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| Gilbert Bayes, The Queen of Time, at Selfridges Source |
Isn't this magnificent? If ever I get to London again I will certainly be sure to go to see it and all the other wonderful art at Selfridges. I first came across the reference to this glorious piece of art in Art: A New History by Paul Johnson.
Be sure to go to the source link for more photos and information about the art of Selfridges. For more of this artist's work, check out the page at The Victorian Web.
The United States was the first to introduce voting democracy. Almost equally central to the ethos of the country was market democracy, in which ordinary people voted with their wallets and, in doing so, insured that they got what they wanted. Salesmanship, market research, advertising, the rapid response of production machinery to perceived customer requirements‚all these forms of materialism which, in their more raucous aspects, are identified as American failings or rather excrescences, are in fact central to its democratic strength. The story of Sears Roebuck, for instance, is a tale of how high-quality products, once the preserve of the rich, were humbled and distributed literally everywhere.
Paul Johnson,A History of the American People
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| Adolph Menzel (1815–1905), The Iron Rolling Mill Source |
I originally came across this when reading Paul Johnson's Art: a New History. I love these big subjects with the humanity reflected in the little scenarios around the corners, like the fellows in the bottom right having a quick meal. Click through on the link so you can really look at the details closely.
That the United States, lifted up by an extraordinary combination of self-created wealth and native talent, became a great cultural nation in the second half of the 19th century is a fact which the world, and even Americans themselves, have been slow to grasp.
Paul Johnson,A History of the American People
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| Niagara Falls, 1857, Frederic Edwin Church via Wikipedia |
I love these sorts of pieces by painters who did such a splendid job of showing North America's natural beauty. They're often called the Hudson River School or the Luminous School but Paul Johnson in Art: A New History argues that that is limiting the artists too much.
This painting reminded me of the breathtaking paintings we saw at the Hudson River School show at the Amon Carter Museum years ago. There is simply nothing like seeing these (or any) paintings in real life.
The computer can't do it justice but do be sure to click through on the link above to see the painting in as large a size as possible.
The stories of the plague of Egypt, and the other wonders and miracles which preceded the Israelite break-out, have so dominated our reading of Exodus that we sometimes lose sight of the sheer physical fact of the successful revolt and escape of a slave-people, the only one recorded in antiquity.
Paul Johnson, A History of the Jews
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| Stift Melk, staircase near church, photographed by David Monniaux, Creative Commons licensing |
I first saw this gorgeous piece of architecture in Art: A New History by Paul Johnson. I could look at this all day.
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| Rogier van der Weyden, in his Beheading of John the Baptist (c. 1455-60), transforms a horrific act into a scene of elegance, subtle feeling and beauty-in-depth. (Paul Johnson) |
This selection and the appreciation below are from Paul Johnson's Art: A New History which is an unusual window into history. This does not show us history as much as help to understand what the artist was trying to get across. It certainly helps me to understand why so many artists portrayed historical scenes with contemporary clothing and details.
If this seems like too much text to bother with, be sure at least to read the last couple of sentences. It is the essence of the thing and also may pique your interest for the rest.
... Rogier introduced many cunning innovations in presenting his work—shifting the angles, moving the main figures closer to the viewer, then pushing them back, framing them in architectural fantasies, windows and painted surrounds, devices which then become standard in northern art.
But in one respect, Rogier was faithful to his tradition. He loved detail, and it was always contemporary detail. Of his many large-scale works, the one which brings this out best is his Scenes from the Life of John the Baptist in Berlin. These three pictures convey an enormous amount of detail. Salome has certainly not been performing a dance. She is dressed in the height of Brussels fashion, c. 1450, and holds the dish to receive the severed head disdainfully, as though she was not accustomed to handling platters of any description. Every detail of her presentation is perfect. The executioner must have been done from life at a ceremonial chopping, of which there were many the artist could have witnessed. The way the man has stripped himself of most of his garments to get a perfect swing to his sword, itself rendered in fearsome detail, is unforgettable. Behind the pair and the ghoulish head, which glows with recently dead pallor, is a passageway, closely guarded, which opens in to the banquet scene itself, in the far distance but lovingly rendered so that we have a good idea of what was being eaten before the head made its entrance. The story of the head, which never failed to arouse interest anywhere in Europe for a thousand years—it was still going strong in the days of Oscar Wilde and Aubrey Beardsley—is here used as an excuse for a piece of dramatised genre painting. The details told the viewers two things. First, "All this is true," and secondly, "Take note of these events, they are part of your life also."
