film comment published a nice article on ray’s career in the new issue.
Here are a couple of write-up of “First Light” retrospective at Walter Reade Theater:
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/04/10/movies/10ray.html?ref=movies
http://www.villagevoice.com/2009-04-15/film/first-light-satyajit-ray-from-the-apu-trilogy-to-the-calcutta-trilogy/
Joe Wright likes the Apu Trilogy too.
http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/soloist/news/1814225/five_favorite_films_with_director_joe_wright
My hope is that Criterion will release the trilogy much in the vein of the Cassavetes set.
‘The World of Apu’ is a favorite of mine as well. I also love ‘Days and Nights in the Forest’.
There’s a nice conversation about World of Apu that two characters have in Paul Auster’s new novel, Man in the Dark. I recommend this book. Among its delights are that two of the characters are cineastes and they talk about foreign films.
Why doesn’t he have a page on TheAuteurs?
I think its coming soon…. even his films were added very recently…
I’ve adored Charulata, Nayak and a few others for quite a while now, but I’ve just recently seen the Apu Trilogy. Pather Panchali was great, of course, but it was Aparajito and The World of Apu that really blew me away.
I’ve been very affected by most of Ray’s work. His films have a quiet lyrical beauty to them. His characters are vivid and full of life. Ray not only directed but wrote the screenplays, scored the music and even did most of the camerawork for a lot of his films. His influence can be seen in the works of directors as diverse as Martin Scorcese, Jean-Luc Godard and Wes Anderson. I believe that he is the single greatest filmmaker to come out of South Asia.
Ray and Boyle are two completely different directors and their styles are poles apart. Even though Ray and Boyle have both been criticised for exploiting poverty, they stand on two different grounds. Unlike Boyle, Ray was a realist. Danny Boyle’s story all magical, its a fairytale and its shot like one, sweeping panoramas, riveting colours and jarring edits. Ray’s was a more subtle style. He showed you the bitter reality of poverty in Pather Panchali. But even this was poetic and beautiful. Slumdog Millionaire’s beauty lies in the frame, the cinematography and the Disney story. Beauty in Ray’s films, especially the Apu Trilogy, comes from the characters, their interactions, their lives and everything in the film from cinematography to music, serves to characterise.
Boyle did what he could. Bollywood still hasn’t picked up on the cue.
Some other Ray movies that are amazing and can be obtained relatively easily compared to some others:
The Home and the World (Ghare-Baire)
Distant Thunder (Asani Sanket)
The Chess Players (Satranj ke khiladi)
There is one film by Ray which I adore and it is KATCHENJUNGHA, made 1962 and the only DVD available I bought in India.
I also love one of his most controverse discussed film, his last one AGANTUK.
As much as I apreciate the Apu-trilogy (for its big impact on indian parallel cinema), I love more the films from up the 60s like MAHANAGAR, CHARULATA, KALPURUSH. Like all great directors Ray has very different phases in his work.
DAYS AND NIGHTS IN THE FOREST is a film which will never age like THE MIDMAN, THE ADVERSARY.
And there are still some films by Ray, I have to watch and of course watching again like the whole Apu-trilogy.
In the western reception of his work he shares a lot with Kurosawa. Both were almost the first who were celebrated in the West. But both continued to make great films and a lot of them remained relatively unknown in the west.
Both of them were very modest and in interviews they introduced other at that time totally unknwon filmmakers.
I agree on Katchenjungha which is a very beautiful film centered around the happenings and mostly conversations on one single day on a mountain station in the Darjeeling region. It must also be noted that it was Ray´s first experience with color, so it was was definitely an important work in his career. Satyajit Ray often spoke highly of his equally brilliant contemporaries Ritwik Ghatak and Mrinal Sen both of which unfortunately never got the same attention like Ray, and also noted that Ghatak´s first film The Citizen would have most likely be regarded as the film that defined Bengal parallel cinema if it only had been released in 1952, but the film wasn´t ever released until one year after Ghatak´s death. It´s also due to change that Ray abandoned a project he was planning to direct prior to Pather Panchali which was a rather commercial and unoriginal adaptation of Tagore´s The Home and The World, since he later wouldn´t have found the same admiration as he did for Pather Panchali as his debut. Like mentioned before has there only been a remote interest in his filmography after The Apu Trilogy, and I often wonder if many critics rather selected the trilogy in order to showcast some knowledge concerning Indian cinema rather than beeing seriously interested to discover the masterpieces made in Bengali and Hindi. There is no doubt about it that his early trilogy is one of the most sensible and profound meditations on life made for cinema and gives an idea of Ray´s great sense for tragedies, but one should equally consider the superior maturity of style and cinematography in films like “Charulata”, and the extraordinary use of color and light in “Distant Thunder” which make those works even more outstanding. I truly hope that the interest for Ray´s films in the West will not remain as superficial as it has been since their release, and that some more critics might begin to take Indian cinema seriously.
