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Somewhen in 2008, Jennifer Lynch of Boxing Helena-notoriety but Surveillance-fame
(and of course David Lynch's daughter) was invited to India to shoot Hisss,
a movie based on the hindi snakewoman myth, in a rare experiment to
combine Hollywood and Bollywood cinema - but with emphasis on the latter.
At first utterly excited about the project, Lynch is quick to find out
Hollywood and Bollywood routines of filmmaking don't always match, which
ranges from often very lax production management to too last minute
decisions, to an oftentimes too relaxed approach to things, to constant
tea breaks, to often too rushed shoots - and then there's of course the
movie's star Mallika Sherawat, who has her diva moments, but who's also
followed by a throng of fans to everywhere public, making some shoots next
to impossible. producer Govind Menon who at times assumes too much and
wants to take over, Lunch's own daughter, 12 year old Sydney, who's not
really cut out for being on a filmset all day, and then there's the
weather of course ... In all, the shoot lasted about 8 months, and
during that time, the clash of cultures drives Lynch more and more towards
a mental breakdown - not so much because Lynch is the pompous westerner
unable to accept other cultures (in fact in quite a few cultural clashes
she's right and caring - like demanding a doctor on set), but because of
the many downfalls she didn't come prepared for and the oftentimes
difficult communication with her crew. ... and on top of that, prior to
release her movie has been recut, forcing Jennifer Lynch to distance
herself from the finished project. No matter whether or not
you've actually seen Hisss (and I haven't), or what you may think
of Bollywood cinema, this is an extremely interesting documentary about
outside-of-Hollywood filmmaking, and about filmmaking as such, with all
the passion that's behind a shoot, no matter what's the end result (plus
to a lesser extent also about a culture clash and Bollywood routine as
such). That the film works is that one never gets the feeling the camera
is aimed at Jennifer Lynch in hope that she'll break, or goes for pure
spectacle, or takes a swipe on Bollywood filmmaking, but it focuses on her
excitement that's more and more strained, almost to breaking point - but
that's treated as a human tale rather than pure sensationalism. Filmfans
ought to see this rather unique behind-the-scenes look!
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amazon.co.uk
amazon.de
eThaiCD.com
find Despite the Gods at adultvideouniverse.com