Our culture has solved many of life's problems by its wonderful science and technology, and it has attained unprecedented power and comfort and freedom from pain. Yet it no longer loves life, no longer feels gratitude for life. Its suicide rate is far higher than it is in poor, primitive cultures. It lacks lasting joy. It is in the wilderness without a temple and without the manna from heaven, without the two temples that we know: our bodies in secual intercourse and Christ's Body in the Mass. They are the two holiest places in the universe and the two places where Goid literally performs a miracle millions of times every day around the world. Whenever we procreate mortal bodies, God creates new immortal souls, and whenever our priests echo his words of consecration, he transubstantiates our bread and wine into Christ's Body and Blood. ...
You are a temple; you are a great cathedral; you are God's masterpiece. Much more than that, you are God's children.
Peter Kreeft, Food for the Soul: Cycle A, Seventh Sunday in Ordinary Time
Isaac was chosen as the offering not only because he was Abraham's most precious possession but because he was a special gift of God's under the covenant, and remained God's like all the rest of his gifts to man. This underlines the whole purpose of sacrifice, a symbolic reminder that everything man possesses comes from God and is returnable to him.
Paul Johnson, A History of the Jews
In honor of the Dickens' excerpt today, here's a picture from our double Boxer days, which were crazy. Zoe and Wash, gone now but not forgotten.
The Bible is not a work of reason, it is a work of history, dealing with what are to us mysterious and even inexplicable events. It is concerned with the momentous choices which it pleased God to make. It is essential to the understanding of Jewish history to grasp the importance the Jews have always attached to God's unrestricted ownership of creation. Many Jewish beliefs are designed to dramatize this central fact. The notion of an elect people was part of God's purpose to stress his possession of all created things.
Paul Johnson, A History of the Jews
Creativity, I believe, is inherent in all of us. We are the progeny of almighty God. God is defined in many ways: all-powerful, all-wise, and all-seeing; everlasting; the lawgiver; the ultimate source of love, beauty, justice, and happiness. Most of all, he is the creator. He created the universe, and those who inhabit it; and, in creating us, he made us in his own image, so that his personality and capacities, however feebly, are reflected in our minds, bodies, and immortal spirits. So we are, by our nature, creators as well. All of us can, and most of us do, create in one way or another. We are undoubtedly at our happiest when creating, however humbly and inconspicuously. ...I was really stunned to read this in the introduction to Paul Johnson's book. As a personal witness it can't be beat. Plus, of course, being true.
... the only problem is how to bring it out. A farmer is creative—none more so—and so is a shoemaker. A ticket collector on a red double-decker once remarked to me: "I run the best bus route in London." His pride was proprietorial, and clearly he felt he was creating something, rather like Pascal, the moral philosopher, who in the mid-seventeenth century first conceived the idea of an omnibus service for big cities like Paris. I sometimes talk to a jovial sweeper, who does my street, and who comes from Isfahan, in Persia, wherein lies the grandest and most beautiful square in the world, the work of many architects and craftsmen over centuries, but chiefly of the sixteenth. I asked him if he felt himself creative, and he said: "Oh, yes. Each day they give me a dirty street, and I make it into a clean one, thanks be to God." People do not always discern the creative element in their lives and work. But those who do are more likely to be happy.
