I know tumblr really loves Persephone and Hades, which I get, but my favorite Greek Mythical figure has to be Ariadne.  Until this year I had pretty much only ever heard of her in the context of the Theseus and the Minotaur myth, but her story actually continues past that and I love it.  (Disclaimer, as with any Greek myth there’s a billion versions, but my favorite goes like this)

Ariadne helped Theseus kill the Minotaur.  She had to betray her family, but she knew she had to in order to stop the yearly sacrifices.  Theseus promised her he would marry her as thanks for her help.

Theseus and Ariadne left Crete together, but since Theseus didn’t trust Ariadne to be a good wife, he left her behind on Naxos while she was napping.  Why didn’t he trust her to be a good wife?  She had betrayed her family.

While on Naxos, Dionysus, god of wine, fertility, madness, theater, and celebration, happens to stop by.  He meets Ariadne and the two fall in love.

Dionysus marries Ariadne.  Note: There are plenty of retellings of this myth, but almost all of them emphasize how happy Dionysus and Ariadne’s marriage was.

Ariadne is killed and goes to Hades.

Dionysus descends into Hades to get his wife back.  Ariadne gets to join the gods in Olympus, become immortal, and takes her place as the goddess of the labyrinth, mazes, paths, fertility, wine, and passion.

Meanwhile, Theseus dies after being thrown off a cliff by Lycomedes.

(Bengali Film Industry)

While exhibition of films in Calcutta can be dated back to 1896, when one Professor Stevens screened the Lumiere programmes at Star Theatre, it was only in the first decade of the twentieth century that Bengal had its first indigenous film-maker—Hiralal Sen. Calcutta at the time had a strong tradition of professional theatre, and theatre houses served as outlets for films. The earliest screenings were held in theatre houses where films appeared as a double bill attraction alongside the plays. 

Influential theatre owners, like for example Amarendra Nath Dutta of Classic Theatre, encouraged the production of films by allowing Hiralal Sen to photograph his stage productions, which were then advertised as ‘superfine pictures from our world-renowned plays’ and exhibited. 

Hiralal Sen himself went around Calcutta and shot scenes of everyday life: a moving tram, the bathing ghats, a cock fight, the temple at Kalighat. 

The 1940s was remarkable for the influx of writers from the Progressive Writers Association and artists from the Indian People’s Theatre Association (IPTA) to the film scene. 

Among IPTA’s idealist members who dreamed of changing the way films were made were two young men, Mrinal Sen and Ritwik Ghatak, who would play influential roles in giving Bengali and Indian cinema a new form. 

Immediately after independence and partition in 1947, a group of young intellectuals in Calcutta, Satyajit Ray and Chidananda Das Gupta among them, founded the Calcutta Film Society and set off the film society movement in India which has gone down in history for its role in fostering public taste for an alternative realist and meaningful cinema.

In the ‘50s, Bengali cinema also produced its most iconic star duo, Uttam Kumar and Suchitra Sen. Uttam Kumar remained Bengali cinema’s top hero for over two decades .

The best-known ‘event’ of the ‘50s Bengali cinema is nonetheless Satyajit Ray’s Pather Panchali which released in 1955 and won “Best Human Document” at the 1956 Cannes Film Festival.

Pather Panchali was appreciated by filmgoers and critics alike, as was Apur Sansar, the third film of Ray’s Apu trilogy, which had a ‘silver jubilee’ in Calcutta.

Ray’s contemporary Ritwik Ghatak who also was an influential member of the IPTA, and spearheaded the more political avant-garde cinema. 

In the ‘70s, Mrinal Sen’s films depicted the contemporary social unrest and the rise of a radical politics in Bengal. Sen’s Akaler Sandhane-a film within a film- where a film crew recreates the 1943 Bengal famine, won the Silver Bear at Berlin in 1981 .

In the same year, Aparna Sen made her first film 36 Chowringhee Lane, becoming best known as a feminist filmmaker with Paroma (1985).

