Tuesday, May 07, 2013
THE DAMN BRITS
Today's film was the first half of the Indian film
Peasants are subject to extra taxes by a nasty local Brit commander but they can get out of them by beating the Brits at their own game, cricket.
A setup for defeat, surely, until we find out that there are some similarities between the mysterious Brit game and a local game that comes from antiquity.
This is a Bollywood production, full of music and dance and very healthy looking peasants.
There is not one original thing in the plot or the various "tricks" the villagers and the Brits use to make their side the winner.
What is interesting is the very Bollywoodness of it and the smoothing of what are often rough edges in Indian films for western ears and eyes.
The reason I am watching it is that it stars Aamir Khan a hot indian actor who wrote the piece as well. He himself is a good crossover candidate as he has more western features but now we are about to get as racist as the "whities" who lord it over the darker races.
The film is a kind of cult favorite and rates a very long wait on Netflix. It has been at the top of my queue for about four months. Since it was released on DVD.
The film is four hours long but moves quite quickly, nevertheless too long for me in one gulp.
I like it so far for, probably, all the wrong reasons. I look forward to tomorrow's developments and, of course, the big game.
I am on the side of the Indians mostly because I don't know anything about cricket either.
Lagaan means tax. The fruit of their labors. Wheat and grain to the sultan and the empire.
Labels: films