Paul Johnson, Creators
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| Philip the Bold, Duke of Burgundy, was the leading art patron of fourteenth-century France. His tomb, by Claus Sluter and Claus de Werve, is inhabited by alabaster hooded figures, known as "weepers." Description from Paul Johnson, image via Wikipedia |
Sluter was obliged to interrupt his work to attend to Philips tomb, a grand affair mainly in alabaster ... Sluter was bidden to attend the funeral and observe it, and his contract specified that he had to provide, in addition to the effigy of Philip, fifty-four angels and forty "Images pleurants." The angels are lost but the "weepers," as they were known--cowled figures common in late medieval art--were all done from life, and may have been actual participants in the obsequies. Slater was a master of the draped figure and its folds, in which he took exquisite delight, especially when working in a soft, luminous stone like alabaster. But he also put in wrinkles and beards, even the stubble, and all the details of costume under the drapes, down to buttonholes and laces. What strikes one most, however, is not such details as rosary beads, important though they are in creating verisimilitude, so much as the facial expressions, which though convey shamelessly the mixed emotions of a funeral: genuine and feigned grief, joy that one is still alive, sharp observation of how other people are behaving. Even funeral fashions are attended to, for each figure is clothed according to rank and personality, and each has a distinctive, often slyly observed,life of its own. After looking at these works, we feel we have a clear idea of what a grand early-fifteenth-century funeral was like. And that was Sluter's intention, for he did not want to change the world, merely to record it truthfully. If only all great artists were like him!
Well, that was unexpected. But it makes me want to go read the Book of Job![The Book of Job's] prologue with God's wager with Satan about Job's piety in the face of continual testing makes it one of the most exciting and inspirational books of the Old or New Testament.Bob Dylan, The Philosophy of Modern Song
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| Bhimbetka rock painting showing a man riding on a horse, India |
Do you give the horse his strength,
and clothe his neck with a mane?
Do you make him quiver like a locust,
while his thunderous snorting spreads terror?
He paws the valley, he rejoices in his strength,
and charges into battle.
He laughs at fear and cannot be terrified;
he does not retreat from the sword.
Around him rattles the quiver,
flashes the spear and the javelin.
Frenzied and trembling he devours the ground;
he does not hold back at the sound of the trumpet;
at the trumpet’s call he cries, “Aha!”
Even from afar he scents the battle,
the roar of the officers and the shouting.
Job, 39:19-25
The study of history is a powerful antidote to contemporary arrogance. It is humbling to discover how many of our glib assumptions, which seem to us novel and plausible, have been tested before, not once but many times and in innumerable guises; and discovered to be, at great human cost, wholly false.
Paul Johnson
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| Giovanni Bellini, portrait of Doge Leonardo Loredan via Wikipedia |
The Doge Leonardo Loredan (1501-1505) by Giovanni Bellini shows how a great master can turn a formal state portrait into both a penetrating study of character and an image of beauty. ...He had a wonderful eye for a face and huge skill at getting it down on panel. He broke the old Venetian tradition that a ruler could only be presented in a formal "medal" profile, by showing the Doge Leonardo Loredan in an almost frontal position, a faultless work which many would rate one of the best half-dozen portraits ever painted.All I know is that when I look at this portrait it almost looks as if someone photographed a modern face and stuck it between the hat and cape. Simply amazing.
Paul Johnson, Art: A Modern History
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| Andrea Mantegna (1431–1506), The Court of Mantua via Wikipedia |
The Camera delgi Sposi, being an exercise in contemporary realism, is perhaps the most authentic presentation of court life in Italy's golden age that we possess. The painter actually witnessed it, and the two main scenes, one outdoors (The Meeting), one indoors (The Signing of the Contract), take us straight into the world of marriage diplomacy, ceremony, intrigue and secret manoeuvering we read about in letters and chronicles. That world was later described by Machiavelli in The Prince and by Castiglione in The Courtier. But Mantegna's cold brush brings it horribly to life. I say horribly because, though there is exquisite beauty in the room, particularly in the rendering of the young, their elders have hearts of ice. ... there are no tricks about the figures, which have a Flemish realism. They are the actual faces of living people--fifteenth-century Italians of the urban, courtly breed, whispering in ready ears, hiding their deepest thoughts, making honeyed speeches, dissimulating and boasting, Cutting a bella figura while keeping their poignards sharp, strutting for effect and feigning every kind of emotion ... As in all Mantegna's works, one learns a great deal because, though a master of illusionistic devices, he always tells the truth.
