The needs of the old and the young
in Pather Panchali
"Satyajit Ray's inspiration was primarily European, but he brought to his work qualities that were wholly his own. Trained as an artist and self-taught as a composer, his artist's eye and his composer's sense of rhythm lend grace to his films, while his warm, watchful compassion embraces all his characters good or bad."-Philip Kemp, 501 Movie Directors
In Pather Panchali, Ray's first film of three that would later become know as The Apu Trilogy, we see the world through the eyes of different generations of an Indian family: the elderly aunt, the poetical dreamer and his more realistic wife, and their son and daughter (Durga and Apu). The family experiences hope and occasional glimpses of happiness, but much of the movie focuses on hardship and death. It seemed at first glance a simple work to me, focusing on the mundane to tragic events of their life in the village, but the seeming simplicity speaks to truth in a manner that has many layers and makes this a film I definitely need to watch again. The movie also benefits greatly from the musical score of Ravi Shankar.-Chris Cox, 1001: A Film Odyssey
Done with the Russia theme? or maybe a continuation with social conciousness films?
ReplyDeleteRay's focus on hardship and misery has a tendency to overload and make the viewer tune out. The music though is pretty awesome.
I ran out of Russian movies!
ReplyDeleteI still have the other two Apu movies to see and I'll see how they work together for me.