Document Actions
May 2002
Newsletter- May 2002
------------------------------------
Table of Contents
I.New at Sarai website
II.Filmcomedy at Sarai: The Marx Brothers
III. Researchers Wanted!
I. New @ Sarai website
Digital artworks and essays on internet culture and cinema theory are
new at www.sarai.net.
i. Dilliwale kaun/ Baharwale kaun
digital artwork by Syeda Farhana
A result of Syeda Farhana's residency at Sarai last winter, Dilliwale
Kaun/ Baharwale Kaun consists of photographic & textual narratives
on the theme of "The Outsider". Also available at the Sarai Interface
Zone.
www.sarai.net/compositions/images/farhana/Html/index.htm
ii. ARTificial ART: lines
digital artwork by Kurt Baumann
Baumann graphically interprets the word 'sarai'
www.sarai.net/compositions/images/kurt_baumann/kurt0.htm
iii. SEXWORKS|NETWORKS []
What do people get out of Internet porn?
an essay by Rana Dasgupta
http://www.sarai.net/compositions/texts/works/rana.htm
iv. Another History Rises to the Surface:
Melodrama Theory and Digital Simulation in 'Hey Ram' (Kamalahasan,
1999)
an essay by Ravi Vasudevan
http://www.sarai.net/mediacity/filmcity/essays/heyram.htm
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
II. Filmcomedy@ Sarai: The Marx Brothers
All screenings are on Fridays at 4:30pm, Seminar Room, Centre for the
Study of Developing Societies, 29 Rajpur Road, Delhi - 110054.
The films are listed in the order of screening.
During these hard summer months, and in an environment rife with the
darkness of politics and the cruelty of our society, Sarai choses to
showcase a cinema of irreverence, anarchy, or, as the Japanese would
call it, nansensu. Perhaps the sheer exuberance of the Marx brothers
debunking of authority, politics and a respectable society will
provide some respite and a salutary release from the horrors of our
contemporary situation. In any case, we don't need to justify this
month's film series at Sarai, a tribute to the Marx brothers, Groucho,
Harpo and Chico, the surreal triumvirate of bad taste, nonsensical
repartee, and, in Harpo, the magician of silent performance and of the
manic visual pun. Imagine Johnny Lever multiplied by three so that he
overwhelms a Hindi film story, reducing romance, heroism and morality
to sideshow items, and you'll know what's in store for you this month.
'Like Chaplin and Keaton, the Marx Brothers came out of a background
of poverty and a childhood on the vaudeville circuit, which may or may
not say something about the origins necessary to become a great
comedian. But while Chaplin and Keaton rose high above their
vaudeville music-hall backgrounds, recasting themselves as great mime
artists, the Marx Brothers, if anything, reduced vaudeville slapstick
to its most debased level. In other words, they revelled in their
vulgarity. Rather than try to rise above it and elevate themselves to
artistry, they took lowbrowism and shamelessly pushed it to extremes.
They were neither poised nor poetic, not sublime or mystical, not
skilled acrobats or breakers of hearts, or deeply tragic beneath their
comic masks. They were cheap, sophomoric, scatological, reckless,
excessive, lunatic, and assinine, all to such extremes that they
turned everything impossibly bad into something extremely good.'
(William Bayer )
1. 10th May, 2002
Duck Soup (1933), 75 mins, b/w, VHS
Director: Leo McCarey
Released in 1933, this political satire is thought by many as the
greatest Marx Brothers movie. `Duck Soup' is a short, but brilliant
satire and lampooning of blundering dictatorial leaders, Fascism and
authoritarian government. The film, made during the crisis period of
the Depression, was their last film in a five-picture contract with
Paramount Studios.
'Duck Soup' was both a critical and commercial failure at the time of
its release - audiences were taken aback by such preposterous
political disrespect, buffoonery and cynicism at a time of political
crisis. Fascist Italian dictator Mussolini banned the film in his
country. The film was rediscovered by the generation of 1960s college
students.
The irrepressible comedians in this quintessential anarchic,
satirical film simply but irreverently attack the pomposity of
governmental leaders, the absurdity of government itself,
governmental diplomacy, an arbitrary legal system, and war fought over
petty matters. The non-stop, frenetic film is filled with a number of
delightfully hilarious moments, gags, fast-moving acts, double
entendres, comedy routines, puns, pure silliness, zany
improvisations, quips and insult-spewed lines of dialogue - much of
the comedy makes the obvious statement that war is indeed nonsensical
and meaninglessly destructive.
