489 Monsoon Wedding

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cdnchris
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489 Monsoon Wedding

#1 Post by cdnchris » Thu Jul 16, 2009 6:32 pm

Monsoon Wedding

Cultures and families clash in Mira Nair’s exuberant Monsoon Wedding, a mix of comedy and chaotic melodrama concerning the preparations for the arranged marriage of a modern upper-middle-class Indian family’s only daughter, Aditi. Of course there are hitches—Aditi has been having an affair with a married TV host; she’s never met her husband to be, who lives in Houston; the wedding has worsened her father’s hidden financial troubles; even the wedding planner has become a nervous wreck—as well as buried family secrets. But Nair’s celebration is ultimately joyful and cathartic: a love song to her home city of Delhi and her own Punjabi family.

DIRECTOR-APPROVED SPECIAL EDITION FEATURES:

•New, restored high-definition digital transfer, supervised by director Mira Nair and director of photography Declan Quinn (with DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 soundtrack on the Blu-ray edition)
•Audio commentary featuring Nair
•Nair’s short documentaries So Far from India (1983), India Cabaret (1985), and The Laughing Club of India (2001), featuring video introductions by the director
•Nair’s short fiction films The Day the Mercedes Became a Hat (1993), 11’09"01—September 11 (Segment: “India”) (2002), Migration (2007), and How Can It Be? (2008), featuring video introductions by the director
•New video interview with actor Naseeruddin Shah, conducted by Nair
•New video interviews with Quinn and production designer Stephanie Carroll
•Theatrical trailer
•New and improved English subtitle translation
•PLUS: An essay by critic and travel writer Pico Iyer

ALSO AVAILABLE ON BLU-RAY

Original DVD:
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Jeff
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Re: 489 Monsoon Wedding

#2 Post by Jeff » Thu Jul 16, 2009 6:37 pm

It looks like the licensing of this film may have just been a good excuse to put a lot of short films and docs by Nair out. That makes the release kind of tolerable. Even though you can get a DVD with a commentary, featurette, and DTS for under eight dollars.

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zedz
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Re: 489 Monsoon Wedding

#3 Post by zedz » Thu Jul 16, 2009 6:43 pm

My pulse didn't exactly quicken, but Criterion have done a decent silk-purse job on this with all those extra films. The Laughing Club of India is the only one I've seen, and it's quite charming.

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CSM126
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Re: 489 Monsoon Wedding

#4 Post by CSM126 » Thu Jul 16, 2009 6:46 pm

I was going to buy this anyway, but seeing all those shorts included makes me really excited for it. Nice surprise.

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jbeall
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Re: 489 Monsoon Wedding

#5 Post by jbeall » Thu Jul 16, 2009 6:50 pm

I liked the film well enough, but probably not enough to buy it. With those extras, however... Anyway, this is a really nice package they're putting out.

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colinr0380
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Re: 489 Monsoon Wedding

#6 Post by colinr0380 » Thu Jul 16, 2009 7:09 pm

So they're cutting up the 11'09"01 anthology film now?

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HerrSchreck
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Re: 489 Monsoon Wedding

#7 Post by HerrSchreck » Thu Jul 16, 2009 7:15 pm

(rolls over and falls back asleep)

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Fiery Angel
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Re: 489 Monsoon Wedding

#8 Post by Fiery Angel » Thu Jul 16, 2009 8:47 pm

colinr0380 wrote:So they're cutting up the 11'09"01 anthology film now?
Pretty annoying...otherwise, a nice package for an unessential film.

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RodneyOz
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Re: 489 Monsoon Wedding

#9 Post by RodneyOz » Thu Jul 16, 2009 9:37 pm

I'll buy it as a collection of Nair's shorts, with a full length film chucked in as an extra feature Permanent Vacation style.

Perkins Cobb
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Re: 489 Monsoon Wedding

#10 Post by Perkins Cobb » Thu Jul 16, 2009 9:53 pm

On the up side ... I was finally starting to get tired of Border Radio jokes.

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kaujot
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Re: 489 Monsoon Wedding

#11 Post by kaujot » Thu Jul 16, 2009 11:57 pm

It's not nearly as bad as Border Radio.

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Tommaso
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Re: 489 Monsoon Wedding

#12 Post by Tommaso » Fri Jul 17, 2009 5:19 am

kaujot wrote:It's not nearly as bad as Border Radio.
And better than "Howard's End".

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Michael
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Re: 489 Monsoon Wedding

#13 Post by Michael » Fri Jul 17, 2009 9:01 am

Is it really that bad?

