A special creation which is visually magnificent and packed with detail, well-animated, funny, and culturally interesting. Nina Paley is a very talented designer and animator who ought to be working with top film producers. The downfall of this film however is the musical numbers by Annette Hanshaw, which are fine in small doses but become ear-gougeinly repetitive when they make up 70% of your film - certainly no substitute for a narrative. The material was here for a 25-minute short, not 75.

Clash of stories that stylistically, narratively, tonally just doesn't cohere but ends up pretty mesmerizing. Still, even the best part -- the expression of internal monologues via livelier showtune interludes -- reminds me of Tsai's superior The Hole.

What an inventive use of animation and storytelling! Paley effectively combines three distinct styles of animation to tell the same story in a variety of ways. In the process, she illustrates the ways that mythic texts often develop, the importance of varying perspectives, and how beautiful a film can be even on a limited budget. The use of the Hanshaw songs was especially good, bringing variety to the musical presentation as well as the visual. Excellent film.

The personal life section of the movie is weak, and some jokes fall flat. Mostly a fun telling, with great musical scenes.The last half of the movie seems to fall apart a bit, as the strength relies in the balance between the four sections, but the balance seems to be lost. Repetitive and sometimes slightly boring, but usually fun.

An animated wonder. Written, directed, drawn, animated, and produced by one woman, Nina Paley. Uses several distinct animation styles and both contemporary Indian-inflected music and the songs of 1930's American singer Annette Hanshaw to tell the stories of both Sita's painful breakup with her man (Rama) and Paley's own breakup with hers. It is funny, touching, lively, intimate epic. Available free for streaming or download or purchasable online.

Nice animation and the narration can be really funny at times. Impressive work by Paley, doing this all by herself

This experimental and ultra-low-budget animation tells Ramayana in 5 alternating and highly original styles: one are puppets from shadow theater commenting on the story in colloquial language, another a stylized for the twenties hindu jazz singer performing... The result is quite pleasant and not even half as boring as it sounds, but too long - it would help much if the individual styles complemented each other instead of retelling exactly the same fragment of the story again and again.

I watched this online, completely on a whim, and was very pleasantly surprised. I loved the unscripted discussions of the Ramayana mythology and the cartoony bits with Annette Hanshaw music. The autobiographical portions and the rotoscoped musical sequences should have been dropped as they really drag down the narrative (and in the case of the autobiographical parts, they come across as pathetic). Still, it's a tremendous achievement for just one woman, and it's a lot of fun.

Absolutely Fantastic! Highly original animation, if you are lucky enough to have the opportunity to see this, I urge you to go!

Really fun and original. Feels like a tour de force for creator Nina Paley.

Nina Paley does more by herself than a whole legion of animators at Disney. Great animation, constantly funny, and an awesome soundtrack. That's all.

Creative and impressive for what it is, an ultra low budget self animated personal exploration of rejection. Some of the animation isn't my cup of tea but most of it is at least colourful and eye catching. The modern day personal part is uninteresting, but thankfully most of the film is 20's songs and creative retelling of an indian tale, both of which are a lot of fun.

How can you really review this film? It's a delight in every way. It's a singular vision and there's nothing like it. It's a fun-filled smile fest? Gah, why do I even bother?

Paley creates a magnificent melding of three narrative sources of heartache: the story of Sita from the Hinda text Ramayana, the torch songs of blues singer Annette Hanshaw, and her own autobiographical tale of being dumped. Each is told in its own distinct style with a method of animation. It's a wonderful gestalt: fantastically originally, very witty, often quite moving, and beautifully rendered. It's full of delightful little surprises, and all the more impressive for being a one-woman show.

Has the feeling of a hand crafted object. Takes the Ramayana and turns it into a story for the eternal doormat in all of us. Whimsical and interesting.

The blending of three kinds of animation with three storytelling techniques is wonderful and entertaining. I could wish that it was more emotional, but it was so much fun, who cares?

22 Subat 09, if2009. 13:00. fitas salon 1 & her kareye tislayarak gulen bir adamin bulundugu salonda, filmden nefret ederek izledim. ya blues bana gore degil ya da film gercekten kotu. tek taktir etmem gereken nokta nina paley'in tek basina evindeki bilgisayarda ugrasarak, 5 yilda filmi yapmis olmasi. muziklerin oldugu bolumler cok cok sikici. festivalin en kotu yapimi.

Animation project featuring individual dedication; Ramayana commentary entertaining; otherwise plodding.