- Actors: Ravi Shankar
- Format: Anamorphic, Box set, Classical, PAL, Widescreen
- Language English
- Subtitles: German, French, Spanish
- Region: All Regions
- Aspect Ratio: 16:9 - 1.78:1
- Number of discs: 2
- Classification: Exempt
- Studio: Opus Arte
- DVD Release Date: 24 Sep 2002
- Run Time: 190 minutes
- Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
- ASIN: B00006L3WV
- Amazon Bestsellers Rank: 82,938 in Film & TV (See Top 100 in Film & TV)
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Reviews
Amazon.co.uk Review
It is almost impossible to condense anyone's life into three hours, let alone that of an iconic artist, so three cheers to BBC Opus Arte for Ravi Shankar in Portrait, a two-DVD set that explores the life and work of the man George Harrison described as "the godfather of world music".
"Between Two Worlds" is a substantial 10-part documentary, telling the sitar player's life story up to his 80th birthday celebrations in 2000. The film is littered with archive footage, including the young Shankar performing with his brother's dance troupe, an emotional reunion with his teacher and guru Baba Allauddin Khan, and his celebrated collaborations with musicians such as John Coltrane, Yehudi Menuhin and The Beatles.
The second part features Shankar performing with a group of Indian musicians, including his daughter Anoushka, herself a celebrated sitar player, at the Union Chapel in London during summer 2002. The electric atmosphere is well captured here, as is the intimacy of the performance. A 19-minute introduction to Indian music and the sitar, delivered by Shankar himself, rounds off the set.
On the DVD: Ravi Shankar in Portrait features both stereo and surround sound options for the concert performance. Subtitles are provided in German, Spanish and French. The accompanying booklet provides a useful introduction to Shankar as well as biographies of his fellow performers. --Rebecca Agnew
DVD Description
DVD Special Features:
‘Benares Ghat’ – Ravi Shankar teaches a new piece to his students
The sitar & Indian music – A personal introduction by Ravi Shankar
Illustrated booklet with notes and biographies in English, French and German
‘Benares Ghat’ – Ravi Shankar teaches a new piece to his students
The sitar & Indian music – A personal introduction by Ravi Shankar
Illustrated booklet with notes and biographies in English, French and German
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
4.0 out of 5 stars
Great DVD of the genius of Ravi Shankar,
By
This review is from: Ravi Shankar In Portrait [DVD] (DVD)
This DVD is not available any longer but I managed to get one.
This is a great doc of Ravi's life through his music and friends and family. The 2nd DVD is a great concert he did with the stunning Anoushka Shankar. I was really captivated by the amazing music and by Ravi's outlook of life through his music. This is an excellent DVD and well recommended (if you can find it).
2 of 5 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
ravi shanker,
By mrs r brooks (london) - See all my reviews
This review is from: Ravi Shankar In Portrait [DVD] [NTSC] (DVD)
if you like ravi shanker here it is, his life story from start to his 80th birthday an insight to this legendry sitar players life
Share your thoughts with other customers: Create your own review
Most Helpful Customer Reviews on Amazon.com (beta) Amazon.com:
5.0 out of 5 stars (10 customer reviews) 21 of 21 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
A Master of the Sitar and Indian Music,
By Nicholas Croft - Published on Amazon.com
This review is from: Ravi Shankar In Portrait [DVD] [NTSC] (DVD)
"Between Two Worlds", a 90 minute film by Mark Kidel, is the 'definitive' portrait of Ravi Shankar, as it attempts to encompass all facets of his life in music, while also drawing a rough sketch of his personal life as well. The film begins in Benares, India at a birthday gathering where Ravi proclaims that his life is a spiritual journey through music, in which he feels a special love for everyone that is expressed through the language of his art. Reflections by Ravi, on his relationship with his parents and family, lead to a description of his early travels to Venice, Paris, New York and Hollywood, where he was influenced by a range of talented composers, musicians, dancers, actors and painters. In 1938, his Brahmin origins expressed their attraction in his decision to become an austere musical disciple of the guru Ustad Allauddin Khan. He spent more that seven years with 'Baba' and came to marry his guru's daughter. This intensive musical preparation led to Ravi assuming a role as an Indian cultural ambassador, influencing musicians as diverse as Yehudi Menuhin, John Coltrane, George Harrison and Philip Glass. The film portrays that the indisciplined excesses of the 1960's popular culture, and Ravi's own participation in this exotic milieu, led to a year and a half break from musical life and finally to a rededication to more moderate ways in the years which followed. The film closes with a tour of the construction of the Shankar foundation in New Delhi and plays a plays brief concert excerpt in which Ravi performs with a deeply solemn and profoundly beautiful sadness. In the performance, we see that music can become almost a form of worship. A world where humility, introversion and improvisation become one in the pursuit of expressing the presence of the ineffable. Bonus footage in the two DVD set shows Ravi in the process of constructing a new musical work with his students. A second 54 minute disc records Ravi in a live performance at the Union Chapel of London with his daughter Anoushka. If you love Indian music, then the publication of "Ravi Shankar - In Portrait" can be viewed as a rare event in world of international culture. 11 of 11 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Simply wonderful!,
By A Customer - Published on Amazon.com
This review is from: Ravi Shankar In Portrait [DVD] [NTSC] (DVD)
This two-DVD set is a worthwhile purchase for anyone interested in Ravi Shankar. The first CD has two segments, "Between Two Worlds" and "Benares Ghat." "Between Two Worlds" uses Shankar's 80th birthday as a point of departure for a video retrospective, including film clips of Ravi with his brother Uday's dance troupe in the 1930s, sample footage from a film he scored, excerpts of his Monterey Pop and Woodstock performances, a short segment from the 1969 film Raga where he visits his guru Baba Khan, clips of Ravi teaching (including George Harrison), and Ravi and his wife showing the construction of his cultural center in India. The second program on Disc 1 shows Ravi teaching his composition "Benares Ghat" to a group of students. Disc two includes live performances of two complete classical ragas with a group including his daughter Anoushka, two tabla players and tampura. Anoushka is a very accomplished player, but limits her involvement here to trading several instrumental phrases with her father and playing occasional secondary lines to support him. This performance from 2002 shows Shankar's virtuosity undiminished despite his age. Disc two concludes with Ravi discussing Indian music and the sitar, playing several examples to illustrate his points. This segement also includes short performance excerpts. Covering his biography, teaching, performance, and views on Indian music, this set fairly comprehensively covers Ravi Shankar's long and varied career. The sound, image quality, editing and camera work are all excellent throughout.
9 of 9 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
World class in a world that needs class,
By A Customer - Published on Amazon.com
This review is from: Ravi Shankar In Portrait [DVD] [NTSC] (DVD)
I am a rock n' roller for the most part, but my music and cultural interests go far and wide.This DVD set on the BBC/ OPUS label is simply brilliant visualy, auraly and content-wise. The spirit and integrity to this man and his music is truly inspiring. There are segments of Ravi teaching a piece to his young group, as well as a segment on sitars and the differences between Western and Eastern music. Brilliant, this is by far the dearest and highest quality of my large video collection. It gets watched repeatedly. Wait till you see the concert performances...his daughter Anoushka (who is no slouch on sitar herself) seems somewhat in awe, shaking her head in near disbelief as Ravi spins his magic. World class. |
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