Satyajit Ray received an Oscar for his lifetime’s work days before his death on 23 April 1992. 

It marked the end of an era, but the ‘90s also saw the rise of a young director in the Ray mould- Rituparno Ghosh, whose films returned urban middle-class audiences to Bengali cinema. Ghosh,who was already a National Award winning director, made a splash nationally with Chokher Bali (2003) where he cast Aishwarya Rai as Tagore’s Binodini.

Bengali cinema isn't about larger-than-life films. It has always been real in that sense.

♡Some of favourite Bengali films :-

RELEASE DATE: 17th April,1964

Director: Satyajit Ray

Screenplay: Satyajit Ray

Story by : Rabindranath Tagore

The film "Charulata" starred Madhabi Mukherjee(as Charulata), Soumitra Chatterjee(as Amal),and Shailen Mukherjee(as Bhupati Dutta)in lead roles.

Charulata follows the story of Charu, a bored and neglected housewife in late nineteenth-century Bengal. Her husband Bhupati is a upper-class Bengali intellectual (ভদ্রলোক). and the editor of a newspaper, who is interested in the freedom movement and social reform but has no time for his lonely wife. Charu is beautiful and intelligent, but she cannot do enough to fill her time. Sensing her loneliness, Bhupati invites her brother Umapada and sister-in-law, Manda to stay with them. However, Umapada begins helping Bhupati with the printing press, and Manda’s crude nature does not compliment Charu’s intelligent and creative nature. One day Bhupati’s cousin Amal visits, and Bhupati asks him to engage and encourage Charu with her literary and cultural ambitions.

Both Charu and Amal bond over their mutual interests and fill the void of time in each other’s life. Amal realises Charu’s love for him but does not reciprocate out of guilt and duty. Umapada and Manda flee after scamming Bhupati of his money, destroying the prospects for the newspaper. Bhupati confides in Amal as the only one he can trust. Overcome by guilt and shame, Amal goes to England for higher studies and to marry, leaving behind a letter for Charu who is left heartbroken. Bhupati, shocked and also heartbroken upon realising the truth when he sees Charu crying leaves the house.When he returns, Charu and Bhupati attempt to extend their hands towards each other but the film ends before their hands meet.

Release date: 26th August,1955

Director: Satyajit Ray

Screenplay: Satyajit Ray

Story by: Bibhutibhushan Bandyopadhyay.

'Pather Panchali’ (A Song of the Little Road) marked Satyajit Ray’s debut as a director. This masterpiece from Ray is a social drama inspired by a famous novel of the same name by Bibhutibhushan Bandyopadhyay. ‘Pather Panchali’ plots a young boy Apu from a poor family and his daily life in a rural Indian village. The film was produced by the then Bengal government as the legendary filmmaker ran out of money after only shooting half of the movie.The sibling love between Apu and his elder sister Durga is the heart of the film, their scenes of everyday intimacy encapsulate the sweet bonding between a brother and sister. 

Release Date: 6th May,1966

Director: Satyajit Ray

Screenplay: Satyajit Ray

Stort by: Satyajit Ray

The film "NAYAK" starred Uttam Kumar(as Arindam Mukherjee), and Sharmila Tagore(as Aditi) in lead roles.

A superstar from the movies gets on a train and sees his life unravel.

In the film Aditi interviews Arindam, with her deep-rooted indignation for the celebrities. But she uncovers a lonely man with shades of guilt, agony, and insecurity embedded under the perfectly maintained glamorous image. A journalist from a renowned female magazine plays the catalyst in the narration and leaves the 'Nayak' with no other choice but to pour his heart out.

Initial Release: 25th May, 2012

Director: Rituparno Ghosh

Screenplay: Rituparno Ghosh

The film has Rituparno Ghosh(as Rudra),Anjan Dutt(as Subho),Jisshu Sengupta(as Partho)and Raima Sen(as Kasturi) as main characters.