In short, we must dismiss any idea of Jesus being a simple figure. His actions and motives were complex and he taught something which was hard to grasp... How could the intentions of God be conveyed so as to be understood by all men and for all time? Equally, how could any solution contain elements meaningful for all types and temperaments of men, as well as all races and generations: the activist, the militant, the doctrinaire, the ascetic, the obedient, the passive, the angular, the scholar, and the simple-hearted? How could it impart both a sense of urgency and immediacy, and at the same time be valid for all eternity? How could it bring bout, in men's minds, a confrontation with God which was both public and collective, and individual and intimate? How could it combine a code of ethics within a framework of strict justice and a promise of unprecedented generosity? These were only a few of the evangelical problems confronting Jesus. Moreover, he had to resolve them within a preordained series of historical events which could be adumbrated [suggested or disclosed partially] but not forecast and whose necessary enactment would terminate his mission.I never looked at Jesus' ministry in those terms. What an impossible task and, yet, He did it perfectly. It just affirms, in my mind, His divinity and God's omnipotence. *Mark 15:39A History of Christianity by Paul Johnson
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| (Center panel) The Garden of Earthly Delights (1503-1504) by Hieronymus Bosch, the best of his forty works that survive, uniquely combines medieval and renaissance, horror and humour, religious and secular values, and figures and landscape. (Paul Johnson) |
I read an entire large art book on Bosch and wound up with a real appreciation for his work, as bizarre as it often looks. The author's premise was partly based on disproving what Paul Johnson mentions in his Art: A New History, that Bosch was a member of a quasi-heretical congregation. This was the first time, to be honest, that it occurred to me that these large art books could be written to prove or dispute others' scholarship. Silly of me, I know, since that goes on in every other field so why wouldn't that be the case for art?
At any rate, the point I enjoy the point Johnson makes about how "reading art" was a popular pastime. Popular or not, it's something we've lost in our age and which I appreciate learning a bit about under Johnson's tutelage.
Yet there was laughter in art, even if double-faced. It is a common modern view that Hieronymus Bosch (c. 1450-1516) painted the horrors of life and death, and aimed to terrify and to enforce repentance, by his alarming compositions. ... But he also aimed to excite, to thrill, to fascinate and to amuse. There is literary evidence, unearthed by the sharp reader of texts as well as pictures Ernst Gombrich, that collectors bought Bosch for that reason. He made them laugh at folly and its consequences, as Hogarth was to do 250 years later. The minute events of his gruesome tales were fantasies and obviously so. Yet by painting them in the Flemish tradition of realism and attention to detail, he made them seem credible at a certain level, and because credible hilarious. So the men laughed uproariously when, alone with their wine, they collectively considered a Bosch work, and put on straight faces and didactic expressions when their women fold appeared and asked to have the painting "explained."
What makes de Tocqueville's account memorable is the way in which he grasped the moral content of America. Coming from a country where the abuse of power by the clergy had made the anticlericalism endemic, he was amazed to find a country where it was virtually unknown. He saw, for the first time, Christianity presented not as a totalitarian society but as an unlimited society, a competitive society, intimately wedded to the freedom and market system of the secular world. "In France I had almost always seen the spirit of religion and the spirit of freedom pursuing courses diametrically opposed to each other," he wrote, "but in America I found that they were intimately united, and that they reigned in common over the same country." He added: "Religion ... must be regarded as the foremost of the political institutions of the country for if it does not impart a taste for freedom, it facilitates the use of free institutions." In fact, he concluded, most Americans held religion "to be indispensable to the maintenance of republican institutions." And de Tocqueville noted on an unpublished scrap of paper that, while religion underpinned republican government, the fact that the government was minimal was a great source of moral strength:This strikes me as something we all would do well to remember these days.One of the happiest consequences of the absence of government (when a people is fortunate enough to be able to do without it, which is rare) is the development of individual strength that inevitably follows from it. Each man learns to think, to act for himself, without counting on the support of an outside force which, however vigilant one supposes it to be, can never answer all social needs. Man, thus accustomed to seek his well-being only through his own efforts, raises himself in his own opinion as he does in the opinion of others; his soul becomes larger and stronger at the same time.A History of the American Peopleby Paul Johnson
