Pather Panchali (1955)
(Song of the Little Road)
Country: IND
Technical: bw 115m
Director: Satyajit Ray
Cast: Kanu Bannerjee, Karuna Bannerjee, Uma Das Gupta
Synopsis:
Life in the country is difficult for Apu's family: his father, an educated but feckless man, brings little money home and is away for long periods; his mother is proud and embittered and takes it out on his aged aunt; and his sister waits impatiently for the marriage she fears will never come to an impoverished girl. Apu observes all this with the almost detached appraisal of a young child.
Review:
First in a trilogy, this primitive piece of narrative filmmaking nevertheless achieves some indelible effects through its use of what resources could be afforded: untrained actors bringing realism to their parts, imaginative use of post-dubbed sound and a camera that is content to let faces and images speak for themselves. It offered the West a first glimpse of an India it barely knew from its own literature, and an alternative to the Bollywood entertainment which, frankly, travelled less well. Here, it seemed, was a true equal of Renoir and Rossellini.
(Song of the Little Road)
Country: IND
Technical: bw 115m
Director: Satyajit Ray
Cast: Kanu Bannerjee, Karuna Bannerjee, Uma Das Gupta
Synopsis:
Life in the country is difficult for Apu's family: his father, an educated but feckless man, brings little money home and is away for long periods; his mother is proud and embittered and takes it out on his aged aunt; and his sister waits impatiently for the marriage she fears will never come to an impoverished girl. Apu observes all this with the almost detached appraisal of a young child.
Review:
First in a trilogy, this primitive piece of narrative filmmaking nevertheless achieves some indelible effects through its use of what resources could be afforded: untrained actors bringing realism to their parts, imaginative use of post-dubbed sound and a camera that is content to let faces and images speak for themselves. It offered the West a first glimpse of an India it barely knew from its own literature, and an alternative to the Bollywood entertainment which, frankly, travelled less well. Here, it seemed, was a true equal of Renoir and Rossellini.
(Song of the Little Road)
Country: IND
Technical: bw 115m
Director: Satyajit Ray
Cast: Kanu Bannerjee, Karuna Bannerjee, Uma Das Gupta
Synopsis:
Life in the country is difficult for Apu's family: his father, an educated but feckless man, brings little money home and is away for long periods; his mother is proud and embittered and takes it out on his aged aunt; and his sister waits impatiently for the marriage she fears will never come to an impoverished girl. Apu observes all this with the almost detached appraisal of a young child.
Review:
First in a trilogy, this primitive piece of narrative filmmaking nevertheless achieves some indelible effects through its use of what resources could be afforded: untrained actors bringing realism to their parts, imaginative use of post-dubbed sound and a camera that is content to let faces and images speak for themselves. It offered the West a first glimpse of an India it barely knew from its own literature, and an alternative to the Bollywood entertainment which, frankly, travelled less well. Here, it seemed, was a true equal of Renoir and Rossellini.