Based on Kuch Kuch Hota Hai and Kung Fu Hustle, a common trait of internationally-marketed films is excess.
Kuch Kuch Hota Hai featured an excessive length (in my opinion) along with a story bursting at the seams with emotion and drama. The visual style was one of excess as well, with vibrant colors and its sense of fashion a very striking feature of the film.
Kung Fu Hustle's excess is instead in its action and humor. There is little emotional weight to the story, and the characters are overwhelmingly one-dimensional. The style takes center stage over any message or set of ideals (not to say that this movie has no message, but it's presented below the film's surface). The camera work of Kung Fu Hustle is much more athletic and creative than what we see in Kuch Kuch Hota Hai. It makes sense, given that the main ingredients of the two films are so different.
Why did I enjoy Kung Fu Hustle so much more than Kuch Kuch Hota Hai? Maybe it was as a result of the influence Hong Kong cinema has had on our own action film industry. Despite its international nature and my unfamiliarity with Hong Kong cinema, it felt familiar, much more so than Kuch Kuch Hota Hai did. Our culture might just have more in common with the Hong Kong concept of excess that these films present in terms of violence and body humor. Whereas outside of musicals or soap operas, Bollywood's emotional content has little parallel in our culture.
I definitely agree with the statement of Hong Kong Kung Fu movies having a familiar film despite not really watching any. I think it's because so many action movies we see today are so influenced by them. So although I never really watch Kung Fu movies, I almost already know what to expect from them.
ReplyDeleteI think Bollywood's excess is way more aligned with melodrama, which is not as cathartic or enjoyable for most viewers, especially since those emotions are detached from a western perspective in many senses. That being said, I also enjoyed Kung Fu Hustle a lot more.
ReplyDeleteBilly- I found myself comparing my viewing of Kuch Kuch Hota Hai and kUng Fu Hustle as well. I found the language barrier in Kuch Kuch Hota Hai to be much more difficult to get past due to the nature of the songs being narritive based. The narrative in the fight scenes felt a lot like how a musical number in the middle of Kuch Kuch Hota Hai but instead it was being driven by fighting and body movement.
ReplyDeleteI think you have a really good insight into what makes kung fu movies more palatable to a western audience than Bollywood. Embodied humor and emotions translate more easily then complex emotions such as sorrow and love that are more socially constructed and thus more culturally bound. The write Collette says that it is universal impulse for people to laugh when someone falls down and this seems to be very true. To understand all of the cultural elements that go into the desire to marry or love one person over another is really to understand the entire culture.
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