the Tripod’s heat ray – they are turned into dust. Ray escapes, returns home – orders children to pack supplies, telling them they have to go.

3.    Refusal of the Call

All cars have stopped working, Ray finds one that works thanks to a replacement part, he steals it and escapes to Mary Anne’s empty house to hide with his kids, takes shelter in the basement.

4.    Crossing the Threshold

Damage to Mary’s house via Boeing 747 plane crash, Ray and children forced out of hiding. Discovery that Tripods are rising from beneath the ground in major cities worldwide - via news footage. Aliens entered Tripods via the lightning.

5.    Tests

Car taken by a mob that posed a threat to Ray’s children, especially 10-year-old Rachel.

Failed escape attempt by Ferry, which is sunk by Tripods, Ray and children manage to survive.

Robbie wants to leave the group and fight the aliens with the army, the Tripods have some kid of force field, preventing human weapons fire from touching them – Ray’s struggle to let him go; in their final tense moments Ray literally grabs his leg as Robbie clambers up a hill towards the army, finally gives in and lets him go, in order to protect Rachel.

Ray and Rachel offered shelter by Harlan Ogilvy who looses his mind after watching a Tripod harvest human blood; forcing Ray to have to kill him to stop his crazed shouting which would have led to them being discovered by the aliens. Ogilvy counts as both an Ally but in his madness, unintentionally becomes an Enemy.

A Tripod catches Rachel, after finding a belt of grenades Ray allows himself to be abducted with his daughter, they are then dropped in a pod shaped cage hanging on the Tripod’s body. Ray is nearly sucked inside the Tripod to be harvested but is saved by the other prisoners who pull him back, this ordeal pulls the pin of one of the grenades inside the tripod, setting them all off within its body, which releases the cages and destroys the tripod. This is also The Ordeal, Death and Rebirth.

Allies

Robbie, Rachel, sane Harlan, Mary Ann, the Military, bacteria.

Enemies

The Martians, the Martian/Alien Tripods, crazy Harlan.

6.    Approach

While taking refuge with Ogilvy, ray is forced to destroy a Tripod probe with an axe. After Ogilvy is murdered, Rachel is caught sleeping by a second probe causing her to run outside – these events lead to Rachel’s capture, and as a result to Ray’s Ordeal.

7.    The Ordeal, Death and Rebirth

Ray is nearly harvested, but escapes from the Tripod cage via grenade explosion. [See Tests, paragraph 5]

8.    The Reward

Arrival of Ray and Rachel in Boston; the dying Martian red weed is seen to be eaten by crows – indicating the aliens failure to terraform Earth. A Tripod’s force field/shield has gone down, indicated by birds being able to make contact with it – allowing the military’s weapons to make impact and destroy it. Another Tripod approaches, but is seen to collapse on its own, smashing into a building in the process. Via narration the aliens are revealed to have not been immune to Earth’s bacteria, bringing about their death and thus the survival of humanity.

9.    Return with the Elixir

Ray and Rachel reach the home of Mary Ann’s parents in Boston, and are re-united with Mary Ann and Robbie – the elixir is the safety of Ray and Rachel, as well as the discovery of Mary Ann and Robbie’s survival. In broader terms the Elixir is the survival of humanity.

10. The Resurrection 

The audience is led to believe that when Robbie leaves to help the military, he is going to die. His unlikely survival and presence at his grandparents’ home may be considered a form of resurrection.

Illustrations List

Fig 1. 'War of the Worlds' Poster Art (2005) [Poster - Cropped] At: http://spielbergfanclub.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/01/War-of-the-worlds-British-quad-movie-poster.jpg (Accessed on 28.09.14)