The Creation of Woman

Creation of Woman, The (1961)

** 1/2 (out of 4)

This Oscar-nominated short has pretty much been forgotten over the years but it was produced by Ismail Merchant for just $9,000 and it was soon after filming that the filmmaker met James Ivory and the rest is history. This 14-minute film talks about the Hindu god Brahma's creation of life, the world and of course the first woman. Saeed Jaffrey narrates the story as dancers Bhaskar, Dinu and Anjali Devi "act" out the story. Perhaps I went into this film with too high of expectations but I found the end results to be mildly disappointing. It really wouldn't be fair to call this movie bad but at the same time it had a really hard time keeping my attention. I thought for the most part that the images were quite good as director Charles F. Schwep at least has some nice cinematography and he gets some good colors out of it. I thought the three performers did a good job with their dances but I'd be lying if I said anything the narrator said was of interest to me. I think the film would have been much better had it just focused on the dancers and left the narration alone as a simple introduction would have been all we needed.

This is a highly unusual film because it takes the story of creation from the book of Genesis and blends it with Hindu creation stories. The narrator actually reads excerpts from Genesis at the beginning and you see Hindu-inspired art and representations of God (Brahma). Then, as the story progresses, you get a blend of the Hindu and Judeo-Christian version of the creation of woman. And, finally, you get a Hindu story about how man did not adore the new creation, woman, and tried to give her back--only to realize that he simply could not live without her!

If this was a lengthy movie, I probably wouldn't have enjoyed it all that much. But, at about 14 minutes, it works quite well. The story is probably NOT one that will appeal to a wide audience, but I already love films from India and liked the insight into the culture and mind of India you get from this tale. Plus, it's amazing to see what they did with a budget of only $9000. Well worth seeing, though, oddly, it looked as if it was filmed using the very old Two-color Technicolor or Cinecolor was used (as orange and greens predominate in these older and more obsolete film stocks).

Whilst certainly not demonstrating the most politically correct nor scientific of rationale, this is still quite a stylishly depicted dance through the Hindu mythology of the Creation. God creates animals, plants and man - then realises that he has little left from which to create woman. Inspired, he combines some of the most delicate and beautiful elements together and so allows man to have a companion. After a week, though, he returns to God begging for her to be taken back. She never shuts up! God agrees to take her back, but soon man pines for her and requests her back. Again God agrees, but when man reaches the end of his tether once more and wants shot of her, God tells them to stop whinging and get on with it! Though it's a little on the slow side, there is some fine and intricate dancing here and the costumier has excelled at dressing these dancers beautifully. Worth a watch, I'd say.