Pather Panchali
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| Pather Panchali | |
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| Directed by | Satyajit Ray |
| Produced by | Government of West Bengal |
| Written by | Satyajit Ray, from a story by Bibhutibhushan Bandyopadhyay |
| Starring | Kanu Bannerjee, Karuna Bannerjee, Subir Bannerjee, Uma Dasgupta, Chunibala Devi, Reba Devi |
| Release date(s) | 1955 |
| Running time | 122 mins |
| Language | Bengali |
| Followed by | Aparajito |
| IMDb profile | |
Pather Panchali (Bengali: পথের পাঁচালী Pôther Pãchali, English: Song of the Little Road), released in 1955, is the first film of director Satyajit Ray's Apu trilogy. The film depicts a boy's childhood in the Indian countryside in the early twentieth century.
The film was made on a shoestring budget by Ray, who was at that time a completely unknown director. After the success of Pather Panchali, Ray was able to obtain a grant from the government of West Bengal, and completed the trilogy at the behest of the Prime Minister of India; this indicates the extent of the first film's cultural impact.
The film is an adaptation of the Bengali novel by the same name by noted Bengali writer Bibhutibhushan Bandopadhyay. But when it was adapted by Satyajit Ray a great many changes and cuts were made to the book's original form. Ray always claimed that cinema, as a medium of artistic expression, was entirely different from literary modes such as novels, short stories, and dramas. He restructured the entire story and cut away what he thought were unnecessary elements of the novel.
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[edit] Title
The word pather literally means "of the path" in Bengali. Panchali refers to a type of narrative folk song that used to be performed in Bengal, forerunner of another type of folk song now known as jatra.[1]
[edit] Plot
Pather Panchali is mainly a portrayal of life in India in the 1920s. The film focuses on the lives of Apu (full name: Apurba Kumar Roy) and his family members.
The story revolves around a poor Brahmin family in the early years of the 20th century in Bengal. The father, Harihar, is a priest who is unable to make ends meet to keep his family together. The mother, Sarbajaya, has the chief responsibility for raising her mischievous daughter Durga and caring for her elderly sister-in-law Indir, who is a distant relative and whose independent spirit sometimes irritates her. With the arrival of Apu in the family, scenes of happiness and play enrich their daily life, occasionally interrupted by tragedy (e.g. the death of Indir). Life, however, is a struggle, so Harihar has to find a new job and departs, leaving Sarbajaya alone to deal with the stress of this family's survival, Durga's illness and the turbulence of the monsoon. The final disaster, Durga's death, causes the family to leave their village in search of a new life in Benares.
The film suggests an intimate relationship between loss and growth or destruction and creation. Another theme of Pather Panchali could be the search for progress (e.g. arrival of the train to the village, wishes for a happy wedding).
[edit] Production
Ray decided that Pather Panchali, the classic bildungsroman of Bengali literature would provide the subject for his first film. Published in 1928 by Bibhutibhusan Bandopadhyay, this semi-autobiographical novel describes the growing up of Apu, a small boy in a Bengal village.
Bandopadhyay was deceased at that point, but his widow was generous enough to allow a complete novice to shoot her husband's masterpiece. The film never had a complete script, it was made from Ray's drawings and notes. Shooting started in early 1953. In retrospect, the technical team was immensely talented, even apart from Ray; both Subrata Mitra (cinematographer) and Bansi Chandragupta (art director) would later be considered undisputed masters of their craft. However, at that point, Ray had never directed anything and Mitra had never operated a movie camera, though Chandragupta was a young professional.
The father Harihar, was played by a professional film actor, but Sarbajoya, the mother, was interpreted by Karuna Banerjee, an amateur theater actress and wife of a friend of Ray's. Apu was spotted on a neighbor's terrace by Bijoya Ray, while Durga was chosen from an interview. The hardest to cast was of course the character of the Aunt, as Bibhutibhusan described an 80 year old with features to go with. Both existence of such an actress and her ability to act was suspect, but Ray ultimately spotted his most inspired casting of the film in Chunibala Devi, a retired stage actress, then living in a brothel.
