The Name of a River 1 Faraw! Mother of the Dunes 0
Reason Debate and a Tale 0 Silences of the Palace 1
the other 2 i saw some time back and in my mind couldn’t separate them, for various reasons have struggled to see them both again..
I hadn’t seen either Name of a River or Faraw before, the first had passed under my radar., the other i’d long wanted to see. It was Name of a River that knocked me out, i was already in tears with its beauty by 15 minutes in, there’s something about approaching a new place by boat, and with it in this case the separation. The importance of rivers for Ghatak can hardly be overstated, Subanarekha, Padma, or Titas, and the film underlines the appalling artificial division of India (confirmed by looking at a map and the geography), as well as the great famine- the British have quite a bit to answer for! I wouldn’t have recognised Supriya Choudhury of Cloud-Capped Star. It has an interresting structure, cubist really, reminding at times of Tarkovsky’s Mirror, rooted in nature, a bio from different angles. That whole area, Bengal, Bangladesh has such a rich culture, including in films.
Mother of the Dunes seemd relatively straightforward for most of its length, a strong resilient woman with more than enough problems if not food on her plate, the French are portrayed in a negative light as exploiters and sexual predators which is fine by me but it seemed a little simplistic..then in the late stages the use of colour and dreams became intriguing- and rather confusing too, worth investigating for meanings, but in any event i adore Name of a River.
The encoding of Silences of the Palace was awful, I couldn’t watch it. About the other matches, I prefer not to vote, but in general I am disappointed.
The Name of a River 1 v Faraw! Mother of the Dunes 0
It seems that African film can overload on the social commentary and Faraw may have deserved better. I suppose the same could be said of the social commentary heavy “River” but it preferred it visually.
Reason, Debate and a Story 1 v Silences of the Palace 0
Ghatak’s “Wild Strawberries” ?
wonderful picks by both managers!!!! why do you say that Dan?
by the way,i was lucky to have seen Silences way before the Cup on Greek TV,yes…they show some gems at times ;)
i’ll be back later but i really liked Doinel’s comment “Ghatak’s “Wild Strawberries” ?”
more true than you imagine dude….maybe it’s time for someone out there to release a Ghatak box set with all his films????
At least there exists an Indian DVD-boxset which is the one I own, it contains all feature films Ghatak made from “The Citizen” to “Reason, Debate and a Story”. I don´t understand Criterion´s neglect of classical Indian films while at the same time releasing a contemporary film by Mira Nair. Both Ray and Ghatak would deserve to be included alongside the countless Japanese and European directors (and not just the “Apu Trilogy” which has unfortunately become an excuse for critical ignorance of the subcontinent´s cinema).
THE MIDDLEMAN (Satyajit Ray) 1 v Yaaba (Idrissa Ouedraogo 0
I will vote for the other pairings later. This was the only pairing which is easy for me to vote for. Yaaba is a nice film, but again Ray created one of his four finest films he made in the 70s. It is one of his darkest works about the capitalism in post colonial India. Even though the films is very subtle I could feel underneath Rays anger like dynamite.
The Middleman 1 Yaaba 0
The Middleman lacks the surrealistic style of The Adversary but the dreadful and cynical tone is still there. Another example of a film which uses the scorching heat and humidity to cause a character to release all his frustrations.
Reason, Debate and a Tale 0 Silences of the Palace 1
Unimpressed by both but I still have to go with Silences of the Palace. So far, I’m not so much of a fan of the Ghatak films I’ve seen: Ajantrik and this one. Here’s to hoping I’d like Cloud-Capped Star and Subarnarekha.
well Cloud-Capped Star and Subarnarekha are comfortably my favourites by him, and probably most admired generally, so there’s a good chance you’ll like them more
Ghatak´s film trilogy from the 60´s expresses his frustation in regards to the separation that culminates in “Reason, Debate and a Story”, and I would therefore definitely recommend to watch these earlier films first in order to appreciate his final statement.
