cup2020 | round 1 | Belson v Sastry

[Curtis, baby]

Fountain of Dreams (Jordan Belson, 1984) vs. This Bit of That India (S. N. S. Sastry, 1975)

Vote for either xBelson or xSastry

Round ends: March 1, 2020

[Curtis, baby]

FOUNTAIN OF DREAMS - I liked the concept well enough but truthfully I didn't particularly like the music, and that's a large part of this. Admittedly some of the imagery, especially at the beginning, was moving, but overall I had pretty middling reactions to this.

THIS BIT OF THAT INDIA - Can't say I wasn't bewildered by the form at times, but I really loved this more so than not. Some really great compositions and it truly kept me guessing throughout. Some pretty poetic insight into and perspective on the human adventure too.

xSastry

[greennui]

Belson did the special effects for the space scenes in The Right Stuff and when I watched that one the other year I instantly recalled this short and suspected Belson's involvement.

One of his prettiest, yet least mystical works.

[josiahmorgan11]

Not a big fan of either film.

xSastry

[Mario Gaborovic]

xBelson

[flip]

the sastry film recalled to me the contemporaneous films of makavejev and maybe kimiavi with their anarchic collisions of politics, culture, sex and science, and sastry has other concerns besides, poscolonialism, globalization, etc. it's a bewildering amount to take on in a short film, but it was constantly engaging, some great imagery, and i'd rather a film try to do too much than too little. liked this film quite a lot.

i didn't really care for the image or music in the belson, though i responded better to the visuals as it progressed, but without that positive response to the surface of the film, it was hard to take much from it, unfortunately.

xSastry

[mesnalty]

Well, I actually liked the music in Fountain of Dreams, and I quite liked some of the imagery, too, but This Bit of That India was much more of a revelation. Bracing, and rather funny, editing makes what sounds fairly dull on paper pretty exciting, and I'm looking forward to seeing more from Sastry.

xSastry

[greennui]

I didn't particularly like the music

i didn't really care for the music in the belson

[rischka]

lol

xbelson but the sastry was very interesting!!

[flip]

sorry franz

[john ryan]

That Sastry was so alive. I'm excited to see more.

xSastry

[sally]

sorry but i made the mistake of seeing a newspaper & i'm too bitter, reactionary and alienated right now to engage with the sastry. leave me alone with my pretty

xBelson

[arkheia]

xSastry

Belson's imagery is as enchanting as ever, celestial colors dissolving into one another in a luminous and abstract dance. The gentle accompaniment of Liszt's music blends with the swirling lights into a lovely cinematic synesthsia. However Sastry's free-spirited collage of university studies, students concerns, and cultural time-capsules won me over with its lively energy.

[ofrene]

xBelson

[Curtis, baby]

Sastry wins 6-4