by Paul Johnson
This book is dedicated to the people of America -- strong, outspoken, intense in their convictions, sometimes wrong-headed but always generous and brave, with a passion for justice no nation has ever matched.Dedication
I have not bowed to current academic nostrums about nomenclature or accepted the fly-blow philacteries of Political Correctness. So I do not acknowledge the existence of hyphenated Americans, or Native Americans or any other qualified kind. They are all Americans to me: black, white, red, brown, yellow, thrown together by fate in that swirling maelstrom of history which has produced the most remarkable people the world has ever seen. I love them and salute them, and this is this is their story.How refreshing.From the Preface
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| Mr. Lee Wing, via Traces of Texas |
Circa 1900, Mr. Lee Wing, owner of a Chinese laundry in El Paso. The story of the Chinese in El Paso is not generally known: I will relate it in further detail in a subsequent post. Suffice to say that quite a few Chinese laborers were brought in to build the railroads, particularly in south Texas. When the job was completed, many of them remained in El Paso which, to this day, has a vibrant Chinese community. In fact, if you go to the Concordia cemetery in El Paso, there is a large, walled off, separate section for folks of Chinese descent ----- the only such section that I am aware of in any cemetery in Texas.
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| Antonio Pisanello, The Virgin and Child with Saints George and Anthony Abbot via Wikipedia |
[Pisanello's] amazing Saint George in the London National Gallery, in his mostly silver armour, and wearing an enormous straw hat to protect him from the sun-radiance of the Virgin and Child, is the most mannered picture of evil in existence.I am absolutely captivated by Saint George's hat. I also was struck by the modern feel of the painting in the way the rays of the sun radiate into the atmosphere, causing it to radiate in turn.
Paul Johnson, Art: A New History
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| Kleine-Torte by Edward B. Gordon |
If ever two were one, then surely we.
If ever man were loved by wife, then thee.
If ever wife was happy in a man,
Compare with me, ye women, if you can.
I prize thy love more than whole mines of gold,
Or all the riches that the East doth hold.
My love is such that rivers cannot quench,
Nor ought but love from thee give recompense.
Thy love is such I can no way repay;
The heavens reward thee manifold, I pray.
Then while we live, in love let’s so persevere,
That when we live no more, we may live ever.
Anne Bradstreet, 1600s
Now, we're looking at the Bollywood take on comedy-horror and true history. We hadn't heard any of the history in these movies and you might be surprised too.
To give you a sample of what other movies are offered by other regions, we'll also sample a couple of movies from Mollywood (Kerala language Malayalam movies). Also, because I love these movies a lot.
Comedy-horror that isn't gory. In the small town of Chanderi,
the menfolk live in fear of an evil spirit named "Stree" (Woman) who
abducts men in the night during an annual festival. It was super fun while being quite suspenseful in places. (My review. Hannah and Rose discuss it here.)
Four brothers living in a fishing village share a
love-hate relationship with each other. Their relationships change when
the three oldest help the fourth stand by his love. This is a Malayalam language
film (hence "Mollywood") that gives a good sense of what South Indian movies can be.
Confusing at first, just let it wash over you. (My review. Hannah and Rose discuss it here.)
Sometimes the hero is a taxman. An honest IRS officer and his team raid a powerful politician suspected of evading taxation on an epic scale. This gripping story is based on actual events during 1981. (My review. Hannah and Rose discuss it here.)
For my complete list of recommended films, go here. The list begins with what I've seen most recently.
Now we're looking at movies that intersect more with what we'd think of as Western movies. However, these are all distinctively Indian.
Othello, Indian-style. Fairly faithful and gorgeous adaptation with gangsters. (My review. Scott and I talk about it here. Hannah and Rose discuss it here.)
A 7-month pregnant woman arrives in Kolkata from London to seek her missing
husband with nothing to rely on except her memories and a photo. This
thriller blew our minds. Hollywood would be proud to make this movie. (My review. Hannah and Rose discuss it here.)
