Hacker Cinema
Mississippi Masala
1991 · Film · 118 min
Directed by Mira Nair
Years after her Indian family was forced to flee their Uganda home, twentysomething Mina finds herself co-operating a motel in the faraway land of Mississippi. Her passionate romance with charming Black carpet cleaner Demetrius challenges the prejudices of their conservative families and exposes the rifts between the region's Indian and African-American communities.
1 positive1 neutralfrom 2 commenters
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2 comments on Hacker News
For fun, I tried to see how many of the films on their missing movie list are currently watchable on Youtube or from public trackers
http://missingmovies.org/list-of-missing-movies/
Features, 15/23 available
3 legally viewable:
- 1 to be released on Blu-ray in May 2022: Mississippi Masala (1991)
- 2 more on Apple TV: Gal Young 'Un (1979), Angels and Insects (1995)
11 more available 'online':
- 2 HD rips on public trackers from out-of-print blu-rays: Kiss of the Spider Woman (1985), Titus (1999)
- 3 others have full DVD rips on public trackers: Home of the Brave (1986), I Shot Andy Warhol (1996), The Heartbreak Kid (1972)
- 4 others have SD rips on Youtube: The Savage Eye (1959), Black Girl (1972), Deadhead Miles (1972),
- 4 others have low-res VHS rips: Angelo My Love (1983), Baby Face Nelson (1957), Trial of the Catonsville Nine (1972), Eat the Document (1972)
3 more not yet 'online':
- 2 have OOP DVD releases: True Love (1989), Union City (1980)
- 1 other has an OOP VHS release: Household Saints (1993)
5 others have no home media releases I can find:
- Annihilation of Fish (1999), The Cool World (1963), The Marijuana Affair (1975), Nothing but Common Sense (1972), Lanton Mills (1969)
Documentaries, 3/9 available
0 legally viewable
3 available 'online':
- 1 has an HD rip on a public tracker: The Memory of Justice (1976)
- 2 others have SD rips on Youtube: Angela Davis (1971), My Architect (2003)
4 more not yet 'online':
- 3 have OOP DVD releases: Ali the Fighter (1975), Image before my Eyes (1981), The Weavers (1981)
- 1 has an OOP VHS release: Weapons of the Spirit (1987)
2 others have no home media releases I can find:
- Agee (1980), That Rhythm Those Blues (1988)
Well, the story is a combination of typical archetypes retold with pretty pictures. That much I cannot argue about. And I think that what you are really saying by "the plot sucked" is "it's too archetype driven". I'm basing this on:
>I personally found the warmed over "Stupid White Man penetrates exotic closed society and rises to be leader of it, seducing the native woman" plot tiresome, repetitive and tedious
Sure the characters ranged from a bit 2-d (the Col.) to well fleshed out (Neytiri (watch it again if you don't believe me)) and the acting ranged from "will probably win an award it was so good" Saldana to "thanks for showing up and picking up your paycheck" Weaver. But that's nothing different than you'll find in almost every movie -- the principles are fleshed out and the supporting cast is flat.
Why can't we have more 'smart' movies like Erin Brockovich/Schindler's List/Fight Club/District 9/Oldboy/etc. (archetypes of David vs. Goliath, Greed and Bullies) or The Incredibly True Story of Two Teenagers In Love/Léon/American Beauty/Mississippi Masala/South Pacific/Moulin Rouge/West Side Story etc. (Forbidden Love) or Lawrence of Arabia/Dune/Hunt for Red October/etc. (Lovable Turncoat)... you ask? And I'd counter that all of those are as archetype driven as any other well known flick (archetype stories provided in parens).
You see where I'm going with this. Even if you don't agree with all my movie choices as being "good" or "smart" you'll at least have to agree that most movies that are at least reasonably well known are pretty much based on a dissection or aggregation of common archetypes. How many times has Romeo and Juliet been retold almost verbatim? And by and large the audience enjoys these things and says "oh the plot was so good" when really, they are just a rehash of old story ideas. We even group movies into archetype driven categories "love story", "ghost story", "suspense", etc.
So yes, I was being "cute" with my notional art-house flick. But if you want to find something not driven by archetypes, where the artists consciously try to avoid those things, you have to go there, or to France or Italy perhaps. Here, http://www.imdb.com/chart/top this is the top 250 movies on IMDB not by dollars but by rating. How many of these are "smart" movies meaning "not a rehash of archetypes"? Very few if any.
It's pretty simple really, if you don't want your intelligence to be insulted (meaning you don't want an archetype driven story), you end up with a movie about a vapid cowgirl/model with giant thumbs or a movie director that can't focus on making movies because he's too busy with all his mistresses (which is actually just a retelling of the "guy with too many girlfriends archetype"). And given that non-archetype driven movies are typically poorly rated and attended by the open public, either you are particularly "smart" or those movies tend to suck.