Ghatashraddha, a pivotal-but-rarely-seen Indian film byGirish Kasaravalliisset to be restoredin time for its 50th anniversary, thanks in part toMartin ScorseseandGeorge Lucas. Led by India’sFilm Heritage Foundation,the restoration will receive substantial support from Scorsese’sWorld Cinema Project,as well as funding from George Lucas andMellodyHobson. The 1977 film will join the ranks of Indian masterworks likeKumatty,which was similarly rediscovered andre-released in collaboration between FHF and WCP. With the Film Heritage Foundation focusing onbringing otherwise-lost Indian classics to international movie audiences,Ghatashraddhawill hopefully be only one of many pieces of Indian cinema revitalized in coming years.
As seen with the restoration of the Technicolor wonderlandThe Red Shoes, among others, Scorsese’s interest in restoring classic cinema continues to bea fruitful endeavor for him and film lovers alike.One of India’s most appreciated pieces of classic cinema,Ghatashraddhais long overdue for a restoration, as it’s damn near impossible to find in any sort of watchable condition. Cinephiles and enthusiasts of the oft-forgotten can find scuzzed-out VHS rips on YouTube, albeit in dismal available quality. DVDs are similarly available, but a singlequalityand deservedly high-fidelity release is currently non-existent. Considering the film’s significance in the world of classic international cinema, the upcoming restoration is undoubtedly something to be excited about.
Ghatashraddha
A young Brahmin Vedic school student, who is from an aristocratic family, befriends his school master’s daughter who is a pregnant widow. The boy tries but fails in concealing his friend’s pregnancy. The widow has an abortion forced on her, has the eponymous ritual performed on her and is excommunicated. The student returns home as his school shuts down.
What Is ‘Ghatashraddha’ About?
Ghatashraddha, voted by the International Film Festival of India asone of the best 20 movies of Indian cinema, is an emotionally resonant picture that follows a boy named Naani (Ajith Kumar), who arrives as a student in a new village where a pregnant widow (Meena Kuttappa) is met with the scorn of her neighbors. Her father (Ramaswamy Iyengar) is the local school headmaster who leaves town in order to help locate funds to keep the school running. While Naani and the widow Yamuna form a close bond, the scorn the woman faces from the villagers due to her unexpected pregnancy escalates, alienating her entirely.
The English translation of the title,The Ritual,refers to a ritualperformed by orthodox Brahmins to excommunicate women who rebelled against societal norms. Death rites are performed for the living as a means of condemning the outcasts in a form of symbolic death. Yamuna’s pregnancy reveals her sexual relationship with a local schoolteacher, and her being pregnant is a crime unforgivable in the eyes of the traditionalists.Ghatashraddhaturns a crucially sympathetic gaze towards these practices to show their hypocrisy (why is it only the woman who is punished?) and their cruelty (their complete banishment outright denies her right towards any sort of sexual liberation), instead empathizing with Yamuna and taking the viewpoint of the understanding Naani.
Based on a prolific novella by Kannada writerU.R. Ananthamurthy, the film is also a piece of filmic history due to it being an early and crucial Kannada-language film.Ghatashraddha,among a handful of others,helped pave the way for an Indian New Wave, much likeGodard’sBreathlessandClaude Chabrol’sLa Beau Sergeset forth the impactful French New Wave movement. Beyond it being culturally significant (which it very much is), it’s also just a damn fine picture. Director Kasaravalli utilizes the youthful perspective of the boy Naani to help emphasize the strangeness of the titular ritual. The adult world, filled with hypocrisies and senselessness, is portrayed as distant and unknowable. The performances are fantastic (Kumar’s is a standout) and Kasaravalli’s eye for lighting and composition recall the work of more widely-known masters. His frequent utilization of circular imagery (and a womb-like pot which hides a striking cobra, an image too brilliantly metaphorical to possibly miss) suggests the heart of a poet. Its complex core themes, particularly that of women facing unreasonable and unjust practices arbitrarily set up by male lawmakers, suggest not only a respectable sense of feminism but also a wise philosophy on the body in relation to human life.
Why Is the ‘Ghatashraddha’ Restoration a Big Deal?