Piku juggles her life as a successful architect and caring for
her 70-year old hypochondriac father. When they take a road trip from
Delhi to Calcutta, the owner of the local cab company has no choice but
to drive them personally since none of his drivers are willing to endure
Piku or her eccentric father. (My review here. Scott and I discuss it here. )
NEXT
Part 4 will feature comedy-horror, Mollywood, and true history
For my complete list of recommended films, go here. The list begins with what I've seen most recently.
* "Bollywood" as I'm using it is shorthand for Indian movies in general. The Indian movie industry has a lot of different centers that are based on regional languages and storytelling styles. There will be a few recommendations from others as we go, however, generally speaking, Bollywood (Bombay/Mumbai) offers the easiest entry points for Western viewers.
While recovering from an assassination attempt four days before his coronation, a stern prince is replaced by a romantic lookalike.
I love The Prisoner of Zenda, a classic adventure novel where a king has disappeared so a foreign "look alike" is called upon to impersonate him. Naturally, the impersonator can't help but interject some of his own personality in chance encounters, such as with the king's fiancee, and soon sees where the king's deficiencies lie.
This movie is a fun, frothy fairy tale loosely based on that story, tweaked to become Indian and, thus, much more family oriented. Salman Khan plays the double role of prince and loyal imposter. He's intelligent, good natured, and sweet. He already revered the king's fiancee and this is his big chance to meet her face to face. But what effect will that have on the princess?
I first saw this in 2019 when we were fairly early in our Bollywood watching. This rewatch was just as charming and beautiful as the first time. The gorgeous shots and the spectacular location raise this to a visual treat. However, now I realize I didn't appreciate it enough the first time. A real treasure and one that I'll be rewatching.
Hannah and Rose discuss this movie on An American's Guide to Bollywood.
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| Mending Socks by Archibald Motley, 1924, a portrait of his grandmother, Emily Sims Motley. |
Christmas is not an event within history but is rather the invasion of time by eternity.Outside of the Christmas season, but there's no bad time to think about the Incarnation.Hans Urs von Balthasar
Ain't that the truth?It is easier to be enthusiastic about Humanity with a capital "H" than it is to love individual men and women, especially those who are uninteresting, exasperating, depraved, or otherwise unattractive. Loving everybody in general may be an excuse for loving nobody in particular.
C.S. Lewis
All we do know, and that to a large extent by direct experience, is that evil labours with vast power and perpetual success — in vain: preparing always only the soil for unexpected good to sprout in.
J.R.R. Tolkien, 1944 letter to son Christopher
Last week we began by looking at romantic comedies. We continue with different genres and stars — action, romance, and over-the-top mythical tales. You'll get a sample of a distinctive director, S.S. Rajamouli, whose films Telugu language movies which are called "Tollywood."
Frothy cotton candy action-romance when an ordinary woman encounters an charming thief. Full of diamond heists, car chases, and (of course) lots of singing and dancing. You'll see why Hrithik Roshan is considered one of India's best dancers. (My review, Hannah and Rose discuss it here.)
In a village, a young archaeologist falls in love with a landlord’s daughter. Their union seems doomed. But destiny brings them together a year later. A straight-up romance that's full of twists, turns, and reversals. With redemption in the end. No singing and dancing but a fantastic movie. (My review here)
The director's dream about two Indian revolutionaries who never met but might have been besties if they had. An over-the-top bro-mance with great choreography for singing and action, exciting dances, and a lot of heart. American critics loved this one. (My review here. Scott and I discuss it here.)
More from director S.S. Rajamouli:
NEXT
Part 3 will feature Shakespeare, thrillers, and modern life.
For my complete list of recommended films, go here. The list begins with what I've seen most recently.
An easy and delicious meal that we all loved. I served it with Garlic Naan (from the freezer, thanks to a recent visit to a local India Bazaar).
Get it at Meanwhile, Back in the Kitchen!
In his ignorance man treats himself very cruelly. My care is constant, but he turns my life-giving gifts into a source of death ...