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jbeall
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Re: 489 Monsoon Wedding

#14 Post by jbeall » Fri Jul 17, 2009 10:24 am

It's not bad at all. I liked it, although it felt slight. The problems raised in the film get too-easy resolutions (although given how saccharine so much Bollywood fare is, it's a credit to Nair that she even raises theses issues, such as child molestation, in the first place). But then again, Nair made this film for a much more conservative movie audience. When Deepa Mehta's Fire depicted a lesbian relationship onscreen, Hindu fanatics ransacked theaters in which it was playing, and now Mehta needs bodyguards when she's in India. I want to be careful here not to confuse typical Bollywood audiences with Shiv Senas (the religious fanatics), but the former still have fairly narrow expectations of what is suitable material for cinema, and how directly one can allude to real social problems. Like all directors, Mira Nair doesn't make films in a vacuum, with unlimited funds and no pressure from producers (and given her appreciation for Battle of Algiers on the extras of that disc, I wouldn't be shocked if she actually wants to make more confrontational films about her homeland).

Monsoon Wedding really does have some lovely visual moments, too--I'm thinking especially of the romance b/t the wedding planner and the servant. There are some really funny moments, and the story moves along quickly. It's at least worth a rental if you haven't seen it, and if this Criterion package does a good job of contextualizing Monsoon Wedding within the context of Nair's broader career, I'll seriously consider buying it (but then Bollywood has long been a guilty pleasure of mine).

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bdsweeney
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Re: 489 Monsoon Wedding

#15 Post by bdsweeney » Sat Jul 18, 2009 11:50 pm

jbeall wrote:It's not bad at all. I liked it, although it felt slight. The problems raised in the film get too-easy resolutions (although given how saccharine so much Bollywood fare is, it's a credit to Nair that she even raises theses issues, such as child molestation, in the first place). But then again, Nair made this film for a much more conservative movie audience. When Deepa Mehta's Fire depicted a lesbian relationship onscreen, Hindu fanatics ransacked theaters in which it was playing, and now Mehta needs bodyguards when she's in India. I want to be careful here not to confuse typical Bollywood audiences with Shiv Senas (the religious fanatics), but the former still have fairly narrow expectations of what is suitable material for cinema, and how directly one can allude to real social problems. Like all directors, Mira Nair doesn't make films in a vacuum, with unlimited funds and no pressure from producers (and given her appreciation for Battle of Algiers on the extras of that disc, I wouldn't be shocked if she actually wants to make more confrontational films about her homeland).

Monsoon Wedding really does have some lovely visual moments, too--I'm thinking especially of the romance b/t the wedding planner and the servant. There are some really funny moments, and the story moves along quickly. It's at least worth a rental if you haven't seen it, and if this Criterion package does a good job of contextualizing Monsoon Wedding within the context of Nair's broader career, I'll seriously consider buying it (but then Bollywood has long been a guilty pleasure of mine).
I agree wholeheartedly. When I saw it at the cinema, I went to it in a bad mood (more to do with the company I was with than anything to do with the choice of film). When I came out I was much happier, simply because I just seen a relatively lighthearted and humanist film. Nair is never more than willing to give each of her characters their due and is never condescending or mean-spirited to any of them.

And yet I've never seen a film by her that I didn't have at least some reservations about. Jbeall is correct when he/she says that plot threads are too easily solved, and this was the same with The Namesake, too.

To be fair, I've never seen it since it was released, and I don't remember too much about it in detail. My main memories of it are of the vibrant cinematography and its joyous feel. It's by no means anything special, but it's a cut above average and a more than decent way to spend a night with friends or a partner when you don't feel like anything heavy but don't want to be treated like an idiot either.

Damning with faint praise?--Maybe.

jojo
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Re: 489 Monsoon Wedding

#16 Post by jojo » Sun Jul 19, 2009 12:11 am

bdsweeney wrote:[I agree wholeheartedly. When I saw it at the cinema, I went to it in a bad mood (more to do with the company I was with than anything to do with the choice of film).
Interestingly, I believe this film played in the Toronto Film Festival the day after 9/11, on 9/12/01. I remember a lot of critics coming out of this film feeling good because they felt it was a nice escape from all the noise and hysteria and tears and fury that was happening all over the news that day. I really think this likely helped the buzz in North America for a film that might have otherwise came and went.

I managed to see this only recently. I thought it was interesting in a "I'm glad I saw it and now I know what it's all about" sense, but not something I'd want to own on DVD.

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Re: 489 Monsoon Wedding

#17 Post by Narshty » Mon Jul 20, 2009 11:41 am

The apparent kneejerk reaction on this forum to this release annoyed me a bit, so yesterday I rented it out.

Sad to say, the haters were right. This is amateur-hour Altman with a hefty dose of oh-so-fashionable handheld Dogme 95 thrown in. Mira Nair seems totally indifferent to camera placement or the timing of cuts. The filmmaking is astonishingly careless and it's too attention-callingly clumsy to have a convincing "you are there" illusion.

