DEVDAS: Classism, Performance & Melodrama

In the 2002 adaptation of Devdas, writer/director Sanjay Leela Bhansali uses melodrama to tell a tragic love story. The film uses elements of melodrama: evocative sets, extensive camerawork, archetypal characters, and an emphasis of extreme human emotions. The film is focused on class conflicts and pride, two themes that feature heavily in classical melodrama. In this article, I plan to analyze class conflicts in the film, especially regarding the four principal female characters: Parvati (Aishwarya Rai), Chandramukhi (Madhuri Dixit), Kaushalya (Smita Jaykar) and Sumitra (Kirron Kher).

Sumitra and Kaushalya, and their subsequent role reversal
These two women are the matriarchs of the film, and their domestic power rules the film. This is the key for melodrama--whereas men often hold the power in westerns, film noir and other genres, the women are the agents of the melodrama. The husbands, Neelkanth and Narayan, may wield power but their cluelessness about what is going on reveals that they rely on their wives. Sumitra and Kaushalya (and other female figures) have the ability to make change in their households.

My Top 9 Female Performances from the Last 5 Years

As promised, here are my favorite female performances from the last 5 years. Surprisingly, this was a lot harder to compile primarily because there were so many I wanted include. Sadly, the challenge was to limit the list to 9 entries but perhaps I'll do an honorable mentions. So please enjoy my top 9 favorite female performances.

Cate Blanchett, Blue Jasmine (2013)
Is there another director who consistently makes great showcase movies for actresses? The role Woody Allen wrote for Cate Blanchett is phenomenal. Jasmine is deluded, pathetic and sad but she still has her dignity intact. Blanchett is in top form, with affected mannerisms and haughty indignation. Blanchett is a terrific actress but her work as Jasmine is career-redefining. Supported by an equally talented cast, Blanchett sheds any sort of self-respect in order to make Jasmine a difficult character who causes her own breakdown. That kind of role is all too rare for actresses.

My Top 9 Male Performances from the Last 5 Years

So I've been wanting to compile a list of my favorite performanes from the last 5 years. At first I was going to do female performances but that list came too easily for me (stay tuned for it!) As a challenge I thought I'd tackle these fine gentleman first. The list is in alphabetical by actor's name.

Christian Bale, The Fighter (2010)
Bale is known for his dramatic physical transformations to fit his roles and sometimes that distracts from the performance itself. Not so in The Fighter, which offers Bale at his most pathetically cocksure and heartbreakingly deluded. His Dickey Eklund is a complicated character, both easy to hate and easy to feel sorry for. Bale is so terrific in this movie, all erratic gestures and broken speech patterns, that his eventual redemption is earned.

Summer Indie Round-Up #3

The summer is known for major blockbusters, franchises and tentpole features. While those movies get a lot of press, I thought I'd share my thoughts on the smaller movies that are coming out either in theaters or on demand.

What We Did On Our Holiday
Academy Award nominee Rosamund Pike and the former Dr. Who David Tennant star in this charmingly absurd family comedy. They play a divorcing couple who ask their three cute kids to lie to their grandfather (Billy Connolly) at his birthday party that they are happily married. The movie takes a delightful turn in the middle and this portion--with the 3 kids and the grandfather--is brilliant. The movie has a strong grasp of character and relationships, even though some of the subplots are extraneous. But overall this is a very fun movie. Pike, Tennant and Connolly are exceptional and the three children are terrific and believable.