Pather Panchali

Also known as: Song of the Little Road, la Complainte du sentier

Genre: coming-of-age drama (in black and white)

With: Subir Bannerjee* (Apurba ‟Apu” Ray), Kanu Bannerjee (Harihar Ray, his father), Karuna Bannerjee (his mother Sarbojaya), Uma Das Gupta (his sister Durga), Chunibala Devi (Aunt Indir Thakrun), Runki Banerjee (young Durga), Tulsi Chakraborty (Prasanna, the school teacher), Binoy Mukherjee (Baidyanath Majumdar)  

Director: Satyajit Ray

Screenplay: Bibhutibhushan Bandyopadhyay, Satyajit Ray

Release: 1955

Studio: Government of West Bengal

Rating: -

MBiS score: 8.9/10

Aparajito

Also known as: The Unvanquished

Genre: coming-of-age drama (in black and white)

With: Smaran Ghosal (Apu as a teenager), Pinaki Sengupta (Apu as a youngster), Karuna Bannerjee (his mother Sarbojaya), Kanu Bannerjee (his father Harihar), Ramani Sengupta (Bhabataran), Sudipta Roy (Nirupama), Kalicharan Roy (Akhil the press owner)

Director: Satyajit Ray

Screenplay: Satyajit Ray, Kanailal Basu (based on Bibhutibhushan Bandyopadhyay’s novel)

Release: 1956

Studio: Epic Films (Private) Ltd.

Rating: -

MBiS score: 8.7/10

 

Apu Sansar

English title: The World of Apu

Also known as: le Monde d’Apu

Genre: psychological drama (in black and white)

With: Soumitra Chatterjee (Apu), Sharmila Tagore (Aparna), Alok Chakravarty (Kajal), Swapan Mukherjee (Pulu), Shanti Bhattacherjee (the co-worker), Abhijit Chatterjee (Aparna's brother), Dhiren Ghosh (the Landlord)

Director: Satyajit Ray

Screenplay: Satyajit Ray (based on Bibhutibhushan Bandyopadhyay’s original story)

Release: 1959

Studio: Satyajit Ray Productions

Rating: -

MBiS score: 8.8/10 

 

‟He does nothing great. He remains poor, in want. But he never turns away from life.” 

 

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Story-line: the Apu (pronounced Oh-poo) trilogy spins the tale of young Apurba and the poor Ray family over the years 1910 to 1930. PATHER PANCHALI, set in the Indian village of Nischindipur, introduces us to the five members of the clan: (1) Harihar, the happy-go-lucky father who works part-time as a priest but has trouble finding other work, (2) his wife Sarbojaya, a constant worrier, (3) Durga, their sometimes erratic daughter, (4) Apu, their young son whose childhood will be marred by adult realities, and (5) the old and pitiable Aunt Indir. As a group, they struggle mightily to make ends meet and events seem to conspire against them. In APARAJITO, the narrative turns to Apu’s teenage years and his ardent desire to go to school. In APU SANSAR, our grown-up protagonist sees his life veer off in unexpected ways because of personal choices and his friendship with Pulu, a former classmate.

Pluses: priceless performances by young and old actors alike, airy, sober and literally perfect direction, packed, thoughtful and realistic screenplays that take viewers on an epic journey full of drama and touching moments, eloquent and informative cinematography, fine editing, modest but authentic-looking production values (notably the locations, both natural and man-made), a lovely, strongly supportive musical score by Ravi Shankar and a memorable climax in APU SANSAR.

Minuses: for a Westerner like me, the APU TRILOGY is a cultural leap, a wholly different, exotic world that I learned to understand, albeit too modestly, and embrace. Don’t let the trilogy’s total runtime (5 hours, 41 minutes) intimidate you… it is all thoroughly enlightening. On a personal level, I have avoided these great movies for a long time and it was clearly a mistake; if you do have a chance to see them, go for it... you can watch them online for free.   

Comments: Satyajit Ray made cinematic history with this triple masterpiece about a little man who dared to hope, marvel at the world and dream about the future despite poverty and personal struggles. Apu’s learning experience makes for riveting cinema, the kind that leaves you speechless as classic movies often do. Enough said. 

  

MBiS 

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*Please note that proper names in this review have alternate spellings. My apologies to any and all concerned.