Funding was a problem from the beginning, as no producer agreed to produce the film. Ray kept working in Keymer, exhausted his last penny, and sold the LP records close to his heart. His production manager Anil Chowdhury was reduced to sleeping in a taxi at one point, and he (Chowdhury) convinced Bijoya to pawn her jewels as well (Ray's life insurance policy had already been pawned). Still, partway through filming Ray ran out of funds; the Government of West Bengal loaned him the rest, allowing him to finish the film. The money was loaned on record for 'roads improvement' (Pather Panchali translates as 'song of the road').[2]
While it was in making, a number of westerners, like Monroe Wheeler from the Museum of Modern Art, saw the rushes and immediately saw that a film of invigorating originality was being produced. However, when it went to Cannes, it was screened towards the end of the festival and at the same time as a party thrown by the Japanese delegation. A small number of critics gathered to see the film bored by the propect to see yet another Indian melodrama, when they found "the magic horse of poetry" slowly invading the screen.[3] The film was awarded the Best Human Document prize at the 1955 Cannes film festival.
[edit] Cultural details
This film includes several scenes of Indian village life and, in the process, portrays a lifestyle that may be unfamiliar to non-Indians. Some relevant cultural details are discussed below.
[edit] The Property Issue
In the beginning of Pather Panchali, Durga (Apu's elder sister) is shown stealing one fruit a day from her neighbor Mrs. Mukherjee's orchard. She then gives the fruit to her aunt Indir. Sarbajaaya (Durga's mother) is not fundamentally opposed to the idea of her daughter stealing, but she scolds her when Mrs. Mukherjee threatens to complain to the local panchayat or village council. (Ironically, Sarbajaaya herself steals banana leaves from the orchard).
In India, particularly during the colonial era when it was still a British colony, wealth was measured chiefly in terms of property. Mukherjee claims that her property was "bought and paid for," but Sarbajaaya claims it was "stolen" from Harihar's family. We later learn from Harihar that Mukherjee's family claimed that Harihar's dead brother was in debt to them and that the family was forced to repay the debt by giving up the orchard. Harihar's explanation implies the following situation, which was not uncommon in India at the time:
Harihar's brother borrowed money from, and lent money to, several people. He never kept written accounts of his transactions since he felt he was able to remember them otherwise. When he died, however, the Mukherjees (and possibly other families) claimed that he had owed a certain sum of money. Since Harihar's family was now unable to provide evidence to the contrary, the Mukherjees took away the orchard as compensation. Nevertheless, Indira, who has enjoyed the fruits of the orchard for many years, desires the fruit and encourages Durga to steal some.
[edit] Critical reception
Pather Panchali was reviewed worldwide with great praise.
Akira Kurosawa said of the film, "I can never forget the excitement in my mind after seeing it. It is the kind of cinema that flows with the serenity and nobility of a big river."[4]
Newsweek critic Jack Kroll reviewed the film as "One of the most stunning first films in movie history. Ray is a welcome jolt of flesh, blood and spirit."
Hazel-Dawn Dumpert of LA Weekly wrote that the film was "as deeply beautiful and plainly poetic as any movie ever made. Rare and exquisite."[5]
"This tale, as crafted by Ray, touches the souls and minds of viewers, transcending cultural and linguistic barriers" was to write James Berardinelli.[6]
"The first film by the masterly Satyajit Ray - possibly the most unembarrassed and natural of directors - is a quiet reverie about the life of an impoverished Brahmin family in a Bengali village. Beautiful, sometimes funny, and full of love, it brought a new vision of India to the screen" said Pauline Kael.