I gave him a memory to recall my goodness for I wanted him to share in my own power. I gave him an intellect to know and understand my will through the wisdom of my Son, for I am the giver of every good gift and I love him with a father's constant love. Through the Holy Spirit I have him a will to love what he would come to know with his intellect.God speaking in a dialogue on Divine Providence
by St. Catherine of Siena
This volume contains all of the John the Balladeer stories (sometimes better known as Silver John), Manly's most famous character.
Wellman is best remembered as one of the most popular contributors to the legendary Weird Tales, and for his fantasy and horror stories set in the Appalachian Mountains, which draw on the native folklore of that region.
This collection contains all of Manly Wade Wellman's Silver John stories which are rooted in Appalachian folklore and are told by a captivating protagonist who battles evil with a song and sometimes with a silver quarter. The only print versions I could find were fabulously expensive so I was glad to see them available on Audible. The narrator is simply wonderful.
As another reviewer pointed out, we are never in doubt that John will win. The charm comes in how the story is imbued with Appalachian flavor and the imaginative nature of the predicaments and evil that John faces.
These are really great and I don't understand how they are so little known. I'm just glad that I came across them myself finally.
I discovered them when the Strange Studies of Strange Stories podcast covered one of the Silver John stories. This used to be the H.P. Lovecraft Literary Podcast but with this new iteration, the hosts are now doing a lot more science fiction and I'm really enjoying it a lot.
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| H.J. Ford, What Came of Picking Jessamine from The Gray Fairy Book by Andrew Lang |
I recently showed one of my favorite Bollywood movies to my book club, by their request. They enjoyed it so much that during the intermission a list of more movies was requested.
After consultation with my backup crew (Hannah and Rose from An American's Guide to Bollywood), we came up with a good list of beginner movies in different categories. I'm going to spread them over the next few weeks so they aren't overwhelming. I'll include links to my full reviews, Hannah and Rose's discussions, and to the episodes of A Good Story is Hard to Find where Scott and I talk about them.
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First up, we'll look at the genre that Indian movies are most famous for: romantic comedies. With lots of singing and dancing, of course!
Something to keep in mind is that the movies' beginnings may seem a bit slow. That's so all the "aunties" can come in during that first 20 minutes with their roasted chickpeas, greet their friends, and still be able to tell what's going on in the film. That's kind of useful if you are new to Indian movies. Just let the beginning wash over you and enjoy the ride.
I've got three "must see" movies below, with a few extras. The three groups below each feature one of the three actors who have dominated Bollywood for some time. They share the same surname, though they are not related, and are called the Three Khans.
We'll begin with the movie I showed my book club.
Mild mannered Surinder winds up in an arranged marriage to the vivacious Taani. When she enters a dance competition, he enters in disguise. Shah Rukh Khan plays a double role as a nerd and an obnoxious "cool" dancer who inadvertently is competing with himself for his wife's love. It's a solid comedy and a funny, sweet look at true love. (My review here, Scott and I discussed it here, Hannah and Rose cover it here.)
A simple, righteous Indian man helps return a young, lost, mute girl to her home in Pakistan. Pawan is what the girl's parents have prayed for — a "god-sent man" who will protect their daughter. And therein hangs the tale, including a heckuva road trip. Light-hearted and charming. (My review is here. Scott and I discuss it here. Hannah and Rose cover it here.)
A humanoid alien lands in Rajastan naked on a research mission but is stranded when the remote control for his spaceship is stolen. Amazingly charming, this lighthearted view of humans through alien eyes uses India’s religions (which is almost all of them) as a backdrop to finding his way home. (My review is here. Scott and I discuss it here.)
NEXT
Part 2 will feature action, myth, and romance (of course!)
For my complete list of recommended films, go here. The list begins with what I've seen most recently.
* "Bollywood" as I'm using it is shorthand for Indian movies in general. The Indian movie industry has a lot of different centers that are based on regional languages and storytelling styles. There will be a few recommendations from others as we go, however, generally speaking, Bollywood (Bombay/Mumbai) offers the easiest entry points for Western viewers.
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