2. 17th May, 2002
Horse Feathers (1932), 70 min
Director : Norman Z. McLeod
'Horse Feathers' is an anarchic parody of higher education and a
subversive attack on authority and society. All four Marx brothers,
including Zeppo, get mixed up with a hidebound university when
Professor Wagstaff (Groucho) takes over distinguished Huxley College
and lets anarchy run riot whenever he's not singing his theme,
"Whatever it is, I'm against it."
The mad-cap film, a zany take-off on college education and football,
is known for its fast-paced, non-sequitor, inconsistent nature as was
typical of all Marx Brothers films. The plot affords many opportunities
for the comedic team to show off their anarchic style of humor, with
many pun-filled, absurd, nonsensical bits of dialogue, insults,
idiosyncrasies, and one-liners.
3. 24th May, 2002
A Night at the Opera (1935), 96 min. b/w, VHS
Director: Sam Wood
'A Night at the Opera' was the first Marx Brothers film produced at
MGM. The move resulted in a landmark film with a more developed and
polished plot-line, and brought them their first commercial success.
Their most recent movie, 'Duck Soup', made in 1933, was branded as
high-gear Marxist anarchy. To some, this was what the Marx Brothers
symbolized, and it delighted audiences. Unfortunately, 'Duck Soup'
didn't do all that well at the box office.
There were others who did not appreciate the lunacy that the Marx
Brothers portrayed. It was MGM's Thalberg who felt that the Marx
Brothers could produce a comedy that had a carefully-written plot
where the boys could stay true to their zany antics, while at the same
time, come to the rescue of a couple in love. He felt this would
generate sympathy for the boys as the storyline progressed - something
that was not evident in their prior films.
A road-show tour before live audiences allowed writer Al Boasberg to
repeatedly test draft scripts. The result - well-refined, polished
scenes of classic romantic comedy and dialogue, flowing together
smoothly with the story and the characters of the brothers, and timed
to take into account reaction time for laughs. It was designed to
appeal to female audiences, with less zany and unhibited behavior
exhibited by the brothers.
The gamble paid off. On the basis of its initial release, 'A Night
at the Opera' brought in US $3 million, which made it their most
successful initial film release.
4. 31st May, 2002
A Night in Casablanca (1946), 85 min b/w, VHS
Director: Archie Mayo
'A Night in Casablanca' marked the reunion of the brothers after the
team disbanded in 1941. Several plot elements come together in this
film. Nazi war criminal Heinrich Stubel, alias Count Pfefferman (Sig
Ruman), is offing hotel managers at an alarming rate in the hope that
he will be appointed manager himself. Unfortunately, when he is
finally offered the job he is indisposed because Stubel's valet Rusty
(Harpo) has sucked his hairpiece into a vacuum cleaner, thus exposing
an incriminating scar on Stubel's head.
Instead, the position is offered to the unsuspecting Ronald Kornblow
(Groucho), who takes to it with gusto and gleefully insults staff and
guests alike. Rusty overhears of a plot to assassinate Kornblow, and
he enlists the aid of itinerant camel jockey Corbaccio (Chico) to help
protect Groucho from Stubel. Meanwhile, American flyboy Pierre Delmar
(Charles Drake) is trying to get information on Stubel to clear his
own name over an incident that happened during the war. Ever the
altruists, Corbaccio and Rusty try to help Pierre as well, with
disastrous results.
Time is telling on the Marxes in this film, but it is an enjoyable
romp nonetheless. Groucho even manages to capture some of the zest of
his earlier times as a hotel manager in 'The Cocoanuts'. Harpo's
employment of Frank Tashlin as a gag writer prompts some wonderful
sight gags.
It was during the final days of filming that Groucho realized he'd
finally had enough. While hanging upside-down outside of an aeroplane
during inumerable takes of one of the final scenes, Groucho decided
once and for all that he was ready to retire. The others were ready as
well.
The three brothers would appear once more together, three years
later, but really only as an afterthought. 'A Night In Casablanca' was
the last true Marx Brothers film.
Hope to see you at the screenings. And if you can't make it do write
in with comments, queries and ideas.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
III. Researchers Wanted!
The Sarai Programme of the CSDS is looking for researchers to work on its
project, Publics and Practices in the History of the Present. This project
is looking at contemporary media cultures in the city of Delhi, overlapping
those of cinema and new media.
We are looking for people with a MA or M.Phil background who are interested
in issues of media and urban culture , and who may use the project to
develop their own interests in the area.
The project involves both field and archival work, and those with
experience in the area are strongly encouraged to apply.