The Name of a River 1 Faraw! Mother of the Dunes 0
Yes and now the hard to vote pairings:
The Name of a River (Anup Singh) 0 v FARAW! MOTHER OF THE DUNES (Abdoulaye Ascofare) 1
I love both films and I thought here as well about a 0-0. FARAW is a great rediscovery and I liked especially the sense for a triste but an every day life. Especially the main character is impressing: an uneducated elderly woman, sometimes harsh but with a good sense what is right and what is wrong. Even though the film is full of tragic, Ascofare didn´t dramatize it. The fiction the story-telling is based on the things, the incredible landscape and the people. And my guru Ozu would have said FARAW tried to offer a sense for the rythm of the life.
The Name of a River is one of my favorite indian films of this decade and probably the finest hommage from one director to another. It doesn´t follow any strict narrative line and it is a poetic reflection of the impact ghatks films made on Anup Singh with an intelligent and sensitive use of obvious hints to Ghataks films.
REASON DEBATE AND A STORY 1 – Silence of the Palace 0
It was as well not an easy choce. Silence of the Palace is nice and well made arthouse cinema. But Reason, Debate and a story even though it is far away from his stellar trilogy, is a moving document of one of Indias greatest talents. As a film it is often uneven, like his previous film The River Titash. But I am too incolved in Ghataks work that it can let me unmoved. A strange self portrait without the least self glorification.
@ Dan,
The encoding for Silences of the Palace was fixed after the first couple of hours. You must have gotten to them right on that first day. I fixed the synch and replaced the initial uploads. So you can give it another try if you’d like.
early scores:
The Name of a River 3 Faraw! Mother of the Dunes 1
The Middleman 2 Yaaba 0
Reason Debate and a Tale 2 Silences of the Palace 2
The Name of a River 0 -Faraw! Mother of the Dunes 1
The Middleman 1 – Yaaba 0
Reason Debate and a Tale 0 – Silences of the Palace 1
Again, six nifty choices and a particularly tough decision in the last pairing, one that I might regret later but felt right as I was making it. Sorry I can’t say more at the moment since the films deserved some comment.
The Name of a River 1 – Faraw! Mother of the Dunes 0
The Middleman 1 – Yaaba 0
Reason, Debate and a Story 0 – Silences of the Palace 1
All of these were excellent films, but both The Name of a River and Silences of the Palace were exceptional in every way and the highlights for this entire round for me.
The Name of a River 0 v Faraw! Mother of the Dunes 1
The Middleman 1 v Yaaba 0
updated scores:
Name of the River 4 Faraw! Mother of the Dunes 3
The Middleman 5 Yaaba 0
Reason Debate and a Tale 2 Silences of the Palace 4
The Middleman 1 – Yaaba 0
After this and The Big City, I really must seek out more Ray films. He’s a master.
1. The Name of a River 1 – Faraw! 0
2. The Middleman 0 – Yaaba 1
3. Reason, Debate and a Story 0 – Silences of the Palace 1
Difficult choices for these six… :(
The Name of a River 1 – Faraw! 0
I will be back with more votes on this later. I feel awful for not being able to participate more right now, this is the time of year that my work schedule goes into overdrive.
Reason, Debate, And A Story 0 – Silences of the Palace 1
I loved Silences, just loved it. Really impressed with everything I’ve seen out of team Africa. I’m a huge Ghatak fan, and so this pains me a little bit to vote this way, but here’s to hoping he gets the restoration treatment he deserves. And Scorpio, yeah, I have to say, I don’t love this Ghatak film, but The Cloud-Capped Star is off the charts.
The Name of a River (Anup Singh) 0 – Faraw! Mother of the Dunes (Abdoulaye Ascofare) 1
The wisdom of Faraw over the dreamlike odyssey.
(hope to be back in time to vote on another pairing)
dp
Yaaba has avoided the ignominy of a complete defeat! I can die a happy man!
The Middleman 1 Yaaba 0
The Name of a River (Anup Singh) 1 v Faraw! Mother of the Dunes (Abdoulaye Ascofare) 0
The Middleman (Satyajit Ray) 1 v Yaaba (Idrissa Ouedraogo) 0
Reason, Debate and a Story (Ritwik Ghatak) 0 v Silences of the Palace (Moufida Tlatli) 1
Reason, Debate and a Story 0 v Silences of the Palace 1
Voting against Ghatak, a big no no for a big fan, but then again Jutkti, Takko aur Gappo against Silences of the Palace – the latter takes the cake.
