One of mira nair’s better movies is “Hysterical blindness” for hbo, which I like better than this in that it also takes on an ethnic group other than indians, but doesn’t mock it in the same way. It also deals with color differently as there’s a seeming blandness to new jersey but the way juliette lewis and uma thurman work and the other things she does with the hysterical distortions are all good. I also like the hand held which she uses in that and in monsoon wedding.

“But perhaps many earlier Indian immigrants are themselves somewhat more conservative than one might expect, perhaps because of the “artifact” of U.S. immigration law up through 1980 — which made it relatively easy for doctors and engineers to come in.”

In my experience, these older indians, even when wealthy, have been pretty consistently to the left of mainstream politics and so the assumption here is off. alot of cubans are catholic and don’t like abortions. Plus the US relationship with Cuba is very different. 90 miles doesn’t make for as much of a new culture. Florida and Cuba have never been too far apart. I find the parallel forced.

I liked Sarita and recognized her.

Amardeep. IFC or Sundance Channel have played the shorts collection a few times in the past year.

She did do so, and I found it much more compelling than that of The Namesake, which was still quite interesting in its own right.

I should warn you that it might be fair game if there’s any kernel of a desi connection in it

Amardeep, I have to say, I can’t recall even the most remote bit of a desi connection, though my memory may not be the best since the whole experience practially made me bleed out my ears. I trust you will discover it if there is one, however. I urge you to seek it out and watch it, if only so you can summarize the artistry for those of us who failed to grasp it.

As a native of New Jersey, I am tempted to have Ms. Nair charged with a Hate Crime against Garden State Citizenry for her involvement with that project. Pardon me while I make a hasty retreat to try to beat the statute of limitations…

George agrees.

Kusala, I’ve never seen Hysterical Blindness — though I should warn you that it might be fair game if there’s any kernel of a desi connection in it. Writing for Sepia Mutiny has turned me into one of those “Six Degrees of Kevin Bacon” people, except my parlor game is “Six Degrees of There Must be a Desi Connection, Somewhere, Goddamnit.”

Filmiholic, it depends on what I can get my hands on next. I’ve never seen Nair’s contribution to that “controversial” collection of “September 11″ shorts, so that might be next. After that, the Salaam Bombay DVD (hopefully she did director’s commentary on that one too).

It’s often interesting to view multiple cinematic/artistic treatments of directors/writers of one ethnicity interpreting the experiences of those of another. Thanks for exploring that here. I know a lot of people probably don’t like this example, but I also found that to be true and enjoyed the way Gurinder Chadha did that it “What’s Cooking.”

Please don’t floor us with your next post on Nair’s oeuvre by gushing about the finer subtleties and kernels of beauty in “Hysterical Blindness.” If that happens, I just might need a defibrillator.