saawariya again . the red and the white

the projector behind

the projected in front

to clear the air around saawariya we saw it again and were even more disappointed. though the fictional city set was very entertaining, and so were the songs, the overly elaborate staging of each scene sapped the story and characters of any sense of reality. every single gesture was imagined as a chorographed dance move set to soaring violins for emotional impact.

speaking of dizzyingly choreographed shots, yesterday we saw ‘the red and the white’; miklos janscos film on the war between the russian revolutionary army and the conter revolutionary ‘white’ on the hungarian border. long tracking rotating takes dehumanize the character until they point that they are almost unrecognizeable as people. all they end up being are pawns in the game of war equally brutal and afraid. when killed they fall without a cry, when killing they shoot without compunction. friendships are temporary and love is simulated by the act of sex. the only victims we begin to identify with are the women in war- nurses who know no ‘red’ and ‘white’, but only know ‘patients’- and pay the price for this treachery.