tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10161060.post113131587034433992..comments2023-11-05T04:31:48.615-05:00Comments on Elusive Lucidity: Ritwik GhatakZChttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10211734319629732065noreply@blogger.comBlogger2125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10161060.post-1131405167543340572005-11-07T18:12:00.000-05:002005-11-07T18:12:00.000-05:00Glad to hear of another fan of this film. It's no...Glad to hear of another fan of this film. It's not underrated, exactly, because almost everyone who talks about <I>The Cloud-Capped Star</I> talks about it glowingly. But there are just so few people who talk about it! <BR/><BR/>I think maybe four or five of Ghatak's films can be found online on DVD with English subtitles, and only of two of those (the BFI ones) are likely to be of decent quality.ZChttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10211734319629732065noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10161060.post-1131341013002599512005-11-07T00:23:00.000-05:002005-11-07T00:23:00.000-05:00I was pretty amazed by the film's unique soundscap...I was pretty amazed by the film's unique soundscape - the sound of a passing train mingled with crickets chirping in the lakeside scenes, the distant folk songs that can be heard at Nita's household, and (in the humorous sequence when Sanat visits Nita) the sound of boiling water as her mother wonders what the two are upto! Kumar Shahani (a student of Ghatak, and a very interesting filmmaker in his own right) has written much about the film too, and I remember him attributing certain mythical qualities to the women of the film, to do with Hindu goddesses. In this way, the film becomes a truly complex mix of melodramatic (melodrama as in the traditionally "Indian" forms of theatre), mythic and cinematic impressions. Mizoguchi is an excellent comparison. <BR/><BR/>Thanks for that awesome <I>Rouge</I> link - "close reading" indeed.Mubarak Alihttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04628917065083772357noreply@blogger.com