The whole approach seems to have been to "broaden" all the performances for a "wider appeal" and as greater help for the viewer to sort out such a large cast, but it's gruelling. The lack of "judgement" placed on characters seems to spring not from a open-arms, come-one-come-all approach, ala Renoir, but more of a bland, don't-rock-the-boat approach. In hindsight, a bit of judgement might have livened things up.

It's an excellent, film school-worthy example of how intercutting can be utterly self-defeating. No scene is allowed to go on for more than about 90 seconds. In the one genuinely tense moment in the film, about halfway through when a major confession is about to unfurled, the film CUTS AWAY to some needless subplot, then comes back after everything has been said with one side of the party is sniffing tears and the other looking miffed. The pain revealed watching the confession would have made the characters' eventual bond much stronger, but extracting the agony just renders it another minor bump in the road. Everything about it reminds one of middle-class niceties - you can smell the conscious attempt to reach a big arthouse audience and it's condescending.

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Re: 489 Monsoon Wedding

#18 Post by Perkins Cobb » Mon Jul 20, 2009 12:41 pm

Thank you! It's a totally forgettable film, and its inclusion in the CC is mystifying. The only explanation I can think of it tokenism, which still doesn't make sense, because there are plenty of superior female directors, and plenty of superior Indian directors, and even a few superior female Indian directors.

Unless ... maybe they let Tamara pick one?

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jbeall
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Re: 489 Monsoon Wedding

#19 Post by jbeall » Mon Jul 20, 2009 1:12 pm

Perkins Cobb wrote:Unless ... maybe they let Tamara pick one?
Don't you dare talk about Tamara!! :x 8-)

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godardslave
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Re: 489 Monsoon Wedding

#20 Post by godardslave » Mon Jul 20, 2009 1:22 pm

Perkins Cobb wrote:Thank you! It's a totally forgettable film, and its inclusion in the CC is mystifying.
Here is why i think that CC is now giving spine numbers to films like Monsoon Wedding.

The main reserve of CC films were canon titles from Janus/Art house distributors CC has access to. Most of these classic canon films have now been released on dvd. Most other canon/classic films criterion does not have the rights to, or the elements are not good enough condition to release.

The fact that for a film to be given a spine number in the CC the film MUST have very good elements excludes a huge number of older films that have not been preserved to the required condition. Criterion might want to consider changing or loosening this constraint.

Essentially Criterion's release schedule now consists of "filler" (for example monsoon wedding) as well as canon/classic films (for example jeanne dielman).
Last edited by godardslave on Wed Jul 22, 2009 1:39 pm, edited 1 time in total.

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Matango
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Re: 489 Monsoon Wedding

#21 Post by Matango » Wed Jul 22, 2009 1:45 am

So Mira Nair gets in the Collection before Satyajit Ray. ](*,)

mteller
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Re: 489 Monsoon Wedding

#22 Post by mteller » Thu Jul 23, 2009 10:45 am

Matango wrote:So Mira Nair gets in the Collection before Satyajit Ray. ](*,)
This is what kills me. Not a knock against Nair, but for Monsoon Wedding to be the first Indian film in the collection (and no, The River doesn't count) before Ray or Ghatak is really, really irksome. Salaam Bombay would have at least been more palatable.

Meanwhile, Mulvaney continues to ignore my emails about whether we're ever going to get Ray or Ghatak. Sigh.

MuzikJunky
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Re: 489 Monsoon Wedding

#23 Post by MuzikJunky » Wed Aug 05, 2009 11:03 pm

Maybe this’ll pave the way for some real Bollywood movies in the CC—and not just Hindi-language ones produced in Mumbai. First Look’s treatment of the masterful Asoka (Santosh Sivan, 2001) was atrocious, and Eros International’s DVDs suck. The possibility of including Mani Ratnam’s terrror trilogy (Roja, 1992; Bumbai, 1995; and Dil Se, 1998) is tantalizing, to say the least. Peace.

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HerrSchreck
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Re: 489 Monsoon Wedding

#24 Post by HerrSchreck » Wed Aug 05, 2009 11:06 pm

Don't hold your breath. Peace.

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What A Disgrace
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Re: 489 Monsoon Wedding

#25 Post by What A Disgrace » Thu Aug 06, 2009 6:37 am

MuzikJunky wrote:Maybe this’ll pave the way for some real Bollywood movies in the CC—and not just Hindi-language ones produced in Mumbai. First Look’s treatment of the masterful Asoka (Santosh Sivan, 2001) was atrocious, and Eros International’s DVDs suck. The possibility of including Mani Ratnam’s terrror trilogy (Roja, 1992; Bumbai, 1995; and Dil Se, 1998) is tantalizing, to say the least. Peace.
I hope they do a Rajaram Vankudre Shantaram or Bimal Roy Eclipse set, just to spite you.

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