22-Jul-2013, 12:26 PM
So I had a chance to watch this film and thought I should share my impressions with all you lovely people of Nirmukta.
![[Image: 220px-Ship_Of_Theseus_India_Release_Poster.jpg]](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/thumb/4/4d/Ship_Of_Theseus_India_Release_Poster.jpg/220px-Ship_Of_Theseus_India_Release_Poster.jpghttp://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/thumb/4/4d/Ship_Of_Theseus_India_Release_Poster.jpg/220px-Ship_Of_Theseus_India_Release_Poster.jpg)
This is probably one of the better Indian films to have come out in a really long time. The film is beautifully shot, the narration is never too imposing, the stories flow seamlessly, interspersed with some wonderfully idle, lazy, but powerful scenes. The film sparks inner monologues in the viewer's mind and provides wonderful backdrops with beautiful music in the middle of the film to play those out.
There is minimal investment in the characters, the ideas, the situations, or the locales. For me, a film, or for that matter, any form of art, becomes too intrusive when the creator of that form of art tries to say too much through a protagonist, or an idea, or a situation. The whole act of creation then becomes an elaborate ruse to get through that single object of interest. You filter out the noise afterwards, the signal remains and quite often it's not powerful enough, or it does not resonate with you enough to leave a lasting impression. Ship of Theseus, on the other hand, isn't too keen on any idea, or at least it's not trying to sell you one. It's akin to the creator of the film saying, "I came across these really cool ideas, let me see if can find a beautiful way to tie these together and present them to you." And he (the director is male) accomplishes that. From the discomfort of switching between sensory modalities to the Waking Life (Linklater)-ish conversations (one of them involves Cordyceps, so there!) between the new-age rationalist and the vegan, dualist monk, from the slums of Mumbai to the house-parties of Sweden, the film moves effortlessly between characters and ideas, never dwelling on any one of them for long.
The connecting link of the stories in the film is supposed to be the ancient Theseus' Paradox but that link is somewhat weak but then again that's over-thinking it. Avoid that and you'll love this one as a fine work of art.
Give it a go if you can.
Cheers,
Nats
![[Image: 220px-Ship_Of_Theseus_India_Release_Poster.jpg]](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/thumb/4/4d/Ship_Of_Theseus_India_Release_Poster.jpg/220px-Ship_Of_Theseus_India_Release_Poster.jpghttp://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/thumb/4/4d/Ship_Of_Theseus_India_Release_Poster.jpg/220px-Ship_Of_Theseus_India_Release_Poster.jpg)
This is probably one of the better Indian films to have come out in a really long time. The film is beautifully shot, the narration is never too imposing, the stories flow seamlessly, interspersed with some wonderfully idle, lazy, but powerful scenes. The film sparks inner monologues in the viewer's mind and provides wonderful backdrops with beautiful music in the middle of the film to play those out.
There is minimal investment in the characters, the ideas, the situations, or the locales. For me, a film, or for that matter, any form of art, becomes too intrusive when the creator of that form of art tries to say too much through a protagonist, or an idea, or a situation. The whole act of creation then becomes an elaborate ruse to get through that single object of interest. You filter out the noise afterwards, the signal remains and quite often it's not powerful enough, or it does not resonate with you enough to leave a lasting impression. Ship of Theseus, on the other hand, isn't too keen on any idea, or at least it's not trying to sell you one. It's akin to the creator of the film saying, "I came across these really cool ideas, let me see if can find a beautiful way to tie these together and present them to you." And he (the director is male) accomplishes that. From the discomfort of switching between sensory modalities to the Waking Life (Linklater)-ish conversations (one of them involves Cordyceps, so there!) between the new-age rationalist and the vegan, dualist monk, from the slums of Mumbai to the house-parties of Sweden, the film moves effortlessly between characters and ideas, never dwelling on any one of them for long.
The connecting link of the stories in the film is supposed to be the ancient Theseus' Paradox but that link is somewhat weak but then again that's over-thinking it. Avoid that and you'll love this one as a fine work of art.
Give it a go if you can.
Cheers,
Nats