7 | / 10 |
Users | 0.0 | |
Reviewer | 4.0 | |
Overall | 4.0 |
After Mina's Indian family is ousted from their home in Uganda by dictator Idi Amin, they relocate to Mississippi to start a new life. Mina falls for Demetrius, a young carpet cleaner, despite the protestations of their families over their racial difference.
Starring: Denzel Washington, Sarita Choudhury, Roshan Seth, Sharmila Tagore, Charles S. DuttonDrama | 100% |
Romance | 17% |
Video codec: MPEG-4 AVC
Video resolution: 1080p
Aspect ratio: 1.85:1
Original aspect ratio: 1.85:1
English: DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0 (48kHz, 24-bit)
English SDH
Blu-ray Disc
Single disc (1 BD)
Region A (locked)
Movie | 3.5 | |
Video | 5.0 | |
Audio | 4.0 | |
Extras | 5.0 | |
Overall | 4.0 |
The following paragraph from the diary or journal of one Christopher Columbus may not immediately seem to have much to do with Mississippi Masala, though I'm about to argue it has at least some connections, at least if its perspective is "reversed", in a manner of speaking. One way or the other, though, this actual excerpt from Columbus' writings may provide some outright shock, maybe even outrage, anyway:
Whereas, Most Christian, High, Excellent, and Powerful Princes, King and Queen of Spain and of the Islands of the Sea, our Sovereigns, this present year 1492, after your Highnesses had terminated the war with the Moors reigning in Europe, the same having been brought to an end in the great city of Granada, where on the second day of January, this present year, I saw the royal banners of your Highnesses planted by force of arms upon the towers of the Alhambra, which is the fortress of that city, and saw the Moorish king come out at the gate of the city and kiss the hands of your Highnesses, and of the Prince my Sovereign; and in the present month, in consequence of the information which I had given your Highnesses respecting the countries of India and of a Prince, called Great Can, which in our language signifies King of Kings, how, at many times he, and his predecessors had sent to Rome soliciting instructors who might teach him our holy faith, and the holy Father had never granted his request, whereby great numbers of people were lost, believing in idolatry and doctrines of perdition. Your Highnesses, as Catholic Christians, and princes who love and promote the holy Christian faith, and are enemies of the doctrine of Mahomet, and of all idolatry and heresy, determined to send me, Christopher Columbus, to the above-mentioned countries of India, to see the said princes, people, and territories, and to learn their disposition and the proper method of converting them to our holy faith; and furthermore directed that I should not proceed by land to the East, as is customary, but by a Westerly route, in which direction we have hitherto no certain evidence that any one has gone. So after having expelled the Jews from your dominions, your Highnesses, in the same month of January, ordered me to proceed with a sufficient armament to the said regions of India, and for that purpose granted me great favors, and ennobled me that thenceforth I might call myself Don, and be High Admiral of the Sea, and perpetual Viceroy and Governor in all the islands and continents which I might discover and acquire, or which may hereafter be discovered and acquired in the ocean; and that this dignity should be inherited by my eldest son, and thus descend from degree to degree forever.Now aside from the dropping jaws this statement may have engendered in some readers, it's nonetheless an absolutely fascinating document that details one of the more epochal clashes between three of the world's major religions, with one of them being more or less vanquished and the other expelled, and with an underlying subtext of the assumed moral superiority of the victors (and therefore probably implied, their religion) doing the vanquishing and expelling. Now try to imagine the above paragraph being written by a Jew of the time rather than Columbus, and perhaps arguably at least some tethers to Mississippi Masala emerge, if only in broad generalities if not necessarily in specifics, and certainly with regard to how an expulsion based on ethnicity, race and/or religion can deeply impact those suffering such a fate, especially when they've been deemed to be an "unwanted minority" and are expelled from the only place they've ever known as home.
Mississippi Masala is presented on Blu-ray courtesy of The Criterion Collection with an AVC encoded 1080p transfer in 1.85:1. Criterion's insert booklet contains the following information on the transfer:
Mississippi Masala is presented in its original aspect ratio of 1.85:1. This new digital transfer was created in 4K resolution on a lasergraphics Director film scanner at Roundabout Entertainment in Burbank, California, from the 35 mm original camera negative. The original 2.0 surround soundtrack was remastered from the 35 mm magnetic track. Please be sure to enable Dolby Pro Logic decoding on your receiver to properly play the Dolby 2.0 surround soundtrack.This is a gorgeous looking transfer that preserves the rather lush palette, though relying now on some fairly distant memories, I don't quite recall some of the greenish and yellow gradings being so intense when I saw this film screened theatrically. Since both Ed Lachman and Mira Nair supervised this transfer according to the credits, though, I'll freely admit my memory may not be reliable. That one minor point aside, this transfer preserves a lovely organic quality which offers a tightly resolved grain field and excellent detail levels, even despite some of those aforementioned grading choices. The variety of locations is really stunningly presented in both Ugandan and American environments, and depth of field in several outdoor scenes in both locations is outstanding. I noticed no compression issues and no significant damage of any kind.
Mississippi Masala features a nicely wrought DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0 track. This has long been a favored soundtrack of mine in terms of the broad variety of music it offers, and all of that sounds nicely vibrant and fluid throughout the film. Dialogue is rendered cleanly and clearly, and there is a wealth of nicely diverse ambient environmental sounds in the outdoor scenes in particular. Optional English subtitles are available.
I'm not sure tone is completely consistent in this often provocative piece, but the superior technical presentation and excellent supplements make this easily Recommended.
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