I’d also like to put in a vote for “The Music Room”. A look at a fading way of life that was very revealing and rewarding.
I will pay good cash money for the Apu trilogy, The Music Room, Days and Nights, the Bombay trilogy, Distant Thunder … and then someone can get on the ball and release some of the films of Guru Dutt, Ritwik Ghatak and others and get the classic Indian cinema released on decent prints as it deserves.
Just to avoid confusion, I guess you mean his Calcutta Trilogy. Satyajit Ray fortunately didn´t decide to make films in Bollywood. and his only Hindi films are “The Chess Players” and “Deliverance”.
fortunately didn´t decide to make films in Bollywood
haha, we are truly fortunate the he did not.
But come to think of it, with the kind of talent Bombay had at the time (and for which there is no dearth in Bengal) and finance – for which he always sort of struggled (and mastered in tightly planned films on a shoes string budgets), I cannot fathom the kind of creative influence he would have had in tilting the discourse of Bollywood to its present state.
punch me if I am wrong in saying finance – for which he always sort of struggled…
Haha, just imagine a film like Distant Thunder with a couple of Bollywood dance numbers.
By the way, with ABHIJAN (THE EXPEDITITION, Ray took Waheeda Reeman, a big bollywood Star at that time (even though she played also in Dutts masterpieces). The good woman was quite shocked that she had to sing without playback and to dance.
Apropos DVDs.
There is a nice DVD from ABHIJAN released in England by EUREKE-MASTERS OF CINEMA (who have the reputation of the european Criterion). It is a wonderful transfer with bonus material, a film on Ray and an introduction from the director of the Satyajit Ray Institut Kolkata.
There are even some fine DVD-transfer you can get in India:
DAYS AND NIGHTS IN THE FOREST and THE MIDMAN wheere the source is obviously restored material.
Not all films by Ray are yet restored.
The trilogy by Ritwik Ghatak is as well available on excellent DVDs in India, they can easily cope with the BFI DVDs.
Other DVDs I bought in India are unsatisfying mostly because the source is non-restored material like
THE GODESS, THREE DAUGHTERS or KATCHENJUNGHA.
Obviously the indian DVD of CHARULATA is tapesourced, means hardly better than a VCD.
But generally if a film by Ray is restored the Indian DVD labels began to take if possible the best possible transfer as well. So I guess the most recent indian edition of the Apu-trilogy in India will be the most recent restored version. They are codefree, most of them are NTSC.
So I think not everything must be released by Criterion.
If anyone (in England) is interested in Satyajit Ray DVDs, I’ve just ordered Devi (The Goddess) and Teen Kanya (Two Daughters) for only £7 each. Theyre due to come out on Monday. I hadn’t heard anything about them before this so probably others won’t have either. If I get them next week I’ll make a post on the picture quality etc if anyone wants.
Also, some might not know that as well as the Apu Trilogy released by Artificial Eye, they have also released ‘The Satyajit Ray Collection’ Volumes One and Two. The first contains 3 excellent films, Charaluta, Nayak and Mahanagar and the second contains three lesser but still worth watching films: Kapurush, Joi Baba Felunath and Mahapurush.
Teen Kanya is quality by the way, moving and funny. The PQ is decent. I’ve seen better but I’ve definitely seen worse. Not every word is subtitled but its good enough. Ray fans should get on it.
