We just finished watching Lagaan in class and I, along with Cass were chosen to present and look further into the film for class. I took a bunch of notes on things I noticed in the film which are available below. I liked the film a lot more than I expected too, but that seems to be the intention of the filmmakers. The movie felt familiar although it dealt with a part of history that I (until the last 2 years) have not been very well acquainted with. I had to force myself to look deeper into the movie and not just take it at face value, which is kindof hard to do whenever its so easily portrayed in a high production and care free light. I particularly enjoyed the song and dance sequences. Eastern music has never been something I've given much attention to because the vocal ranges and styles are a little hard to digest when all you have been exposed to at a young age are more western music styles. The songs in this movie were very enjoyable and I even showed them to a few friends despite their disinterest. I understand that the songs and dances are a bit campy, and I'm sure a lot of Indian viewers may see them as I see the Sound of Music or West Side Story, but for me, a 21 year old man being exposed to Indian cinema for the first time in his entire life, I loved it. As for the more serious issues with the film, I addressed them in a much more scholarly way (even though my notes are a little bit convoluted and mashed up. I also included some questions and statements from fellow classmates that I responded to and elaborated on!
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Angry
young man
stark
contrasts in caste, religion, status.
Class
/ cast specific problems – agrarian society
drought,
farming problems are able to be applied to more modern problems
such as taxes, wages, government
westernized
“Bollywood” story and technique to reveal a very specific
Indian story or problem
broad
story telling with a definite “enemy” and a definite “hero”
but the story itself is a very specific account.
Addresses
the poor and untrue historiography surrounding the british
involvement in India by portraying a fully conscious emotional
people
Appeals
to the lower caste
was
very culturally relevant at the time of its release
Although
it appeals heavily to the lower class/caste people in India, it
also covers a wide scope of Indian people in general as it tells
the story of liberation from British occupation
Focus
on the family
every
“family” in the movie shares a strong close bond
members
of families tend to rely and confide in only other members of their
family
multiple
layers of bond and family – Country > Province > Village >
Family > Couple
The
reliance and kindness shown to the Chief reveal the villagers
understanding of the true “enemy” being the British Captain.
The
team coming together despite differences between the respective
members displays a drawing together of varied social groups within
India itself to unify against the “other”. The varying groups of
people within the village display a conscious emotional people, but
their conflicts within the village force the viewer to consider the
clarity, structure, and functionality of the British.
The
social structure of India is not changed in the film, and the
villagers do not seem to contest the British occupation of India, but
only the unjust (or in this case impossible) taxation of the people
in a particular point in time.
The
language barrier is turned on its head as the imperial power attempts
to learn and harness the language of the indigenous people.
The
song and dance sequences are of a folk style and strengthen the
communal aspects of folk culture and simple living. All of the
villagers bond together in song and dance in a free moving fashion
where as the ball room style dance of the english is stiff and
structured, strengthening the difference in the cultures. The free
spirited emotive dance of the villagers give strength to the notion
of self awareness and consciousness among Indian people at this time
in history.
RESPONSES
TO QUESTIONS AND STATEMENTS FROM OTHER STUDENTS
We
have talked about some of the things that Indian film uses like the
up close shots of peoples faces. The Lagaan chapter by Melanie Wright
talks about the eyeline match that occurs with the shooting of the
rabbit at the beginning of the movie. What other tactics are used in
Indian film so create these illusions?
The
juxtaposition of religious icons such as Krishna and Rhada in the
temple scene as well as the constant monumental framing of the
Temple are less subtle devices used in the film to strengthen the
Hindu tones of the film. More subtle film tricks I noticed were the
close up bright shots of Elizabeth, where the color of her clothes
somewhat reflects her role in the movie. For instance when she
comes to the realization that she is in love with Bhuvan, in the
next scene she is wearing all red, a color of passion and love. In
scenes where she only admires Bhuvan before and after this
realization she is wearing white, the color of widows in eastern
civilization and of virgins in Westernized civilization, and seeing
as how Lagaan kindof blends a heavy Eastern story with Western film
making tactics, this seems to be intentional. Other things pointed
out in the Chakraborty article are Bhuvan's always unbuttoned
shirt, portraying him as a man of action, informality, and passion.
