Lagaan
Once Upon A Time In India
I got this movie from the library because Paul Blackthorne (Dresden Files) at one point talked about what a great time he had making this movie, and how wonderful all the Indian actors were.
This movie is F-ing great! Be warned, it is extremely long, and there are no car chases in it. It is also subtitled. Even the English is in the subtitles, which is good, because there are a few points where people switch back and forth between the languages, and you might miss the English because you are focused on trying to read the subtitles and watch the movies.
The story is set in the 1800s, when Britain is in charge of India. The Indian farmers have to pay a portion of their harvest as tax - lagaan to the British. It opens on an older Indian woman, scanning the skies for clouds - there has been no rain. We slowly meet the inhabitants of the village and they are all immediately interesting and engaging. The village had a poor crop last year, and may not have one this year.
Cut to a young man hiding in some bushes holding a rock. He throws a rock at some deer. Then we see the British soldiers trying to hunt the deer that the man has just scared away. The soldiers are clearly arrogant, and their captain is very cruel.
As the story unfolds, we learn about the problems of the villagers, how they interact with their Raja and the British, and how the villagers ultimately handle the problem of paying tax with no crop to speak of for the year.
There are musical interludes, but they help the story along and the songs are beautiful. There are clear good guys and bad guys, and people just trying to survive.
I highly recommend this movie, here is the imdb link if you want to know more: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0169102/
I got this movie from the library because Paul Blackthorne (Dresden Files) at one point talked about what a great time he had making this movie, and how wonderful all the Indian actors were.
This movie is F-ing great! Be warned, it is extremely long, and there are no car chases in it. It is also subtitled. Even the English is in the subtitles, which is good, because there are a few points where people switch back and forth between the languages, and you might miss the English because you are focused on trying to read the subtitles and watch the movies.
The story is set in the 1800s, when Britain is in charge of India. The Indian farmers have to pay a portion of their harvest as tax - lagaan to the British. It opens on an older Indian woman, scanning the skies for clouds - there has been no rain. We slowly meet the inhabitants of the village and they are all immediately interesting and engaging. The village had a poor crop last year, and may not have one this year.
Cut to a young man hiding in some bushes holding a rock. He throws a rock at some deer. Then we see the British soldiers trying to hunt the deer that the man has just scared away. The soldiers are clearly arrogant, and their captain is very cruel.
As the story unfolds, we learn about the problems of the villagers, how they interact with their Raja and the British, and how the villagers ultimately handle the problem of paying tax with no crop to speak of for the year.
There are musical interludes, but they help the story along and the songs are beautiful. There are clear good guys and bad guys, and people just trying to survive.
I highly recommend this movie, here is the imdb link if you want to know more: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0169102/