This train's got the disappearing railroad blues
Chag sameach! My mother came down with a hell-cold over the weekend, so we are postponing our seder until the last night of Pesach in order to give her health a chance to recover and everyone else a pass on picking up the hell-cold; instead she and I had shoyu ramen at Mr. Sushi in Arlington Center, which met many of the same prerequisites as chicken soup and did not require her to cook anything at all.
We had to wrestle with a glitch on Filmstruck more than I would have liked—it is a glorious service with an interface that could stand improvement—but![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
rushthatspeaks and I watched Sherwood Hu and Dorje Tsering Chenaktsang's Prince of the Himalayas (2007), a Hamlet retelling set in seventh-century Tibet. It left both of us feeling that we wanted some critical analysis from someone familiar with the history and culture of the Tibetan Empire rather than just the Shakespearean side of things, but it was also beautifully shot, powerfully otherworldly in earth-anchored, windblown ways (there is Buddhism in this world, but there is more Bon), and ran several twists on the play I hadn't seen before. Luo Sang De Ji is now my favorite Fortinbras: as Ajisuji, the princess of the neighboring Subi, leading her troops across Jiabo's mountains in order to open up a trade route into Persia, she looks like a rich bird of prey in her silver-scaled, wing-shouldered armor with peacock feathers at her helm and throat, but her face is scarred and the sword she trades as a pledge of peace with Purba Rgyal's Lhamoklodan has seen plenty of wear. She will stand by the pyre at the end, holding something better than silence in her arms. This version almost doesn't need to be a tragedy, but Hamlet is still Hamlet and therefore even if we only finish ankle-deep in Danes, it's still blood enough to fulfill the prophecy of Dechendolma's Wolf-Woman, a shamanistic figure who has no Shakespearean equivalent (in this play, at least: her ambiguous oracle would have gone over fine in Macbeth. On the other hand, she yells at a ghost that really needed yelling at and does what she can for the future when the past can't get out of its own way. We were not entirely sure she expected Dobrgyal's Kulo-ngam to behave in some of the less far-sighted ways he did). I liked the score enough to wonder about the chances of an official soundtrack, with its mix of traditional instruments and contemporary themes. The costuming looked like nothing I had quite seen anywhere else, which seemed right. And I am glad I could stream this movie on Rush's computer (which has better sound than my own), but I am sorry I did not get the chance to see it in theaters, where I think it would have been spectacular; my favorite Hamlet may remain Innokenty Smoktunovsky, but in terms of the whole story Prince of the Himalayas is a surprisingly strong contender. At one point Lhamoklodan and Laertes-analogue Lessar get in a fistfight in a river. In the middle of an already awkward funeral. While a large number of courtiers have to look as though this is not weirder than that time their prince ran half-naked through the streets of the capital, randomly laughing at people. You just don't get that with Olivier.
I was just introduced to Sons of Maxwell's "United Breaks Guitars." I grew up on Tom Paxton's "Thank You, Republic Airlines." I know I should want a third example to make a genre, but I really don't think any more guitars need to die.
I need to sleep.
We had to wrestle with a glitch on Filmstruck more than I would have liked—it is a glorious service with an interface that could stand improvement—but
rushthatspeaks and I watched Sherwood Hu and Dorje Tsering Chenaktsang's Prince of the Himalayas (2007), a Hamlet retelling set in seventh-century Tibet. It left both of us feeling that we wanted some critical analysis from someone familiar with the history and culture of the Tibetan Empire rather than just the Shakespearean side of things, but it was also beautifully shot, powerfully otherworldly in earth-anchored, windblown ways (there is Buddhism in this world, but there is more Bon), and ran several twists on the play I hadn't seen before. Luo Sang De Ji is now my favorite Fortinbras: as Ajisuji, the princess of the neighboring Subi, leading her troops across Jiabo's mountains in order to open up a trade route into Persia, she looks like a rich bird of prey in her silver-scaled, wing-shouldered armor with peacock feathers at her helm and throat, but her face is scarred and the sword she trades as a pledge of peace with Purba Rgyal's Lhamoklodan has seen plenty of wear. She will stand by the pyre at the end, holding something better than silence in her arms. This version almost doesn't need to be a tragedy, but Hamlet is still Hamlet and therefore even if we only finish ankle-deep in Danes, it's still blood enough to fulfill the prophecy of Dechendolma's Wolf-Woman, a shamanistic figure who has no Shakespearean equivalent (in this play, at least: her ambiguous oracle would have gone over fine in Macbeth. On the other hand, she yells at a ghost that really needed yelling at and does what she can for the future when the past can't get out of its own way. We were not entirely sure she expected Dobrgyal's Kulo-ngam to behave in some of the less far-sighted ways he did). I liked the score enough to wonder about the chances of an official soundtrack, with its mix of traditional instruments and contemporary themes. The costuming looked like nothing I had quite seen anywhere else, which seemed right. And I am glad I could stream this movie on Rush's computer (which has better sound than my own), but I am sorry I did not get the chance to see it in theaters, where I think it would have been spectacular; my favorite Hamlet may remain Innokenty Smoktunovsky, but in terms of the whole story Prince of the Himalayas is a surprisingly strong contender. At one point Lhamoklodan and Laertes-analogue Lessar get in a fistfight in a river. In the middle of an already awkward funeral. While a large number of courtiers have to look as though this is not weirder than that time their prince ran half-naked through the streets of the capital, randomly laughing at people. You just don't get that with Olivier.I was just introduced to Sons of Maxwell's "United Breaks Guitars." I grew up on Tom Paxton's "Thank You, Republic Airlines." I know I should want a third example to make a genre, but I really don't think any more guitars need to die.
I need to sleep.
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My brother the BoyBear recommends what he describess as a Chinese Hamlet - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wjUhzHDQLG4. '(when you have two hours ten minutes to spare)', he says.
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We really enjoyed it. Among other things, it demonstrated how you can change very little of the action of a story and yet achieve completely different emotional effects. Also at times it was operatically hilarious, which I think more Hamlets need.
My brother the BoyBear recommends what he describess as a Chinese Hamlet
Could you share the title? I can't see the video; YouTube has blocked it in the U.S. Trying to find any scholarship on Prince of the Himalayas last night, we ran repeatedly into discussion of Feng Xiaogang's The Banquet (2006), which also sounded interesting, but not the movie we were looking for.
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Hey, if it is the same film, knowing it got a thumbs-up from your brother is a good reason for us to track it down on purpose this time!
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As a fan of Jacobean Revenge Drama, can I just say, AMEN!
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I would love to hear what you think of Prince of the Himalayas! In memory it feels to me more like a national epic than a revenge tragedy of any generation, but I hope that doesn't discourage you.
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I think you'll love it. It appears to exist on DVD.
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P.
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Thank you!
Guitars and planes
"I dreamed I saw my guitar topple off onto the runway. Please be careful with my guitar, whoever you are."
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=MBAr04CXbNI
At about 1:45
Re: Guitars and planes
It shows awareness of the tradition!
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It really does sound awesome. In the brief trailer, I could see what you mean by "powerfully otherworldly in earth-anchored, windblown ways."
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I think you would really like it. I wish it were on Netflix!
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Monday night, but since my mother is still coughing, we might not be holding the seder at all.
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I don't think I've yet collected a favorite Hamlet (unless MC Lars' nerdcore Hey There Ophelia counts) I even bounced off the Lion King. Maybe this will do the trick!
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Hooray!
I really do love Smoktunovsky's Hamlet, but I think I may still like Sherwood Hu and Dorje Tsering Chenaktsang's Hamlet better.