Despite portraying in unabated, condemning fashion the blows inflicted upon unprotected villagers by privileged upper caste land owners, Titas retains an uncanny way of showing the eternal living culture of the land through its rich traditions, rituals and music. It is an incredibly effective work because of its duality between its political commentary, and its encompassing human fiber. Yet, Ghatak’s purposefully jagged editing techniques, and abrupt use of sound, manage to distance the audience from the surface just enough so that it may have a dialogue with the film, and can better connect to the ideas the artist wishes to communicate. Beautiful music (scored by Ghatak himself!), performances and photography throughout. I still can’t get the beautiful boat race with the screaming sailors out of my head.