286. Pather Panchali (Song Of The Little Road) (1955)

Directed By Satyajit Ray

Synopsis

The film follows the life of an impoverished Brahmin family in Bengal. A mother who takes care of two children, the oldest the thieving Durga and the young Apu. The father tries to make a living as a priest, accountant and writer but never seems to make enough money.

Review

There is not much to say in terms of the plot of the film, except for its unflinching realism, and this is the only problem with it, all the actors are pretty good with an excellent really old lady playing the "auntie".

The reasons for watching this film and loving it are other ones. Firstly it is shot beautifully, the contrast and luminosity of the whole thing is breath-taking as are the angles, full of lyric beauty. It is one of those films where each frame would make a beautiful picture.

Secondly, the documentary style of the film is also great, you see a day to day life of a Bengali family, warts and all, people are constantly eating, faffing about, working, playing or sleeping. And lastly you have amazing music by Ravi Shankar which pervades the film and fits beautifully with the imagery. A truly stunning film.

Final Grade

9/10

Trivia

From Wikipedia:

In 1949, acclaimed French director Jean Renoir came to Kolkata to shoot his film The River. Satyajit Ray helped him to find locations in the countryside. It was then that Ray told Renoir about his idea of filming Pather Panchali, which had been on his mind for some time, and Renoir encouraged him to proceed. In 1950, Ray was sent to London by his employer advertising agency D.J. Keymer to work at its head office. During his six months in London, he watched 99 films.Among these, the neorealist film Bicycle Thieves would have a profound impact on him. Ray later said that he had come out of the theater determined to become a filmmaker. The film had reconfirmed his conviction that it was possible to make realistic cinema with an amateur cast and shooting at actual locations. The realist narration style of Pather Panchali is indebted to Italian neorealism and the works of Renoir.The international success of Akira Kurosawa's Rashomon and Bimal Roy's Do Bigha Zamin (which was shot partly on location and concerned a peasant family) inspired Ray to hope that Pather Panchali also might find an international audience one day.

The whole film is online, here's part 1: