India matri bhumi

Of ROSSELLINI/INDIA I particularly remember the sense of freedom, how the images, sounds, words seem to be scattered about casually - and straight away they are well enough in their respective spots. The tension between mise en scène and document is handled equally casually: it is shaky and it creaks, but it works and is alive. I remember one scene: a man is lying unconscious on a hard, rocky surface, a screeching vulture attacks him, a dog, furiously barking, defends the man against the vulture. Was it a rocky surface? Was it a man, a vulture, a dog? As a matter of fact, I only remember the structure and texture of that screaming ménage à trois. And that is exactly the point. And then those slowly jingling elephants, no one ever captured them as beautifully as Rossellini did. With this scene my thoughts go to my (sound) woman Nosh who entertains a sound relationship with Lord Ganesh, the elephant-man-god. Johan van der Keuken