“Masala” is consistently fresh and daring, and many shots are genuinely surprising. You never know what you’re going to see next. It’s one spicy blend; masala all the way.
This is more than offset by the brilliant performances of Saeed Jaffrey and Zohra Segal. Jaffrey plays three major roles in the film, and makes them all completely different. As Lallu Bhai, he is the perfect greedy capitalist. As Mr. Tikkoo, he is quiet and charming, but his most touching performance is as Lord Krishna. The Indian deity is not just a gimmick, but a fully-fleshed character. Like all the other Indian characters, he´s searching for his role in the new world. He fears his people no longer need or love them and his final scene is a genuinely touching moment.
Segal cheerfully skewers the stereotype view of the wise, aged Indian grandmother. She harbors no fondness for the old, traditional ways. Grandma is fascinated by kitchen gadgets of all kinds, and wants her own juicer and food processor so she doesn´t have to grind her masala with a lowly mortar and pestle, like they do back in India. She can also curse up a blue streak in Hindi, and doesn´t mind directing it at her own god.
The film doesn´t reach a traditional resolution, nor does it attempt to. The various narrative threads all come together in a climactic scene involving a parade, a hostage situation, a knife fight, and the Royal Canadian Mounted Police. I´m not even going to try to explain it. Just see it for yourself.
If you like character-based independent cinema, you should give "Masala" a chance. I think it might even be a minor masterpiece of a sort, but I need more time to think about the movie before I go quite that far. Still, I highly recommend the film with no reservations.
VIDEO:
The DVD is offered in a 1:78:1 Anamorphic presentation. The picture quality is clear, though the bright colors of the Bollywood sequences could be sharper. The transfer is clean, and I didn´t notice any dirt or scratches.
AUDIO:
The DVD is presented with both Dolby Digital 2.0 and Dolby Digital 5.1 options. The dialogue is crisp, and the catchy music track and the Bollywood musical numbers are sharp, with no noticeable distortion.
Optional English and French language subtitles support the audio. You have the option to set the subtitles for only the Hindi language dialogue or for all the dialogue. The latter option is particularly useful for making out some of the background radio and TV newscasts.
EXTRAS:
The disc offers a 15-minute featurette recorded last year by the director and other cast members. It´s standard fare, though it provides some useful background information about the film´s production and somewhat troubled reception.
The disc also features a Director´s Commentary track, which offers about what you´d expect. Krishna spends most of the time simply guiding the audience through the plot, though he also offers some interesting insights regarding his motivations for some of the more esoteric choices he made during filming.
The extras also include a trailer and a photo gallery.
CLOSING THOUGHTS:
"Masala" was named the best South Asian film in a 2002 worldwide poll conducted by the British Film Institute. It seems a rather odd way to categorize a film made by a Canadian filmmaker in Canada with a mostly Canadian cast, with dialogue almost entirely in English. The poll included films made outside of South Asia, but it´s a reminder of the often thorny problem of nationality in contemporary films.
Take "Dancer in the Dark," for example. The film starred an Icelandic actress (Bjork), a French actress (Catherine Deneuve), an American actor (David Morse) and a Swede (Peter Stormare.) It´s in English, was set in America, and was financed by a multinational consortium. Yet it´s considered a Danish film, presumably because director Lars von Trier is from Copenhagen.
"Lord of the Rings" was nominated as an American film, but isn´t it more accurate to call it a New Zealand film? And how do we categorize "Passion of the Christ?"
I´ve got no greater point to make here. I´m just offering the matter for discussion.
Segal cheerfully skewers the stereotype view of the wise, aged Indian grandmother. She harbors no fondness for the old, traditional ways. Grandma is fascinated by kitchen gadgets of all kinds, and wants her own juicer and food processor so she doesn´t have to grind her masala with a lowly mortar and pestle, like they do back in India. She can also curse up a blue streak in Hindi, and doesn´t mind directing it at her own god.
The film doesn´t reach a traditional resolution, nor does it attempt to. The various narrative threads all come together in a climactic scene involving a parade, a hostage situation, a knife fight, and the Royal Canadian Mounted Police. I´m not even going to try to explain it. Just see it for yourself.
If you like character-based independent cinema, you should give "Masala" a chance. I think it might even be a minor masterpiece of a sort, but I need more time to think about the movie before I go quite that far. Still, I highly recommend the film with no reservations.
VIDEO:
The DVD is offered in a 1:78:1 Anamorphic presentation. The picture quality is clear, though the bright colors of the Bollywood sequences could be sharper. The transfer is clean, and I didn´t notice any dirt or scratches.
AUDIO:
The DVD is presented with both Dolby Digital 2.0 and Dolby Digital 5.1 options. The dialogue is crisp, and the catchy music track and the Bollywood musical numbers are sharp, with no noticeable distortion.
Optional English and French language subtitles support the audio. You have the option to set the subtitles for only the Hindi language dialogue or for all the dialogue. The latter option is particularly useful for making out some of the background radio and TV newscasts.
EXTRAS:
The disc offers a 15-minute featurette recorded last year by the director and other cast members. It´s standard fare, though it provides some useful background information about the film´s production and somewhat troubled reception.
The disc also features a Director´s Commentary track, which offers about what you´d expect. Krishna spends most of the time simply guiding the audience through the plot, though he also offers some interesting insights regarding his motivations for some of the more esoteric choices he made during filming.
The extras also include a trailer and a photo gallery.
CLOSING THOUGHTS:
"Masala" was named the best South Asian film in a 2002 worldwide poll conducted by the British Film Institute. It seems a rather odd way to categorize a film made by a Canadian filmmaker in Canada with a mostly Canadian cast, with dialogue almost entirely in English. The poll included films made outside of South Asia, but it´s a reminder of the often thorny problem of nationality in contemporary films.
Take "Dancer in the Dark," for example. The film starred an Icelandic actress (Bjork), a French actress (Catherine Deneuve), an American actor (David Morse) and a Swede (Peter Stormare.) It´s in English, was set in America, and was financed by a multinational consortium. Yet it´s considered a Danish film, presumably because director Lars von Trier is from Copenhagen.
"Lord of the Rings" was nominated as an American film, but isn´t it more accurate to call it a New Zealand film? And how do we categorize "Passion of the Christ?"
I´ve got no greater point to make here. I´m just offering the matter for discussion.
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[release]13556[/release]