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surajitbanerjee
Reviews
Meghe Dhaka Tara (1960)
The movie that brings you down to earth
Directed by: Ritwik Ghatak
Meghe dhaka tara' is definitely one of the best films ever directed in Bengali, and it vividly portrays the directing skills of Ritwik Ghatak. The story revolves around a lower-middle class Bengali family, who lived in the refugee colonies situated in the outskirts of Kolkata. The father of the family was a English teacher and his eldest son 'Shankar'(Anil Chatterjee) was a promising young classical singer while the youngest son 'Montu' played football. Nita and Gita were two sisters, the former being somewhat responsible, caring, loving while the latter was simply a beauty conscious, lazy, insincere flirt. Owing to circumstances, Nita had to work as a private-tutor in order to feed her family as no one else had any urge, capacity or rather consciousness about their poverty. Another important character of the movie was Sanat, a talented Physics research fellow whom Nita sponsored for she had affections on him. According to the story Nita a working woman, couldn't spare time on him and Gita, her sister began having relations with him and eventually they married. Nita was heartbroken and neither Sankar nor their father supported their marriage. Sanat after his marriage didn't continue his research and found himself a job of high salary. Eventually Sankar established himself as a singer, Montu found a job in a factory, while Nita's health began deteriorating. It was found she was suffering from TB. She was sent to a sanatorium upon the mountains to recover and the film ends with Nita's death. One the last scenes perhaps the best of the film wonderfully shows Nita's love for life and it relates to the fastest planing with the camera, her urge for struggle and her positive thinking. The poverty and tragedy shown in the movie are overwhelming. Callousness of family members add insult to the injury. The film's one of the most impressing assets is the song, 'Je raate mor duar Guli' song beautifully by Debabrata Biswas. It was really suitable with the sad situation after Gita's marriage. The film over all portrays the life-struggle of a promising family with contemporary middle class livelihood. It's just that he made films for the love of it and never for anyone else that this somewhat forgotten legend later realised to be great made such a deep film. This film is not about cinematography unlike ray's but this is about the script. Acting of Anil Chatterjee and Supriya Devi is of high quality and the over all direction, screen-play, music equally good.
Pather Panchali (1955)
The movie that holds the respect of India cinema
Directed by: Satyajit Ray
The realist narrative style of "Pather Panchali" was influenced by Italian neorealism and the works of French director Jean Renoir.
The story deals with ; A poor Brahmin family in rural Bengal, India in the 1920s deals with life's struggles but the two children, Durga and Apu, manage to find joy in the simplest things.
Director Satyajit Ray keeps a very smooth and gentle flow moving in this film. Even the smallest of situations can be made to be eventful. His camera helps us to experience the beauty of such things as a wind blowing against a field or lifting lily pads in a river. The best part of this movie was ' when Apu and Durga saw the train from the paddy field . The mood is greatly aided by the sweet musical score by Ravi Shankar especially when the sitar is played.
In its sequel, " The second film, "Aparajito" (1956), follows the family to Benares, where the father makes a living from pilgrims who have come to bathe in the holy Ganges. The third film, "Apur Sansar" (1959), finds Apu and his mother living with an uncle in the country; the boy does so well in school he wins a scholarship to Calcutta. He is married under extraordinary circumstances, is happy with his young bride, then crushed by the deaths of his mother and his wife. After a period of bitter drifting, he returns at last to take up the responsibility of his son. the trilogy, tragedy strikes without warning, and Apu's real challenge is an existential one-how to go on in the face of life's fragile and temporary nature. The great, sad, gentle sweep of "The Apu Trilogy" remains in the mind of the moviegoer as a promise of what film can be. Standing above fashion, it creates a world so convincing that it becomes, for a time, another life we might have lived.
The three films were photographed by Subrata Mitra, a still photographer who Satyajit Ray was convinced could do the job.
"The Apu Trilogy" is a different kind of life than we are used to. The film is set in Bengal in the 1920s, when in the rural areas life was traditional and hard. Relationships were formed with those who lived close by; there is much drama over the theft of some apples from an orchard.
I am blessed to watch this three movies of "The Apu Trilogy" by Satyajit Ray, which enhence me a lot. These are among the most beautiful, richly human movies ever made-essential works for any film lover. It would move even the most still of hearts, the impact is felt well after the film's conclusion. One powerful technique Ray uses is to have the camera on the faces of two people simultaneously where one is aware of the shocking event while the other is blissfully ignorant.