Write immediately with a short c.v to research at sarai.net
Until next month,
Ranita
The Sarai Programme
Centre for the Study of Developing Societies
29 Rajpur Road, Delhi - 110054.
www.sarai.net
------------------------------------
Table of Contents
I.New at Sarai website
II.Filmcomedy at Sarai: The Marx Brothers
III. Researchers Wanted!
I. New @ Sarai website
Digital artworks and essays on internet culture and cinema theory are
new at www.sarai.net.
i. Dilliwale kaun/ Baharwale kaun
digital artwork by Syeda Farhana
A result of Syeda Farhana's residency at Sarai last winter, Dilliwale
Kaun/ Baharwale Kaun consists of photographic & textual narratives
on the theme of "The Outsider". Also available at the Sarai Interface
Zone.
www.sarai.net/compositions/images/farhana/Html/index.htm
ii. ARTificial ART: lines
digital artwork by Kurt Baumann
Baumann graphically interprets the word 'sarai'
www.sarai.net/compositions/images/kurt_baumann/kurt0.htm
iii. SEXWORKS|NETWORKS []
What do people get out of Internet porn?
an essay by Rana Dasgupta
http://www.sarai.net/compositions/texts/works/rana.htm
iv. Another History Rises to the Surface:
Melodrama Theory and Digital Simulation in 'Hey Ram' (Kamalahasan,
1999)
an essay by Ravi Vasudevan
http://www.sarai.net/mediacity/filmcity/essays/heyram.htm
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
II. Filmcomedy@ Sarai: The Marx Brothers
All screenings are on Fridays at 4:30pm, Seminar Room, Centre for the
Study of Developing Societies, 29 Rajpur Road, Delhi - 110054.
The films are listed in the order of screening.
During these hard summer months, and in an environment rife with the
darkness of politics and the cruelty of our society, Sarai choses to
showcase a cinema of irreverence, anarchy, or, as the Japanese would
call it, nansensu. Perhaps the sheer exuberance of the Marx brothers
debunking of authority, politics and a respectable society will
provide some respite and a salutary release from the horrors of our
contemporary situation. In any case, we don't need to justify this
month's film series at Sarai, a tribute to the Marx brothers, Groucho,
Harpo and Chico, the surreal triumvirate of bad taste, nonsensical
repartee, and, in Harpo, the magician of silent performance and of the
manic visual pun. Imagine Johnny Lever multiplied by three so that he
overwhelms a Hindi film story, reducing romance, heroism and morality
to sideshow items, and you'll know what's in store for you this month.
'Like Chaplin and Keaton, the Marx Brothers came out of a background
of poverty and a childhood on the vaudeville circuit, which may or may
not say something about the origins necessary to become a great
comedian. But while Chaplin and Keaton rose high above their
vaudeville music-hall backgrounds, recasting themselves as great mime
artists, the Marx Brothers, if anything, reduced vaudeville slapstick
to its most debased level. In other words, they revelled in their
vulgarity. Rather than try to rise above it and elevate themselves to
artistry, they took lowbrowism and shamelessly pushed it to extremes.
They were neither poised nor poetic, not sublime or mystical, not
skilled acrobats or breakers of hearts, or deeply tragic beneath their
comic masks. They were cheap, sophomoric, scatological, reckless,
excessive, lunatic, and assinine, all to such extremes that they
turned everything impossibly bad into something extremely good.'
(William Bayer )
1. 10th May, 2002
Duck Soup (1933), 75 mins, b/w, VHS
Director: Leo McCarey
Released in 1933, this political satire is thought by many as the
greatest Marx Brothers movie. `Duck Soup' is a short, but brilliant
satire and lampooning of blundering dictatorial leaders, Fascism and
authoritarian government. The film, made during the crisis period of
the Depression, was their last film in a five-picture contract with
Paramount Studios.
'Duck Soup' was both a critical and commercial failure at the time of
its release - audiences were taken aback by such preposterous
political disrespect, buffoonery and cynicism at a time of political
crisis. Fascist Italian dictator Mussolini banned the film in his
country. The film was rediscovered by the generation of 1960s college
students.
The irrepressible comedians in this quintessential anarchic,
satirical film simply but irreverently attack the pomposity of
governmental leaders, the absurdity of government itself,
governmental diplomacy, an arbitrary legal system, and war fought over
petty matters. The non-stop, frenetic film is filled with a number of
delightfully hilarious moments, gags, fast-moving acts, double
entendres, comedy routines, puns, pure silliness, zany
improvisations, quips and insult-spewed lines of dialogue - much of
the comedy makes the obvious statement that war is indeed nonsensical
and meaninglessly destructive.