"A beautiful picture, completely fresh and personal. [Ray's camera] reaches forward into life, exploring and exposing, with reverence and wonder" wrote Lindsay Anderson.[5]
Damian Cannon sums up the film as follows: "When Ray depicts this bleak conclusion, he resists the urge to force a single scene, emotion or moment. The sharp edges of tension, surprise and terror that tear through the fabric of Pather Panchali grow naturally from within the story. Events happen, then the consequences; destiny, good or bad, comes to be inescapable. What makes Pather Panchali more than just a lyrical work of fiction is that Ray addresses universal concerns; how families deal with random catastrophe, how people unwittingly hurt one another, how parents love their children unconditionally. Yet as insightful as Ray is to the reality of rural India, a place of little opportunity, there's a distance between audience and cast. For viewers suckled on the primary emotion of Western cinema, Ray's undemonstrative and muted approach can fail to make an impact. Combined with Ray's extensive use of symbolism, some of which is sure to go over foreign heads, Pather Panchali may seem less than the sum of its critical acclaim."[7]
Philip French of The Observer described Pather Panchali as "one of the greatest pictures ever made".[8]
The Village Voice ranked the film at #13 in its Top 250 "Best Films of the Century" list in 1999, based on a poll of critics.[9]
In 2005, the film was included in Time magazine's All-Time 100 Movies list.
The novel is included as part of the ICSE syllabus for students in India choosing to study Bengali.
[edit] Awards
- President's Gold & Silver Medals, New Delhi, 1955
- National Film Award for Best Film, India, 1956
- Best Human Document, Cannes 1956
- Diploma Of Merit, Edinbugh, 1956
- Vatican Award, Rome, 1956
- Golden Carbao, Manila, 1956
- Best Film and Direction, San Francisco, 1957
- Selznik Golden Laurel, Berlin, 1957
- Best Film, Vancouver, 1958
- Critics' Award: Best Film, Stratford (Canada), 1958
- Best Foreign Film, New York, National Board Of Review 1959
- Kinema Jumpo Award: Best Foreign Film, Tokyo 1966
- Bodil Award: Best Non-European Film of the Year, Denmark, 1966
[edit] Notes
- ^ Banglapedia: Panchali. Banglapedia. Retrieved on 9 September 2006.
- ^ "Filmi Funda Pather Panchali (1955)", The Telegraph, 2005-04-20. Retrieved on April 29, 2006.
- ^ Seton 1971, pp. 33
- ^ Critics on Ray. SatyajitRay.org. Retrieved on 3 April 2006.
- ^ a b Pather Panchali (Song of the Little Road). SatyajitRay.org. Retrieved on 3 April 2006.
- ^ James Berardinelli (1996). Review: Pather Panchali. ReelViews. Retrieved on 3 April 2006.
- ^ Damian Cannon (1998). Pather Panchali (1955). Movie Reviews UK. Retrieved on 3 April 2006.
- ^ Philip French (5 May 2002). Pather Panchali. The Observer. Retrieved on 27 July 2006.
- ^ Take One: The First Annual Village Voice Film Critics' Poll. The Village Voice (1999). Retrieved on 27 July 2006.
[edit] References
- Seton, M (1971), Satyajit Ray: Portrait of a director, Indiana University Press.
[edit] External links
- Pather Panchali at the Internet Movie Database
- Pather Panchali at SatyajitRay.org
- New York Times Review of Pather Panchali
- Pather Panchali: program note from 1957 San Francisco International Film Festival on line
Pather Panchali (1955) • Aparajito (1957) • Parash Pathar (1958) • Jalsaghar (1958) • Apur Sansar (1959) • Devi (1960) • Teen Kanya (1961) • Rabindranath Tagore (1961) • Kanchenjungha (1962) • Abhijan (1962) • Mahanagar (1963) • Charulata (1964) • Two (1965) • Kapurush (1965) • Mahapurush (1966) • Nayak (1966) • Chiriyakhana (1967) • Goopy Gyne Bagha Byne (1969) • Aranyer Din Ratri (1970) • Pratidwandi (1971) • Seemabaddha (1971) • Sikkim (1971) • The Inner Eye (1972) • Ashani Sanket (1973) • Sonar Kella (1974) • Jana Aranya (1976) • Bala (1976) • Shatranj Ke Khiladi (1977) • Joi Baba Felunath (1978) • Hirak Rajar Deshe (1980) • Pikoor Diary (1981) • Sadgati (1981) • Ghare Baire (1984) • Sukumar Ray (1987) • Ganashatru (1989) • Shakha Proshakha (1990) • Agantuk (1991)
