The Importance of Costumes in Sia

In A Short Guide to Writing about Film, Timothy Corrigan writes that costumes provide “the key to a character’s identity” (58). This is especially true in the film Sia: The Dream of the Python, which chronicles the political intrigue surrounding a young woman who is chosen as a sacrifice to the Python-God. Not only does costuming provide insight into the various characters, it also illustrates the changes that they undergo as the narrative develops. Most importantly, the costumes highlight and underscore the film’s critique of politics and religion.

The first costumes that the audience encounters are the robes of the priests, who are purportedly engaged in a ritual to determine the will of the Python-God. The physical appearance of these robes (long and dark with hoods covering their eyes) shrouds these men in mystery and mysticism and gives the audience no reason to doubt that they are communing with the gods. Likewise, the emperor and the townspeople are taken in by their appearance and do not doubt their authority (although some of the villagers are skeptical). In the scene before Sia’s rape, the priests are revealed without their hoods, smoking and drinking like any other men. It doesn’t take too long for the audience to realize that they have been taken in by the costumes; these priests are merely men acting on their carnal urges.

In other cases costumes do not obscure the characters’ true nature, but underline them. For instance, Kaya Maghan (the emperor) is dressed in an opulent purple robe and tasseled hat that represent his power and wealth. This costume also serves to illustrate the distance between him and his people (a circumstance he frequently bemoans but is ultimately unable to rectify). When he realizes the impotence of his advisors he strips off his outer robe and hat as if that act will puncture the bubble in which he lives. However, underneath he is still wearing a gold tunic and he is still no closer to knowing his people. The village madman, Kerfa, also has a distinctive form of dress which sets him apart from the majority of the townspeople. The audience can immediately tell that he is different from everyone else. His cape and raggedy shirt lead the people to think that he is a lunatic (as well as his rambling speech), but as the story unfolds we find that he is the only one who sees things clearly. If he is mad, it’s because he understands what’s going on and is powerless to stop it.

The changes to Mamadi’s costume over the course of the film highlight the problems with the emperor’s government. He starts out in the garb of a soldier, which indicates his susceptibility to being controlled by others (particularly by his uncle Wakhane). All of the soldiers in the film are portrayed as mindless automatons doing the bidding of the people in power, even when it involves brutalizing the townspeople. Wakhane fills Mamadi with his own political ambitions until the latter becomes the new emperor and dons Kaya Maghan’s robes. In case the symbolism of this was not clear enough, Mamadi kills Wakhane for disagreeing with him and perpetuates the cycle of totalitarian regimes. Although Wakhane had earlier told Mamadi that they would be “reinventing the world” by overthrowing the emperor, they have merely upheld the status quo.

Sia’s costume transformations throughout the film are also highly significant. She starts out dressed like the other women at the river and is largely indistinguishable from the rest. When she is singled out to be sacrificed, her separation from the community begins. This is symbolized by her presence at Kerfa’s house on the outskirts of the village. The strikingly white dress and scarf she wears as a part of the sacrifice ritual are a visual representation of her distance from the community (they also symbolize her virginity). After the rape she tells Mamadi that she feels “soiled.” Her costume, which is torn and muddied, is a physical representation of this. As a part of Wakhane’s attempt to legitimize Mamadi’s rule and downplay the trauma that Sia has undergone, she is dressed as a queen and paraded before the people. However, she quickly realizes what the men are trying to do to her and (more importantly) to the truth and she strips off the costume. Now mostly naked, she leaves the palace and the community behind and becomes mad like Kerfa, wandering the streets of a modern-day city in a cape and shouting her wisdom to the passing cars. The lesson: After all these years people are still blinded by falsehoods and no one heeds the lone voice of truth.