I am in India and totally confused about what to buy. There are many Ray films on multiple labels all claming restored but what does that really mean. When you mention a got quality DVD, please mention the label. I have listed several below I saw at Music World and other stores. The nicest Ray packaging is from BIG Home Video’s SR Signature Series with press books, posters and workbooks in a booklet done with coperation of the Ray Society and Family. Bought Elephant God because I am interested in his Feludia private detective books and this is adpated from one. Have not had a chance to watch but the box says digital restoration. A news article states: "IG Home Video’s release ‘Satyajit Ray Signature Collection’, was awarded for its remarkable improvements in packaging presentation, quality of the content in terms of restoration, authoring, graphics and menu design and most notably value add-ons with interviews of artistes and memorabilia, director’s commentary etc. "
A search of BIG’s website brings up no catalog info but they have a release. BIG is owned by local media giant Reliance.
http://www.bigmusicvideo.co.in/PressRoom/StoryPage.aspx?ArticleID=9ef2c3ec-e15c-444a-bc00-1c8dc309d334&ShortName=PRESSRLS
These seem to be other labels for Indian classics.
They have tribute boxes to Ritwik Ghatak, Buddhadeb Dasgupta, Shyam Benegal,Tapan Sinha, Suchitra Sen, and others.
heartvideo.in
maxtech_entertainment.com
eagledvd.com
angelvideo.in
moserbaer.com (both hindi and bengali) the guy I met will get us anything from them.
Shiva.in
shemaroo.com
These have no website or mentions online but they do distribute some important films:
Shradha Home Video
chennelb Home Entertainment
I used to own Abhijan, Ashani Sanket through Eagle and it was not region free.
Moserbaer has a gigantic collection in major Indian languages, but I cannot say great things about their quality.
The BIG release sounds great, you could try it, again check if it’s region free and most importantly the subtitles.
All the films from those labels state English subtitles.
Most films here are NTSC but these days owning a multi-region DVD player is so cheap you can;t afford not to have one. They can be carried all over the world and plugged into anybody’s TV.
Just thought I’d add this, since they’re not well advertised.
UK Ray fans will be pleased to know that ‘The Stranger’ and ‘Company Limited’ are now available on DVD, though they seem to be in very short supply. Most sites don’t list them and Amazon are out of stock. I got my copies from www.moviemail-online.co.uk at £10 a film. You can also get them direct from http://www.buymrbongo.com/ but they charge postage.
Also, ‘The Adversary’ is £6 at HMV. :)
“To be released February 15th 2010”
If you are in India, Bigflix.com is a great place to rent DVDs. Chk out www.induna.com for buying DVDs of Ghatak, Ray, Aparna Sen and tons of others Indian film-makers. Cool thing is that they ship all over the world through express courier. A word of caution: stay away from Eagle prints of Ray.
I can vouch on the warning against the Eagle releases—or, at least so far as Agantuk (The Stranger) goes. I ordered it a couple of months back, and it stands as the most dreadful DVD purchase I’ve ever made. Really dreadful quality.
Heads up to those interested in the UK, Artificial Eye have their 3rd box set of Ray’s films scheduled for release in August.
It’s a very reasonable £18 at HMV
The films included are DELIVERANCE, THE HOME AND THE WORLD and THE PUBLIC ENEMY.
August? Why not July, when I’ll be in London?
If the prints are good, I might buy this one. Haven’t seen Deliverance. Additionally, I detested the other two, may be a better print can change my mind ;)
John M.
I’m surprised that there hasn’t been a more renewed interest in Satyajit Ray following the box office success of Slumdog Millionaire. The Apu Trilogy gets at the themes for which Slumdog was praised. We see capitalism permeating and transforming society, we get a slice of life, and often the story is told from a a child’s perspective. But Ray avoids many of the criticisms laid against Slumdog. His films move at a much slower, more realistic, pace than Danny Boyle’s. They don’t fall back on Horatio Algiers cliches. And they’re made by people actually from India. So yeah, I guess the thrust of this post is that Ray is better than Boyle, which isn’t really saying anything unique. Still I’m posting it, because The World of Apu doesn’t have a dedicated post or even a review.
Wow, actually, just before posting this I noticed that there actually is renewed interest in Ray at this very site http://www.theauteurs.com/notebook/posts?category=Ray
Wish I could get the Walter Reade theater this weekend…