Ghatashraddhabeing restored in time for a 50th anniversary release aids in expanding the film canon of India to a widerinternational audience. Kasaravalli is a crucial figure in the country’s film history but isn’t as widely recognized asSatyajit RayorRitwik Ghatak, the reputations of whom have been heightened by recent restorations of otherwiselost films. Ray’s ownApu Trilogyunderwent a massive 4K restoration for a 2015 release. Although the original film negatives were largely damaged in a nitrate fire in an English warehouse, the good folks at Criterion Collection and Bologna’sL’Immagine Ritrovata completely revitalized the film. The efforts were arduous, and the results were nothing short of miraculous: like a phoenix, the film was rebirthed from the ashes into dazzling high-quality. The trilogy had already garnered a formidable reputation by filmmakers and critics alike, withRoger EbertandRichard Brodybeing two noted fans of the films, and since the films' rerelease, such a reputation has only been confirmed. All three titles are placed in Letterboxd’sofficial list of the Top 250 Narrative Feature Films. Ray’s trilogyis one of the best in all of cinema, and for too long it was largely unavailable.
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“It is a restless moment. She has kept her head lowered to give him a chance to come closer. But he could not, for lack of courage.”
This is why restorations like these are so important. IfGhatashraddhacan hope to follow inApu’s footsteps, it will assuredly land a wider, much-deserved appreciation among international moviegoers. As of now, it’s worth noting, the film has less than 200 logson Letterboxd, as opposed toPather Panchali’s 62k.Classic pieces of international cinemalikeGhatashraddhaandPather Panchalinot only have great artistic value, but also serve as windows through time and space, offering glimpses of past eras and cultures different from our own. Digging up movies like this help us better understand the world and the people that make up itby offering varied perspectives and voices too often overlooked due to inaccessibility.
Flmmaker and film archivistShivendra Singh Dungarpur,along with the Film Heritage Foundation that he runs, selected Kasaravalli’s film as being necessary for restoration. Kasaravallisaid of the restoration, “[it’s] a joy to see that the restoration work at the foundation is undertaken with so much love and care for the art form along with due respect to the innate vision of the filmmaker. I just can’t wait to see the restored version of my film in all its pristine beauty.” The source will be the original camera negative, which will ensure the most pristine and faithful transfer possible.
Scorsese’s World Cinema Project Has Done Some Monumental Restorations
One really needs to look no furtherthan Martin Scorsese’s own Letterboxd pageto see proof of the man’s infatuation with world cinema. The Criterion Channelhas an ongoing series of videosin which Scorsese talks excitedly about international gems from throughout film history, many of which he’s played a vital part in restoring. His impressive World Cinema Project hasover fifty culturally significantworks by filmmakers around the world that have been rescued, restored, and re-released to wider audiences. There’s no shortage of gems to be found in the Project, or theexcellent Blu-ray box setsput out in collaboration with the Criterion Collection: there are a couple of works from Senegalese novelist and filmmakerOusmane Sembène,includingBlack Girl,his pivotal meditation on French colonialism.
One of the most notable releases overseen by the Project wasEdward Yang’s four-hour Taiwanese dramaA Brighter Summer Day,certainlyone of the greatest arthouse epics ever made, as well as the director’s comparatively breezy sophomore effortTaipei Story. Restorations like these help showcase the importance and vitality of film movements from throughout history, like the Taiwanese New Wave frontrun by Yang,his compatriotTsai Ming-Liang, and several others (A handful of movies byHou Hsiao-Hsien, another revered figure in the Taiwanese New Wave, have also been recently restored by the Project).
The Project has also turned its attention towards many other countries to highlight the artistry of their film industry.Manila in the Claws of LightandInsiangrepresent the Philippines, with directorLino Brocka’s trademark style being the work of a passionate auteur. Cuba is brought into the project withLucia, and Cameroon withMuna Moto. Mauritania, Burkina Faso, Syria, and Indonesia are other countries whose films were restored and released to international audiences thanks to the Project.
George Lucas Is a Champion of Preserving Classic Film
Lucas, like Scorsese, is by no means a stranger to pursuing the ongoing preservation and restoration of historic cinema. He’s helped provide funding for some essential restorations,like MoMA’s work onNight of the Living Dead— which shows the movie as good as it’s ever looked. Other sources of funding include the witchy,Björk-starringThe Juniper TreeandRobert Downey Sr.’s racial satirePutney Swope, among many others. In the late ’80s, Lucas also traveled to Washington, D.C.to protest the sacrilegious colorizationof classic black-and-white films by Hollywood executives. (“People who alter or destroy works of art, and our cultural heritage, for profit or as an exercise of power are barbarians,” he preached). Lucas was also a pivotal producer ofAkira Kurosawa’s late masterpieceKagemusha—along withFrancis Ford Coppola,Lucas used his reputationto help the Japanese master get the picture made.
The restoration ofGhatashraddhawill surely be just another notch in Lucas and Scorsese’s belts, another win for world cinema. Shivendra Singh Dungarpur and Kasaravallihimself are also to thank. It’s a beautiful deed, and one worth waiting for.
Films from Martin Scorsese’s World Cinema Project are available to stream on the Criterion Channel in the U.S.
