Wednesday, February 11, 2009

Pather Panchali (1955)





Ever since I started getting interested in cinema and its history, which is soon 4 decades ago, I have been wanting to see Satyajit Ray's works, and especially the Apu trilogy. All these years his movies haven't been available as film copies (and still aren't), and German TV never thought it necessary to broadcast these classics, not to speak of a complete retrospective.

I must admit I had grown sceptic suspecting these movies to be meanwhile outdated or maybe a bit schmaltzy. But I was completely wrong! Yes, the movie is slowly paced, but has a rhythm all of its own, a simple epic perfectly depicting the ups and downs of life. The movie is meticulously composed in single sequences, many of sheer breathtaking beauty, and step by step you grow more acquainted with the characters and their fates. This would be a perfect example for film studies, you could learn immensely from this movie, and so much more astounding that all participants (except some actors) were complete amateurs when making this movie!

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