Raga (1971/2010)
A Film Journey into the Soul of India
Director: Howard Worth
Featuring: Ravi Shankar, Yehudi Menuhin, George Harrison, Uday Shankar, Colin Wolcott, Baba Ustad Allauddin Khan
Studio: George Harrison/Apple Films/East Meets West Music Inc. EMWM1002 [Distr. by Harmonia mundi]
Video: 4:3 color
Audio: English PCM mono
Extras: Theatrical trailer, Information on East Meets West Music [10/12/10]
Length: 97 minutes
Rating: *****
This fine documentary from the early 1970s has been lovingly restored and covers the life of famed sitar master Ravi Shankar (now 90 years old), with a narration track by Shankar himself. It follows him on a return visit to India to see both his musical guru, Baba Ustad Allauddin Khan (who was nearly 100 years old at the time), and his spiritual guru as well. At the same time it truly does explore the soul of India, giving in some sections a feeling of life there at the time more involving than any other film I’ve seen on India.
His life as a musician and teacher in both the U.S. and Europe is shown, along with his opening of doors to Western appreciation of Indian classical music and culture. He credits the genuine interest of George Harrison with aiding in this process, and also expresses some misgivings about how he was looked up to as a guru himself and made incense and the guru shirt famous with the younger generation. He mentions how he made sitar-makers rich. The film also reveals the early history of Shankar, who started in Paris as a child Indian dancer, and became friends with Yehudi Menuhin there. He performed with his brother Uday Shankar’s troupe. There are many scenes with his students and clips from his breathtaking performance at the 1968 Monterey Pop Festival (I was there). The footage of performances with Menuhin made me want to get out my Angel CDs of their unique collaborations.
One section near the end of the film does seem dated now. It attempts to portray the influence of things East Indian in Western life via rapid-fire stills (only a few frames each) in an eye-boggling barrage of images. (I did the same thing in a couple of my own films.)
Although Shankar is proud of the platform for Indian classical music he built in the West, he was also at the time strongly critical of the approach of many young people to the music and the religion thru drugs. He even walked away from some concerts when his audience didn’t behave properly. He has re-released Raga as part of his new label – East Meets West Music – to draw attention to the special relationship Indians have with their gurus – more serious and abundant that most would believe. It is most informative and also very moving.
Though there are still some exposure problems and instances of dirt on the images, the remastering is generally good. The original was 35mm so the picture quality is high. The soundtrack music is fascinating – especially a portion with Shankar’s original music combining Indian and Western instruments in an ensemble. Though the soundtrack has long been available on a separate LP and then CD, this DVD includes a little card with a URL that allows the purchaser to download free MP3 audio files of the soundtrack score. All the members of the jazz group Oregon were involved in the film, including the late percussionist and composer Colin Wolcott, and Richard Bock – founder of World-Pacific and Pacific Jazz labels – is also credited.
— John Sunier