Again, some comments I didn’t have time when posting my vote earlier:
Just want to say how much I enjoyed both managers selections. I sensed a definite theme in Apursansar’s picks, with the first film being a very creative bio on the great Indian director, Ritwik Ghatak, and the last film selected Ghatak’s own last work. The Name of a River was a fitting homage which I need to see again to more fully appreciate, especially as Ghatak is a new discovery to me – thanks to this great event. It has poetry, both visual and though its wonderful prose, and is a definite masterpiece in construction. It holds its own with Mirror or Sans Soleil in its cinematic poetry. However, it assumes a knowledge of Indian history and Ghatak I lack, so I am sure I missed alot of the allusions. Still, I am very glad to have now seen it. The final Ghatak film was too diffuse for me, and too difficult to understand without the historical context. What was going on at the end, for example, with the men shooting in the woods? Is this a reference to the separatist insurgency? What were the three dancers in black all about? Ghatak was brilliant playing basically – from what I understand – himself: that is a rambling, philosophical drunk. Who can’t identify somewhat with that?
The Ray film reminded me of The Adversary, which we saw earlier in the event. Both deal with the consequences of trying to find work in a troubled economy. How relevant is that to today many jobless people on site might attest. It details, in true Ray fashion, the descent of one job seeker when reality overtakes his own values – with bizarre consequences.
The African films were all noteworthy, and show the conscience at the heart of the many films from Africa Blue K has picked for us. Faraw! details the travails of a determined older woman to somehow support her family against all odds and prevent her daughter from a life of prostitution to a French colonial. Yaabe tells of a young boy who is the only one to befriend a social outcast and understand her. Silences of the Palace was a masterpiece on its own terms. The cinematography was great and the story was told in a multi-layered, dense manner. We got to know, in detail, the life of this young woman and the other women who are basically prisoners in this sumptious house – where the women must use every ruse to maintain a little bit of dignity. This film was one of the best I have seen in this AWC event. Both this and The Name of a River deserve to be seen by anyone interested in the best cinema has to offer.
Thanks to both managers for presenting – at this late stage – 6 excellent films – all new discoveries for me.
Kenji
THE AUTEURS WORLD CUP 2009 : SEMI FINAL VOTING
After over 3 months of exciting competition, we are now in the pair of semi-final matches, with only 4 teams left! New participants are still most welcome and allowed to vote in the following match-ups.
On this thread, voting will be on India v Africa. The other match between China and Japan will be on another thread.
The extended voting period for this match lasts from 7 pm GTM on Tuesday 15th December until 6 pm GMT on Wednesday 16th December, which means that users will have 23 hours in order to publish their votes. The world map which lists all current time zones can be found on www.worldtimezone.com, so that everyone can be up to date about how much time is left.
After the voting period is over the votes will be counted and the results published. We will then be having a break for selection and then viewing of the films for the grand final, which should take place from 22nd to 23rd December.
There is a separate world cup section of the forum, and a world cup page to be updated: http://www.theauteurs.com/worldcup2009
Each user can vote on any line-up of each match as long as he/she has watched both films that are lined-up against each other. An explanation for the preference in each case would be greatly appreciated, as provided by most voters in the previous matches. You can vote on any single pairing; you do not have to vote on all 3 pairings of a match. Team managers are not allowed to vote on matches their own team participates in. The voting should be handled like this:
Film A 1 (or 0) – Film B 0 (or 1)
Film C 0 (or 1) – Film D 1 (or 0)
Film E 1 (or 0) – Film F 0 (or 1)
Please mark the winning film/score in large or heavy print. You can give your explanatory statements either after each vote or after all 3 votes.
The match you´re going to vote for on this thread is
INDIA v AFRICA
The Name of a River (Anup Singh) v Faraw! Mother of the Dunes (Abdoulaye Ascofare)
The Middleman (Satyajit Ray) v Yaaba (Idrissa Ouedraogo)
Reason, Debate and a Story (Ritwik Ghatak) v Silences of the Palace (Moufida Tlatli)