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Rang De Basanti - på vej mod en Oscar?
Den tidligere omtalte indiske film Rang De Basanti er nu blevet indstillet som Indiens officielle kandidat til en Oscar for "bedste udenlandske film" i 2006 - efter at den fuldt fortjent er blevet én af de største kommercielle succeser nogensinde i indisk films historie.
Hindustan Times skriver lidt frem og tilbage om nomineringen:
Rang De Basanti is a well-scripted, skilfully crafted, thought-provoking entertainer that made waves when it opened earlier this year. In cinematic terms, it is a work of some merit, but the question is: will Rang De Basanti be able to sway the voters of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences quite to the extent that it did domestic audiences?Omkara - en filmatisering af Shakespeares skuespil Othello i en indisk landsby - vender vi tilbage til her på siden. Rang De Basanti er på den anden side noget helt andet, et revolutionært manifest med en historie, der er så subversiv, at den meget tænkelig var blevet forbudt, om den var lavet i Danmark eller England om danske hhv. britiske forhold - og samtidig en appel om venskab på tværs af Indiens forskellige etniske og religiøse grupper, og ikke at forglemme en galopperende publikumssucces.
Success at home is certainly important for any film seeking Oscar success – if a film fails to appeal to its own audience, how can it be expected to make an impact on foreigners – but it is by no means essential. When an Academy member sits down to watch a film submitted for an Oscar nomination, he definitely doesn’t have its domestic box office collection figures in his or her mind. The film has to connect at the level of concept and treatment.
That is where RDB will face an uphill task. It portrays an aspect of contemporary India – the growing disillusionment of the youth with the self-seeking political class – and employs clever cinematic methods to draw parallels between the indignation and aggression of its young characters with the courage and zeal of the militant revolutionaries of India’s freedom struggle.
In India, Rang De Basanti worked big time because the historical personages whose names it invokes – Bhagat Singh, Chandrashekhar Azad, Ramprasad Bismil, Ashfaqullah Khan and Rajguru – rang an instant bell; to the Academy voter, they might not be quite as familiar.
(...)
Our films, justifiably made with an eye on the predilections of the domestic audience, are usually melodramatic, over the top and larger than life. They bank on overt emotions all the way, and often tend to border on mawkishness. The Indian masses love the high-pitched theatricality of our films; Western audiences are weaned on more subdued and subtle drama.
Omkara closes that gap very effectively, and so probably does Rang De Basanti. Both are films with an essentially Indian heart – indigenous in theme and substance – but international in terms of narrative idiom and filmmaking style. It would be great if the Academy could be persuaded to recognise the changing face of popular Indian cinema.
Hvis du kun regner med at se én indisk film i hele dit liv, så glem alt om Lagaan eller Devdas - Rang De Basanti er sagen!
Filmen indeholder i øvrigt også et aldeles fremragende lydspor af den legendariske komponist A.R. Rahman - det hele kan naturligvis høres på Raaga.com.
Link til omtalen i Hindustan Times.
Link til anmeldelse af Rang De Basanti på Humanisme.dk.
Link til tidligere omtale af filmen her på Modspil.dk.