Kama Sutra -- A Tale of Love

[cranefly]

India discovers the missionary position.

Because Lady Cranefly heads to India for the first time on 2/21, I suggested she watch the last half of this with me so she will better know what to expect and how to behave.

As she explained it after the movie was over, "This is a chick flick." I suppose I should have figured it out for myself. There's a bit of nudity, and the sex does venture beyond the missionary position on occasion, but mostly this is just good-looking people in great costumes against scenic backdrops. It's very watchable just for that. Also, there is a plot having to do with two girls who grow up and have a falling out when one sleeps with the other's bretrothed (the king) on their wedding night, and this leads to lots of fall-out with tragic results.

The most notable actor is Naveen Andrews (the king), who became a sensation in The English Patient (which I've never seen) and is now prominent in the Lost series (which I don't watch). There's also Sarita Choudhury who was Denzel Washington's love interest in Mississippi Masala (which I've never seen). The main chick is played by Indira Varma, who appears in the Torchwood series (which I've never seen, but a friend has reserved it at the library and intends to pick it up for me and make me watch it).

Worth seeing, but don't expect pretzels.

--cranefly

[Drunk Monk]

2/21?! Today? Shoot, I wish I checked in with her before she left.

Kamasutra was mediocre to my memory, and yes, a chick flick. The title was totally misleading

English Patient was awesome - an epic love story, but you got to have taste for such things...yea, another chick flick. Fiennes greatest work other than he who must not be named. Dafoe is great too. Of course, Dm would be entertained by watching Binoche spread cheese on a toast. It was the break-out role for Naveen.

Missipi Masala was mediocre too.

[thatguy]

I really liked Feines in "In Bruges".

--tg

[Dr. Ivor Yeti]

I really like the book of The English Patient. Some of the most beautiful prose I have ever read. "His hands slipped from the manacles, as useless as a wish made in a dream."

[Drunk Monk]

...I should read that. Did you ever see the film?

[Dr. Ivor Yeti]

I did see the film and I enjoyed it, too. It is just that the writing was sooooo good in the book. I remember that they did a pretty good job of bringing most of the book to the screen.

[cranefly]

I revisited my review here. My comments of "very watchful" and "worth seeing" seem excessive praise for a weak movie.
So let me tone down what sounded like a solid recommendation.
It's like a costume drama, with lots of jewelry, hair doodads and henna, and that interested me for artistic reasons at the moment.

But think of the cover of a romance novel. That's what you get. For all the colorful sets, it's oddly stage-bound (was it the direction, camera angles?). And the plot continually dragged.

So DM is right. It isn't particularly good. Something to watch over dinner if you're in a passive mood and watching Japanese horror while eating makes you throw up.