2. 17th May, 2002
Horse Feathers (1932), 70 min
Director : Norman Z. McLeod
'Horse Feathers' is an anarchic parody of higher education and a
subversive attack on authority and society. All four Marx brothers,
including Zeppo, get mixed up with a hidebound university when
Professor Wagstaff (Groucho) takes over distinguished Huxley College
and lets anarchy run riot whenever he's not singing his theme,
"Whatever it is, I'm against it."
The mad-cap film, a zany take-off on college education and football,
is known for its fast-paced, non-sequitor, inconsistent nature as was
typical of all Marx Brothers films. The plot affords many opportunities
for the comedic team to show off their anarchic style of humor, with
many pun-filled, absurd, nonsensical bits of dialogue, insults,
idiosyncrasies, and one-liners.
3. 24th May, 2002
A Night at the Opera (1935), 96 min. b/w, VHS
Director: Sam Wood
'A Night at the Opera' was the first Marx Brothers film produced at
MGM. The move resulted in a landmark film with a more developed and
polished plot-line, and brought them their first commercial success.
Their most recent movie, 'Duck Soup', made in 1933, was branded as
high-gear Marxist anarchy. To some, this was what the Marx Brothers
symbolized, and it delighted audiences. Unfortunately, 'Duck Soup'
didn't do all that well at the box office.
There were others who did not appreciate the lunacy that the Marx
Brothers portrayed. It was MGM's Thalberg who felt that the Marx
Brothers could produce a comedy that had a carefully-written plot
where the boys could stay true to their zany antics, while at the same
time, come to the rescue of a couple in love. He felt this would
generate sympathy for the boys as the storyline progressed - something
that was not evident in their prior films.
A road-show tour before live audiences allowed writer Al Boasberg to
repeatedly test draft scripts. The result - well-refined, polished
scenes of classic romantic comedy and dialogue, flowing together
smoothly with the story and the characters of the brothers, and timed
to take into account reaction time for laughs. It was designed to
appeal to female audiences, with less zany and unhibited behavior
exhibited by the brothers.
The gamble paid off. On the basis of its initial release, 'A Night
at the Opera' brought in US $3 million, which made it their most
successful initial film release.
4. 31st May, 2002
A Night in Casablanca (1946), 85 min b/w, VHS
Director: Archie Mayo
'A Night in Casablanca' marked the reunion of the brothers after the
team disbanded in 1941. Several plot elements come together in this
film. Nazi war criminal Heinrich Stubel, alias Count Pfefferman (Sig
Ruman), is offing hotel managers at an alarming rate in the hope that
he will be appointed manager himself. Unfortunately, when he is
finally offered the job he is indisposed because Stubel's valet Rusty
(Harpo) has sucked his hairpiece into a vacuum cleaner, thus exposing
an incriminating scar on Stubel's head.
Instead, the position is offered to the unsuspecting Ronald Kornblow
(Groucho), who takes to it with gusto and gleefully insults staff and
guests alike. Rusty overhears of a plot to assassinate Kornblow, and
he enlists the aid of itinerant camel jockey Corbaccio (Chico) to help
protect Groucho from Stubel. Meanwhile, American flyboy Pierre Delmar
(Charles Drake) is trying to get information on Stubel to clear his
own name over an incident that happened during the war. Ever the
altruists, Corbaccio and Rusty try to help Pierre as well, with
disastrous results.
Time is telling on the Marxes in this film, but it is an enjoyable
romp nonetheless. Groucho even manages to capture some of the zest of
his earlier times as a hotel manager in 'The Cocoanuts'. Harpo's
employment of Frank Tashlin as a gag writer prompts some wonderful
sight gags.
It was during the final days of filming that Groucho realized he'd
finally had enough. While hanging upside-down outside of an aeroplane
during inumerable takes of one of the final scenes, Groucho decided
once and for all that he was ready to retire. The others were ready as
well.
The three brothers would appear once more together, three years
later, but really only as an afterthought. 'A Night In Casablanca' was
the last true Marx Brothers film.
Hope to see you at the screenings. And if you can't make it do write
in with comments, queries and ideas.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
III. Researchers Wanted!
The Sarai Programme of the CSDS is looking for researchers to work on its
project, Publics and Practices in the History of the Present. This project
is looking at contemporary media cultures in the city of Delhi, overlapping
those of cinema and new media.
We are looking for people with a MA or M.Phil background who are interested
in issues of media and urban culture , and who may use the project to
develop their own interests in the area.
The project involves both field and archival work, and those with
experience in the area are strongly encouraged to apply.
Write immediately with a short c.v to research at sarai.net
Until next month,
Ranita
The Sarai Programme
Centre for the Study of Developing Societies
29 Rajpur Road, Delhi - 110054.
www.sarai.net