Superman: Outsider Comes National Icon

In last six decades as a comic hero Superman had a great journey through our mind. Every corner of the world knows he is an American cultural icon. Beside that we also know that he was from Krypton planet, in that sense he is an immigrant, ironically illegal immigrant. We did not know yet that he got green card or work permit in USA. We saw him in different episodes that he is working as a journalist. Though Superman is an illegal immigrant he became one of the national icons in America. His suit has red and blue colors like American flag. Many times we also observed him and the flag in the same frame. He became the synonym of American national hero, the fictional character created by Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster in 30s of last century.

This DC comic hero unlike to other comic heroes has a diaspora characteristic. He could not forget his planet Krypton and his parents. Many times he faced his past and suffered. Whatever his origin is people of our planet loves him a lot especially the Americans. Recently I watched a Superman movie (Hollywood movie obviously), the latest one 'Man of Steel' (2013) and I found some similarities with a president. The comparison between Barack Obama and Superman came into my mind because of their at least two matches: one is both of them are outsider to America (Obama already got his legality and presidency too) and both of them became national icon. These comparisons may be called hyper imaginative but I would rather say imagination makes our life colorful. May be for that particular reason Barack Obama imitated Superman too (look at picture given above).         

The Jewellery Box: Colors of Woman's Desire

Goynar Baksho (The Jewellery Box, 2013) is a very recent film by Aparna Sen. She made the film based on story of Shirshendu Mukhopadhyay. The film was carried out by three women of three consecutive generations. Aparna connected them with a jewellery box. In a different circumstances of society and political situation we saw three main characters played different role.

Pishi or aunty (Moushumi Chatterjee) widowed  at her age of eleven, that was before partition of India. She missed her conjugal life and also sexual life a lot. We saw the desperateness of her to meet up her desire. But accidentally she could not make her desire fulfilled so she became unhappy consciousness. Later we saw after death she turned into ghost. Her daughter in law (Konkona Sen Sharma) also suffered from unhappy consciousness symptom. Actually aunty made her to think polygamy. If a husband had had their extra marital affairs why not for the wives, ghost aunty gave lesson to her. So she felt in love with a poet, came from East Bengal. when her husband was in abroad for business purpose. That was a bit of platonic love unlike to aunty. With these two women Aparna disclosed the desire of a woman which is closely attached with the drives.  Moreover we saw a desire for wealth and prosperity within the later women, daughter in law.

But during the liberation war of Bangladesh we saw the appearance of grand daughter (Srabanti Chatterjee) of ghost. She was a politically oriented young girl. She was aware of class difference, remember she compared ghost aunty's thinking with the bourgeoisie. She even gave up her family treasure, the jewellery box that was kept very preciously by her mother and grandmother, for the sake of liberation, for the sake of a new nation Bangladesh.

By the journey of three women Aparna tried to depict three kind of desires: sexual desire, desire for wealth and desire for freedom. Aparna's three women associated with those three desires. Aparna wanted to exhibit the colors of woman's desire. In this perspective she succeeded but in the final part when third women appeared in the scene the pace was slow down and a little bit boring. Whatever, the play with the woman's desire was a good lot.

The Cup: Modernity Vs Conservatism

Football fever! All of us suffered from this kind of symptom specially during the Football World Cup. A remote Tibetan refugee village of Himachal Pradesh was not the exception, we saw the same symptom within the refugee novice monks. 

Yes I am talking about Khyentse Norbu's film 'The Cup' (1999). Context of this movie as far I understood was clash between modernity and conservatism.

Pupil of the Himalayan monastery, the little monks were very fond of football, we got that evidence in the beginning. There monks were playing football with a soft drink's can. However in that time Football World Cup was going on. Few of the little monks were so adamant that they escaped the monastery at night only for live football match. One day they had clash at outside where they watched the matches. Television owner threatened them not to come again. What would happen during final match? Was it possible for them to avoid that important event LIVE? Somehow they managed the teacher and teacher managed the senior monk to hire a television. At last they arranged a television, which is a sign of modernity, it entered to the monastery that was conservative enough by tradition.

Was that a message that modernity is grabbing the traditional belief or no one can escape from modernity? Or was that a suggestion that change yourself with the upcoming time? I think this kind of open ended characteristic made the film beautiful.

I bought the DVD version of this film from Bhutan, Norbu is a Bhutanese film maker.              

