Sunday, October 22, 2006
Two Movie recommendations
Dersu Uzala:
A heart rendering story about friendship and nature, by Kurosawa.
This film also greatly helped me appreciate (and believe) a well known theory in history and linguistics.
I am talking about the Aryan Immigration theory - which hypothesizes that the speakers of Indo-Aryan languages (including sanskrit) migrated into India around 1500 BC near the end of (what is now called) the Indus Valley civilization.
But this would mean that a bunch of nomads from central asia spoke a form of proto-sanskrit. This was really hard for me to digest as I thought sansrit to be too "classy" and "sophisticated".
In "Dersu Unzala" , the lead character is a siberian tribal who speaks russian with an accent that I find so similar to sanskrit. This is enough to clear all my "doubts" reagarding the aryan-immigration theory!!
The Decalogue:
The first episode of this movie has got to be one of the most tragic films that I ever saw. I really liked the style of the director (Kieslowski) , especially the camera angles. (Some very intresting postitions and so close to show even the slightest of emotions).
A heart rendering story about friendship and nature, by Kurosawa.
This film also greatly helped me appreciate (and believe) a well known theory in history and linguistics.
I am talking about the Aryan Immigration theory - which hypothesizes that the speakers of Indo-Aryan languages (including sanskrit) migrated into India around 1500 BC near the end of (what is now called) the Indus Valley civilization.
But this would mean that a bunch of nomads from central asia spoke a form of proto-sanskrit. This was really hard for me to digest as I thought sansrit to be too "classy" and "sophisticated".
In "Dersu Unzala" , the lead character is a siberian tribal who speaks russian with an accent that I find so similar to sanskrit. This is enough to clear all my "doubts" reagarding the aryan-immigration theory!!
The Decalogue:
The first episode of this movie has got to be one of the most tragic films that I ever saw. I really liked the style of the director (Kieslowski) , especially the camera angles. (Some very intresting postitions and so close to show even the slightest of emotions).
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But this would mean that a bunch of nomads from central asia spoke a form of proto-sanskrit. This was really hard for me to digest as I thought sansrit to be too "classy" and "sophisticated".
Why can't "a bunch of nomads" speak a "classy" or a "sophisticated" language? :-)
Why can't "a bunch of nomads" speak a "classy" or a "sophisticated" language? :-)
Sure, they can.
The doubts I had were not based on reason, only prejudices.
The were due to subjective notions on what I consider "classy" and a pre-conceived notion that a bunch of nomads are incapable of "classy" things.
The doubts I had were not based on reason, only prejudices.
The were due to subjective notions on what I consider "classy" and a pre-conceived notion that a bunch of nomads are incapable of "classy" things.
well, Sanskrit didn't even have a script of its own until it adopted the devanagari script. why else were the Vedas passed on orally for centuries? so those bunch of nomads could not have possibly spoken a sophisticated language. Sanskrit as we know it today probably owes more to the Dravidians of the Indus Valley than to the Aryans themselves!
Sanskrit as we know it today probably owes more to the Dravidians of the Indus Valley than to the Aryans themselves!
--- Possible.
Also if you get a chance to see the film, observe the fact that the siberian tribal (dersu uzala) does a small ritual which he explains as feeding his dead wife and children. Sounded so similar to the "dhavasam" practice.
--- Possible.
Also if you get a chance to see the film, observe the fact that the siberian tribal (dersu uzala) does a small ritual which he explains as feeding his dead wife and children. Sounded so similar to the "dhavasam" practice.
Watched Dersu Uzala. I didn't find his lingo sound like Sanskrit but then my tryst with Sanskrit is limited to the weekly news 'vaartha' on Doordarshan. Nevertheless it was good a movie. Nostalgia is dangerous!
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