This clever animated film tells one of the better known stories from Hindu scripture, the Ramyana's tale of the beautiful princess Sita and her long, often difficult relationship with the prince (later king) Rama, the seventh avatar of the God Vishnu (their marital problems mostly relate to a rigid sense of decorum and unfounded suspension). The story is told in a variety of animation styles, often collaged together and ranging from shadow figures, to moving icons, to squiggly lined figures, to flash style animation. This is all the more impressive in that the whole thing was animated almost entirely(the exception being some of the battle sequences) by one person, animator, writer, producer, director, and voice actress Nina Paley. The movie also features a parallel story about Paley's breakup with a former lover, a breakup that seemingly inspired her interest in Sita's sad tale of unmet devotion. This film also boasts fun musical numbers animated in sync to old Annette Hanshaw blues recordings from the 1920's.
This film has real spunk, creativity, and even freshness to it, though the story it tells is thousands of years old. The late Roger Ebert said of this film: "I am enchanted. I am swept away. I am smiling from one end of the film to the other. It is astonishingly original. It brings together four entirely separate elements and combines them into a great whimsical chord... To get any film made is a miracle. To conceive of a film like this is a greater miracle."[27 I concur with Mr. Ebert here, although the film is about 'the blues' its a joyous thing to watch, though maybe boarder line appropriate for kids. ***
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