Salaam Bombay Salaam Silence

Oliver Twist of India! Yes boy's name is Krishna and he is filmy creation of Mira Nair, though you can see them in anywhere of the world. Nair is internationally recognized Indian film maker. Krishna was created by her in film called 'Salaam Bombay' (1988). For this film she got awarded in Cannes Festival.

'Salaam Bombay' is a film of silence. Why I am labeling this film in such a way? The main characters of this film are Krishna or Chaipau (tea boy), the protagonist, Manju , a prostitute and wife of pimp Baba, other two important characters were young prostitute Sola Saal and drug pusher Chillum who was addicted too, everybody ended up with a silence.

We saw Krishna after many twist and turns at the end when he lost everything literally, mother, village, circus team, friend Chillum, Sola Saal, the sixteen aged young prostitute, Krishna has crashed on her, his boyhood friend the daughter of Manjo and Manjo, didi of Krishna. Last scene of the film we saw a silent pose of the boy where he was collapsing in itself for a helpless situation.

We saw same thing happened with the girl Sola Saal, in fact she can't speak, when a buyer got her she had nothing to lose but tears. We saw Manjo the wife of a drug lord and pimp Baba, she also ends up with a silence when she lost Krishna, her last hope. Chillum also ended up with a silence after taking over dose of drugs, before that he was kicked out by Baba, so he got frustrated. Baba was stabbed by Krishna, that also made Baba silent. Yes silence is golden here.

In this bunch of golden silence there is a naval point that is in the police van when Krishna was taken to juvenile home. In that time another arrested guy with Krishna said, "Everything will be fixed in India". I think that sentence is outlining the whole golden silence of the film, that sentence is not merely a sentence but hope. Only hope could stand beside when everything falls apart, when people got silent after endless sorrows, when poverty slashed the life poorly.  
 

      

City Election is Forecast of National Election

Many folks are saying that result of four city elections is forecast of up coming national election, they want to mean the result will be same next national election. Is it true? Election is such a process you never can speak out the final word. We saw the recent national election of Iran where conservative candidates were kind of sure that one of them is going to be president but we observed a moderate candidate Rouhani becomes their 11th president.

So there is fifty fifty chance for Awami League and BNP alliance. In different strata coercive hegemony may play vital role in that time but still you can not give the final judgement.

In usual practice people are always anti establishment, considering this BNP has a good chance. In another view Awami League can use their trump card called trial of war criminals.

The fact is result means nothing to the people. They want peace, progress and honesty of political leaders, that is all.          

Ritu and his Views on Master & Slave Relationship

'Antormahol' (2005) or 'Verses of the Inner Chamber' is a ambitious work of late filmmaker Rituparno Ghosh. I took this particular film because of the content, where master and slave relationship is imprinted in a very interesting way, I would rather say in a two folded way.

What we see in this film, Bhubanashyar Chawdhury was a Bengali landlord of 19th century. He wanted a son by any means, reason behind that the feudal and paternal  mentality on asset and women. Here we could reveal the one fold of that master and slave relationship within the husband and wife. Landlord married twice for his desire. After failure attempt with the first wife landlord was trying with the younger one but result was almost same. Bhubanashyar was so adamant to have a son that he did intercourse with his second wife in front of priest because priest told him if his wife listen the mantras about Heroes during the sex then there is a possibility to conceive a baby. No doubt Choto Bou, younger wife did that out of her will. This is one face of master and slave relationship. In this part slave or wife wanted the recognition as a beloved wife but husband did not recognized her what she deserved. The man treated her only baby making machine.

On other strata we saw this landlord is slave himself, he has subjected himself to the British Empire. He wanted the title 'Rai Bahadur' by the British ruler. That means he wanted the recognition from British what he was denying to give his slave like wife.

At last we saw Choto Bou committed suicide due to a potter who built Durga image with the face of her, whether there should be the face of Queen Victoria. Imagery replacement with Durga and Victoria was panned by landlord to ease to get the title but the potter made that blunder by replace Victoria by Choto Bou. After this big incident younger wife knew she would be killed barely by her Master so she did not wait for that because in that moment she became her own master. At least she wanted to die by her own hand. This event reminded me Frantz Fanon, who by criticizing Hegel said, slave does not always want the recognition from his master, sometimes slave turn out to face the master and wishes to become the master. Here we saw Choto Bou did not remain slave, she became master at least at end of her life.

Rituparno, thanks to you to film such a story which can be a good example of master and slave relationship.