"Africa is for black Africans."
- Idi
Amin
After living in Uganda, Africa for their entire lives,
an Indian family is suddenly expelled in 1972. They move to Europe for
a number of years, then make their way to the United States, settling
in Mississippi circa 1990. The youngest daughter, Mina (Sarita
Choudhury) is 24 years old and ready to move on with her life despite
geographical location, but her family still longs to return to Uganda.
After Mina meets an African-American, Demetrius (Denzel Washington) in
a car wreck (of all things), chemistry ignites. However, the young
lovers are caught during a liaison, sparking a scandal between the
families. Can their love rise above racism, prejudice and
injustice? Coming off the heels of her prior success with
Salaam Bombay! in 1988, Mira Nair co-produced and directed Mississippi
Masala to considerable critical acclaim, good box office and a tidy
profit. Overall, I enjoyed this film even if it sometimes felt uneven.
The story starts off as a rather intriguing adventure, and seems like
it could go wherever it desires. The move to the United States thus
actually feels like an interesting twist, and even a native American
like myself could relate to the initial brashness of arriving in a
foreign land. Then the film switches gears yet again, but actually
becomes most interesting after Choudhury and Washington meet; they are
a sexy couple, and Choudhury is striking and natural - just try to
take your eyes off of her. While Washington is a team player in this
film, his charisma easily dominates. So you have to give Choudhury her
due, as even against this Oscar winner she holds her own as a strong-
willed, indelible character.
Set against Ed Lachman's
beautiful photography, the film is certainly easy on the eyes. Yet
despite so many pluses - picturesque vistas, great screen chemistry,
strong comedic interludes and terrific performances - screenwriter
Sooni Taraporevalva's narrative sways too far. The subplot of Mina's
father pining for a return to Africa is just not as interesting as the
lovers' relationship and the racial issues. To be fair, both stories
are intertwined because of Mina's history, but on an emotional level,
the film feels like two different movies. I liked the easygoing,
"Southern" slice-of-life pacing, but Mississippi Masala
still suffers from a lack of drive and too many side stories diluting
the drama. But warts and all, it is still easy to see why Nair remains
an impressive, unique storyteller. 
Video: How Does The
Disc Look?
The film is presented in its original 1.85:1
theatrical aspect ratio and anamorphically encoded. I expected a
slightly faded or grainy transfer, but not so here. The print is in
great shape aside form a little bit of grain, but this looks great for
a film a decade old. Colors drench the canvas and are wonderfully
saturated and reproduced cleanly. This is a very "warm"
looking film, and despite some slight variations in fleshtone it still
looks very natural. (The only qualm I had with the colors were some of
the emerald greens in Uganda seemed faintly muddy at rare times,
though they are otherwise lush.)
Perhaps the only major flaw
with this transfer is inconsistent detail. After close observation,
some of the scenes had a vaguely softer look, while other scenes were
razor sharp. Blacks are surprisingly deep as well (aside from a scene
near the beginning that looks faded and grainy), offering a nice sense
of depth. Contrast is consistent, although there are a few instances
of some chroma. Unfortunately, there are also some compression
artifacts that pop up now and again but they aren't too distracting.
The transfer appeared free from any serious edge enhancement. Overall,
I was taken back how solid and sharp this film looks despite minor
flaws.
Audio: How Does The Disc Sound?
The audio
is presented here in Dolby Digital 2.0 surround. While clearly not an
earth shattering soundtrack, this is still one of the better 2.0
surround tracks I've heard in a while. Right off the bat, the original
score by L. Subramaniam's reveals surprising depth. Soft bongo drums
and some string instrument bring us to Uganda with wide acoustics that
boasts nice frequency response, with clean highs and natural lows.
There is also a please sense of stereo separation evident across the
fronts and dialogue is clear and generally anchored in the center
speaker. Surrounds surprised me with their near-constant engagement.
Ambiance, music and fly-overs were most active and exhibited a wider
sense of space than I expected. Low frequencies come and go and aren't
too strong, which certainly would have been improved by a fully
discrete 5.1 mix. But as is, this soundtrack is still a winner.
No other audio version is available. Subtitles in English and
Spanish and English Closed Captions are provided, however.
Supplements: What Goodies Are There?
The low-
voltage supplements include just three theatrical trailers for The End
of the Affair, Legends of the Fall and Solomon and Gaenor.
DVD-ROM Exclusives: What do you get when you pop the disc in
your PC?
No ROM extras have been included.
Parting Thoughts
The between Denzel Washington and
Sarita Choudhury is the most interesting aspect of Mississippi Masala,
but despite too many subplots, this one is still worth a look. The
transfer is better than expected and the audio is also a cut above; it
is too bad the supplements are so anemic. For fans this is a must buy,
all others give it a rent.
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