He is the young angry man of a hero and his unbuttoned shirt is a
sign of that.
After
watching Lagaan and reading
Chakraborty’s “History of the ‘Other’” and Melanie Wright’s
“Lagaan”, I realized how multilayered Bollywood films actually
are. It is so easy to watch an Indian film and just think that they
are trying to tell an inspiring story to uplift the spirit of India.
However, there are many issues that the film addresses: religion,
politics, social, etc. Religion is as important in Indian films as it
is in their daily life. In Lagaan,
Krishna’s temple is the highest point in the village and is
activated in the film as a sign of hope. For example, when the rain
clouds were approaching the village during the drought, the temple
was shown and the drums were sounded in the doorway. Another example
of the temple portraying hope for the village was when Bhuvan hit the
ball with the bat the first time and it hit the bell of the temple.
Religion is also portrayed in a motif of the main characters of the
film. The villagers were watching Bhuvan and looking up to him (as if
he was their god) as he stood in front of the village and gave them
some hope. Unlike most Bollywood films, Lagaan
does not focus on the wealthy upper class, but rather the peasants.
This tells the story of India in a historical fashion, but is still
portrayed in an idealized way. The hero (Bhuvan) is fair skinned and
beautiful, as well as Gauri. The reason for this is possibly to
levitate their god-like status. I thought it was interesting how
Indian films pull together multiple aspects of different religions to
appeal to the audience.
An
interesting observation is the way that the film sort of
glamourized the life of these oppressed agrarian people. They are
struggling against wrongful taxation but are ultimately only
fighting to have the taxes relieved for 3 years rather than
fighting to end the British occupation of their country. It is
interesting that Bhuvan seems to be the first person to openly
challenge the tax, and that is where the conflict sets in.
It
is obvious that the British have the ability and resources to
completely take over India and also to rule over their land, but at
no time do the Indian people in the village strive to change their
overall status or situation. In a way they are fighting to make
things better for themselves by not having to pay lagaan, but at
the same time they are attempting to keep things the same and
continue about in their laborious lives.
The
high production qualities of the film such as the song and dance
numbers are always involving the villagers. The grand choreographed
dances and songs somewhat glorify the oppressed/minority/agrarian
people. The songs and dances of the villagers are very sporadic and
fluid with a lot of movement and volume, strengthening the passion
and excitement that the people carry with them, while the scenes
involving the English are accompanied with classical and baroque
scores at low volumes as well as one structured ballroom dance.
This helps to glorify the villagers lives and create a cultural
dissonance between the two groups.
There
isn't much subtlety in the film as it obviously portrays the heavy
Hindu cultural influence, but there are many other aspects that
rest under the surface such as inter-religious communities and
inter-racial communities.
This
is just a comment on the Gowariker reading, but I though it was
interesting that he breaks down the film in terms of the Bollywood
tropes it upholds as well as where it veers to appeal to a more
western audience. At some point it calls lagaan an introduction to
Bollywood for the west which will be interesting to consider as we
finish the film and think about ways that film narrative traditions
are negotiated for a more global audience.
The
film has some universal elements that appeal to a wide audience
such as the two enemies that eventually come together to work as a
team
Gauri's
father initially dissapproving of Bhuvan as a match for her and
being overly protective, but eventually coming around to their love
for each other
the
underdog hero rising from disrespect to ultimate respect
traditional
love marriage and relationships instead of arranged marriage
between bhuvan and gauri.
Focus
on a trivial event (such as a sport/cricket game) to decide
something much larger.
The
fact that the different religious people do not ever conflict with
each other helps it to stay light hearted and easily digested by a
western audience.
Clear
enemy and definite conflict.