The film "Chitrangada: the crowning wish" revolves around the premise that same-sex couples cannot adopt children in India, which is why Rudra decides to undergo sex reassignment surgery to be a woman, so as to be eligible to adopt a child with Partho. The tragedy in Rudra’s life is that while he’s willing to undergo six months of pain and suffering for Partho, the latter breaks it off with him by saying, “If I have to have a woman, I’d rather have a real one, not this half-thing”.

The film beautifully portrays the daily struggles of a queer man, his relationship with his parents and the society around him. It does a brilliant job of highlighting his loneliness and selflessness and at the same time and educates the audience about the several difficulties faced by members of the LGBTQ community.

The film also incorporates bits from Rabindranath Tagore’s story about Chitrangada,who was brought up as a man and warrior because it was her father’s wish to do so, and juxtaposes Chitrangada’s desire to be a woman when she falls in love with Arjun during a hunt, along with Rudra’s desire of the same. 

In the film , Rudra's life is similarly transformed after meeting the much younger Partho a heroin-addicted and highly irresponsible drummer.

The film also explores how Rudra's mother and father respond to their son's predicament, offering insights into how gender expression can affect families. It's a universal story and they, along with an understated counsellor.

P.S. The ending of the film with the line "Be What You Wish To Be" gave me goosebumps and it was the first time in my life that I cried after watching a film.

Initial Release: 18th July,2019

Director: Aparna Sen

The film has Tuhina Das(as Brinda),Anirban Bhattacharya(as Nikhilesh), Jisshu Sengupta(as Sandip Jha) and Rwitobroto Mukherjee (as Amulyo Dutta) as main characters.

'Ghawre Bairey Aaj' is a modern day adaptation of Rabindranath Tagore’s iconic novel Ghare Baire. It’s a modern retelling of Tagore`s classic novel, and chronicles a triangular love story which is as much a story of passionate romance as it is of clashing ideologies.

Release Date: 23rd November, 2018

Director: Mainak Bhaumik

Screenplay: Mainak Bhaumik

The film has Rwitibroto Mukherjee(as Apu/ Arunava Bose),Sauraseni Maitra(as Durga)in lead roles.

The story of the film revolves around Apu, a tenth standard student in Kolkata, and his cousin sister Durga, visiting from Delhi. Apu’s parents put a lot of pressure on him to study, perform well in his board exams, join the science stream, and clear the Joint Entrance Exam (JEE). His parents disciplined him excessively and gave him little freedom to do as he liked. As a result, he felt as if he had not quite grown up. He loved to write music, play guitar, and sing, but was harshly discouraged from doing so.

While Apu’s parents worried about him too much, Durga’s parents completely washed their hands of her. They turned a blind eye to her struggles, pretending her depression had nothing to do with them. They sent her to Kolkata, because word had gotten around that she was receiving psychiatric treatment. Whenever she called them, they would hastily hang up. Her mother would say she was busy, while her father would say that the network was bad. When she said her maternal uncle had molested her, her mother refused to believe it.

Durga and Apu had been brought in considerably different households. She impressed Apu by talking back to his mother, and her aunt at the dinner table, something he would have never dared to do. It seemed she could act exactly as she liked. An unlikely friendship blossomed between them, as Apu was the only person who asked Durga why she tried to kill herself once. Soon, Apu was breaking away from the obedient, submissive son he was accustomed to being. He started breaking the rules set out by his parents. By encouraging him to talk to his crush Piya and to play at his school’s open-mic music festival, Durga helped Apu find his voice. On her birthday, on the pretext of buying herself a present, she bought him a guitar. She urged him to get a piercing.

Durga was undergoing treatment for clinical depression in Delhi, while she was sent to Kolkata. She refrained from taking her prescribed pills as the side effects were quite difficult. She also stopped going for counseling. Her condition worsened. Her boyfriend Sourav refrained from speaking to her on the phone. When she decided to call him and confess her love, his wife picked up the phone. Remembering Apu’s mother’s words, Durga called her parents, who for one last time evaded her calls. She decided to end her life by jumping off a building, and this time succeeded.

