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The MahabharataRating:
Release Date: 26 November, 2002 Retail Price: $39.99 OUR Price: $35.99 You SAVE: $4.00! Cast: |
The Mahabharata Reviews
From a non-Indian, non-religious viewpoint, a masterpiece
I do not wish to comment on any of the DVD-related technicalities, because I view this entire epic on a 1989 videotape dubbed from PBS. I am happy to find the DVD release available, but I have not yet seen it on DVD. I watch this film about once or twice a year.
I am not an admirer of Eastern mysticism, nor of religion in general, but hearing a different kind of myth/saga to the Bible has always been important to me, since I had the Southern Baptist viewpoint pounded into me as a youth. I do not have to agree or completely understand myth/sagas but I DO have to find them entertaining before I would take the time to bother with them.
As to the interpretation of the text, I have seen some of the Chopras version and can understand why viewers of an Indian heritage would prefer it; it contains most of the characteristics that annoy some Western viewers with all that is Bollywood, yet is obviously beloved of many Indians: odd production values, scenes that appear to copy illustrations that sometimes have nothing to do with the text (such as Krishna loaded for bear as he prepares to drive Arjuna's war chariot). A non-stop soundtrack that even I, a lover of World Music, find (and this is the most charitable word I can think of) annoying. It also contains no Asian, African or European actors, being a 94-part Indian TV production.
However, Brooks' effort is a film of a stage production, it is not intended to explore Great Religious Themes but to provide a forum for his ideas about theatre while allowing a tiny sampling of the stories in this great book to be told, which he is at pains to explain in his interviews.
Some of his cast sound as if they have been taught their lines phonetically, and yet, the sheer physical presence they are afforded because of the camera work somehow makes them fascinating structural elements, a case in point being Bhishma, played by Kouyate. His English was almost unintelligible (he is clearly African) and it is undoubtably offensive to some Indian viewers to see black actors in such roles. Too bad. I do not have to worry about what others may find offensive, I am here to be entertained, and the the fact that Bhishma IS a structural element, and that Brooks seems to understand that not all characters in such tales are fully developed human beings, gives this presentation a quality that makes me want to keep watching, while Chopras becomes a chore. There are many European (non-English) actors in this whose lines are garbled and rushed, and yet each one seems perfect for the role he or she is intended to convey.
Over the five hours, (and years of rewatching) my bewilderment with the cast became fascination. Lloyd and Myers (as Veasa and Ganesh/Krishna)and Mezzogiorno(Arjuna)are standouts, and perhaps the DVD will reveal what I cannot see on my old tape: isn't Krishna always presented as blue-tinted?
Brooks' completely skipping the Bhaghavad Gita in no way harms this presentation, how could such a thing be filmed? and who would want to sit through that?
The camera work and scenic design live in the perilous middle ground of all filmed stage productions, but the choreographed movements of the cast within the spaces provided overcome my usual objections to such enterprises. By choreographed I do not mean a conscious attempt to bring attention to the movement, but I mean the absolute confidence of the actors to work within a confined space, and this film needs to be seen again and again if one is to understand that the appearance of being completely natural in something as contrived as a soundstage is the essence of the theatrical experience. Brooks is allowing himself the luxury afforded by filming to provide a rich set scheme. He could have easily placed all action on a limited stage and used the technical wonders as seen in such productions as RSC's Nicholas Nickleby but he takes another road here and gets the best of both worlds. The viewer never loses the sense of stage production but Brooks refuses to let the scenes be boxed in by it. I consider this a masterpiece mainly because I continue to watch it over the years, and like any piece of art will do, it seems to allow me to learn something about how to approach such a monumental task with the tools at hand. Unlike Mahler or Picasso, Brooks is not creating something from nothing, he has source material of such astounding scope that even the attempt is admirable, but I think the results here are equally astounding. How many films with ambitious themes (take much of the Herzog ouevre as an example) become a task more like taking medicine or sitting through a lecture in a foreign language? Brooks' film never palls.
The music, and especially the voice of Sarmila Roy, continues with me for several days after any viewing, and Brooks' limited use of music is refreshing since most "period pieces" (especially from Bollywood) are marred by wall-to-wall cacaphony.
a thrilling masterpiece.......
If you are ever roving around in the video store (or library, for that matter), and are looking for a film that is going to make you think, keep you on the edge of your seat, teach you important life lessons, and appeal to your senses, "The Mahabharata" is the film for you. However, you are going to need a whole day to fully appreciate this masterfully told story. (It clocks in at around 8 hours, total.) I know that sounds daunting, but, believe me, it is well worth it.
One of the most gifted geniuses of the stage, Peter Brooke, has directed/produced an amazing labor of love, with his adaptation of the epic Sanskrit collection of stories, centered on two sets of warring brothers (the Pandavas and the Kauravas), both in hot pursuit of the throne.
It took Peter Brook eight years to fully conceptualize and complete this film, and it shows. The actors span a dozen countries, come from a cross-section of backgrounds and are also multi-generational. In his choice of casting, it truly cuts to the heart of, what I believe is the central point of "The Mahabharata." It is the story of the plight of mankind. If that isn't a more universal story, I don't know what is. Beautiful, brilliant, and very appealing to a diverse audience.
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