BOMBAY MIX: Indian cinema meets the rest of the world in a mix of movies that share themes, stories and genres. Part of an on-going programme of double bills that invite audiences to explore cinema and make new connections.
SUPAKINO presents “Enclosed Ecstasies”, a double bill of Joe Massot’s WONDERWALL (1968) & Mani Kaul’s THE CLOUD DOOR (1994). Ranjit S. Ruprai will be exploring the connections between these films as guest curator for The Garden Cinema’s Musical Fridays.
THE CLOUD DOOR
We are thankful to Ziegler Films for allowing this very rare screening of Indo-German short film THE CLOUD DOOR (1994). This later erotic short by Mani Kaul, the renowned master of Indian Parallel Cinema, draws on centuries-old literary love tales by Bhasa and Jayasi. The first screening in India in 1995 caused an uproar, with police being called to prevent rioting. The film then toured the great international film festivals but has since been rarely seen on the big screen or included in retrospectives of Mani Kaul's films.
WONDERWALL
"Poor Oscar, he only wanted to watch her through the Wonderwall."
George Harrison's soundtrack for the psychedelic British film WONDERWALL (1968) seems to be much more well known than the film itself. It was the first solo album by a Beatle and the first LP released by Apple Records. Quincy Jones told the director Joe Massot that it was the greatest soundtrack he had heard. The film has little dialogue and takes much inspiration from the silent film era but is set firmly in the world of swinging 60s London: 'dolly bird' models, hip photographers, philandering boyfriends, vivid costumes and colourful artwork (by Dutch design collective The Fool).
An eccentric professor (Jack MacGowran) prone to daydreaming becomes obsessed with peeping at the alluring world of the fashion model next door (Jane Birkin). The film unfolds like a series of dreams, each one accompanied by Harrison's beautiful musical vignettes featuring Aashish Khan, Mahapurush Misra, Vinayek Vora and other maestros of Indian Classical Music.