Sunday, August 20, 2006

Mississippi Masala (1991)

Most definitely liked the film.

Favs:

  • Mira Nair (the director, herself only) as a wanton gossip.
  • Writing that was strong on dialogue. Characters had distinct voices and, for the most part, something to say.
  • Writing that was able to compassionately tell two sides of a story from the outside in, bringing otherwise seperate communities together.
  • Uganda. Looks like beautiful country. It is now on my list of places to see.
  • "You're paining me!"
  • Screech's little cousin at the wedding. Poor thing. I hope she grew out of that awkward stage...
Not so Favs:
  • 90's fashion. It makes the 80's look good.
  • Denzel Washington laying on the bed looking like a schoolboy sneaking to get on his parents' phone line. Ha!
  • The sex scene. Once you've seen Denzel's upper thigh--which is laden with hair I might add--there's no going back. [Furthermore, if you're up for the violation, verify and tell me if I'm right but I would bet money that "invisible" strap on his falsie undergarment can be seen for a moment as the camera moves down the length of the bed.]
Y'all, is Mississippi really that crusty?

If you're a regular reader of this blog, you should definitely see it. This film is bringing the left and right sides of my ampersand together one scene at a time.
You can be dark and have money or you can be fair and have no money but you can't be dark AND have no money and expect to get Harry Patel! *cackle*cackle*
Do tell Mira! Do tell!

7 comments:

Anonymous said...

HA!! Denzel's "Do The Right Thing" mid-drift shirt is enough to make me want to see this movie!

Anonymous said...

Great Flick...Speaking of desi/black themes, have you ever seen White Teeth on PBS? I loved the book by Zadie Smith and the British adaptation on PBS. Here is the online PBS link for it
http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/masterpiece/teeth/

Movie Mazaa said...

Yes indeed!
A lovely movie!!
:)

Anonymous said...

I'll have to borrow that today from the Singh household if they have it ...they have quite a lot of movies with "masala" in the title...so I can't quite remember if this one is one I've seen on the shelves - but if it is I'll take your recommendation and watch it. :)

- Rachel

t-HYPE said...

That White Teeth piece looks interesting in the way that only a British movie can...

Lidia said...

I love Denzel Washington...although i do think he got better looking as he got older - i didn't find him at all physically attractive in this movie..but you know, he's Denzel, so i still love him.

Anonymous said...

hey ~ i just checked out your blog (and the one about all things korea) for the longest time! i'm fascinated - we have so many of the same interests!!

anyway ~ i'm from ms - greenwood actually (the town in which ms masala was filmed) .. i remember that when it came out it was quite a big deal and i wasn't allowed to watch it (i was probably about 9 or so though). i've seen it since and it is quite odd seeing my entire town in the movie. yes, i guess parts of it used to be 'crusty' although they show a lot of the dirty downtown areas. they also show a beat down hotel in grenada (the neighboring town).

few pieces of info: the role the director played of a gossip was actually offered to my mother! she didn't accept it b/c that just isn't who she is and didn't like what the lady was saying. after the producers came to my house, my mom didn't allow any of us to be in the movie either (so sad - it could have been my big break!). also, screech's cousin as you labeled her is my childhood friend. i had several other friends in the movie too. remember the little girl at denzel's grandpa's party? she kissed the grandpa on the cheek. she's my friend from elem school and used to leave class to shoot for that.

had to share! this post brought back fun memories.

p.s. white teeth on pbs totally sucked me in .. i got the book and was sorely disappointed (how often does that happen?!)