Apu’s father felt that Durga’s suicide was an act of selfishness, and that she acted irresponsibly. This sparked a confrontational exchange between Apu and his father. Apu accused his father of caring about IIT, only for the sake of the family’s image. In response, his father says that all he wants is that Apu does not end up struggling for money as he is. Apu asserted his right to pursue music if he chooses. He disobeyed his father, and decides to perform at the "Gaanwala".

The movie ends with a sequence from a year later, when Apu ties a letter to Durga to a set of balloons, and releases it into the sky. He had grown up, taken the science stream, and decided to write the JEE, while also pursuing music seriously.

The movie offers a nuanced exploration of the psychosocial factors contributing to depression. 

Generation Aami casually exposes the hypocrisy implicit in the stigmas imposed by society.

Well, the list of favourite Bengali films especially for a Filmophile like me is never ending I guess. One movie comes up after another and so on !

CONTENT AND IMAGE SOURCE : GOOGLE

@bongboyblog @banglanotebook

And @sonecta

Women (and many men) fought for decades with hospitals to even have men allowed in the delivery room during the early stages of labor, which can last for several hours, and hospitals only began to give in to their requests in the 1960s but even then they would be kicked out of the room by hospital staff before the actual birth took place. So many of the couples watching the show would have had to go through labor without having/being allowed to support their spouse regardless of their wishes. Having the child’s father present for the birth only began to happen in the 1970s and 1980s. Which means most people watching this show either went through birth without the support of their spouse, were not allowed to support their spouse during the birth of their child, or their own mother’s went through that during their birth.

Where in the world does Verrick’s wedding take place? There was snow, and it was snowing, but then Korra is looking at Republic City.

This makes no sense. I hate this.

My bigger question is why Varrick, of the water tribe, proposed with a ring instead of a necklace.

And why Zhu Li wears the kind of standard white dress you’d expect to see at a culturally western wedding.

See my recent post about why white wedding clothes in the fire nation make zero sense, and follow-up post on a possible explanation that has absolutely nothing to do with why WE wear white at weddings.

But seriously, people today wear white wedding dresses because queen victoria did and everyone wanted to copy her. So the fact that all these high fantasy/historical fiction/some place that ISN’T our post-1840 post-globalization society tv shows and movies have the bride wearing a white dress makes no real sense.

If anything, red or blue dresses (depending on whether a story is set in a more eastern or more western culture) would be a lot more accurate.

But NO, creators have to make their fictional wedding look like weddings the viewers may have seen, even if it makes no sense in terms of worldbuilding

Like, you know what’d be cool? Watching a wedding in a movie or show that is absolutely nothing like anything i’ve ever seen before. Plenty of books do this.

Not only are we TOLD characters are “the best” at what they do, she SHOWS us. 

Way too often I’ve noticed mainstream movies tell us that a character is good at something and then every time we see them do it, something goes wrong or they suck at it. The most heinous example of this in my recent memory is Guardians of the Galaxy 1, where we’re told over and over that Gamora is this amazing fighter, feared across the galaxy, and then she proceeds to lose. Every. Single. Fight. that she is in during her character introduction.

In contrast, we are told by Copley that the Old Guard are the best in the business, and then we see them absolutely slaughter the men who ambushed them, not just by virtue of their healing super powers to shrug off wounds, but with terrifying skill, switching between weapons, conserving ammo, using blades until they get another gun. They mop the floor with those guys.

Even more so, on the rewatch I got a good reminder of how terrifyingly competent Andy is. It’s heavily implied that she lost her healing power before the fight in the church, since she takes the stab wound early on and it doesn’t heal. That means that entire fight against two dozen heavily armed soldiers with body armor and automatic weapons is without her having any healing powers to give her an advantage, and she just tears through them. When Booker says she has forgotten more ways to kill than armies ever learn, it’s not empty bravado, we don’t rely on him to tell us she’s good and then watch her lose a bunch of fights so we can advance the plot, nope, we are given evidence of this claim.