Sita Sings the Blues

Sita Sings the Blues is fabulous. Aside from being based on the heart-wrenching tale of Sita told in the Ramayana, I love writers and artists who are able to bring modern relevance to the old stories, and Nina Paley managed to do that both through interweaving a modern-day breakup tale with Sita's story, and by using Annette Hanshaw's jazz vocals as Sita's modern voice. (Also: Todd Michaelsen's three Indian-flavored electronica pieces are awesome. Must download those.) The three shadow puppet narrators manage to be informative (for those who don't have a clue about Indian myth or The Ramayana) and also hilarious at the same time.

The only complaint I have about the movie is that it's too long ... and by that, I could have done without a few of the Hanshaw songs without losing the fun and flavor of the story. They all fit eerily well, mind you...

Apparently there will also be a hi-res download of the film in the archives beginning March 7. Good to know.