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==Plot==
==Plot==
Set in rural Bengal of the [[1920s]], ''Pather Panchali'' focuses on the lives of Apu ([[Subir Banerjee]]) and his family members. Harihar Ray ([[Kanu Banerjee]]) lives in his ancestral home in the village, Nischindipur, with his impoverished family. He earns a meagre living as a priest, but dreams to make it big one day by writing scholarly plays and poetry. But, in reality, he is easily exploited and is unable to stand up for himself or his family. He had to forfeit the orchard that his family once owned to his neighbours, as he was unable to repay the debts incurred by his deceased brother. When his wages are overdue for two months, he cannot muster the courage to ask his employer for the payment, although his family is in dire need of money towards household expenses. Even his house badly needs a repair before the [[monsoon]] (rainy season).
Set in rural Bengal of the [[1920s]], ''Pather Panchali'' focuses on the lives of Apu ([[Subir Banerjee]]) and his family members. Apu's father Harihar Ray ([[Kanu Banerjee]]) lives in his ancestral home in the village Nischindipur, with his impoverished family. He earns a meagre living as a priest, but dreams a better career by writing scholarly plays and poetry. But, in reality, he is easily exploited—he even cannot muster the courage to ask his employer for the payment of overdue wages, although his family is in dire need of money towards household expenses.


Harihar's wife, Sarbajaya ([[Karuna Banerjee]]) struggles to make ends meet. She has to bear the responsibility for the care of their two children, Durga ([[Uma Dasgupta]]) and Apu, as well as an elderly sister-in-law, Indir Thakrun ([[Chunibala Devi]]). Sarbajaya bears the brunt of the neighbour's innuendos blaming her for Durga’s propensity for stealing fruits from the neighbor’s orchard. With limited resources, Sarbajaya resents having to share her home with the elderly and fragile Indir. Indir is very old, toothless, and bent over at almost a ninety degree angle when she walks. Periodically, she takes refuge in the home of another relative when Sarbajaya either forces her out or becomes overly offensive.
Harihar's wife, Sarbajaya ([[Karuna Banerjee]]) has the responsibility for the care of their two children, Durga ([[Uma Dasgupta]]) and Apu, as well as an elderly sister-in-law, Indir Thakrun ([[Chunibala Devi]]). With limited resources, Sarbajaya resents having to share her home with the elderly and fragile Indir. Indir is very old, toothless, and bent over at almost a ninety degree angle when she walks. Periodically, she takes refuge in the home of another relative when Sarbajaya either forces her out or becomes overly offensive. Durga, a boisterous girl, steals fruits from the neighbor’s orchard and shares those with aunt Indir, with whom she feels some affinity. Sarbajaya bears the brunt of the neighbour's innuendos blaming her for Durga’s propensity for stealing. Durga cannot afford what her friends enjoy. Once, she even resorts to stealing a beaded necklace from one girl.

Durga is an adorable and boisterous girl. She shares the fruits from the neighbor’s orchard with aunt Indir, with whom she feels some affinity. Durga often cannot afford what her friends enjoy. She feels humiliated. Once, she even resorts to stealing a beaded necklace from one girl who is unwilling to let her string any of the beads.


[[Image:Patherpanchali_1.png|thumb|right|A frame from the 'discovery of train' scene. The scene is considered as one the magic moments of the film.]]
[[Image:Patherpanchali_1.png|thumb|right|A frame from the 'discovery of train' scene. The scene is considered as one the magic moments of the film.]]
Apu in this film is mainly an observer. He observes everything happening in his surroundings with wide open eyes. Durga and Apu shares a very affectionate brother-sister relationship. Durga, as the elder sister, cares for Apu almost with motherly affection, although she does not let go any opportunity to tease him either. They share the simple joys of sitting quietly under a tree, running after the candy man who passes by ringing bells, viewing pictures in a [[wikt:bioscope|bioscope]] shown by a travelling vendor, and watching a drama of a travelling acting troupe that comes to their village. In the evenings, they can hear the whistle of trains from far away. Indeed, one day they run away from home to catch a glimpse of the train. The scene of Apu and Durga running through the fields of white ''[[Kans grass|kaash]]'' flowers to see the train is one of the most celebrated scenes in the film. Durga and Apu, while playing one day in the bushes, discover their old aunt, Indir, sitting near a [[bamboo]] tree. When Durga calls her and finds no response, she inches ahead and shakes her, only to find that she has died.
Apu and Durga shares an affectionate brother-sister relationship. Durga, as the elder sister, cares for Apu almost with motherly affection, although she does not let go any opportunity to tease him either. They share the simple joys of sitting quietly under a tree, running after the candy man who passes by ringing bells, viewing pictures in a [[wikt:bioscope|bioscope]] shown by a travelling vendor, and watching a drama of a travelling acting troupe that comes to their village. In the evenings, they can hear the whistle of trains from far away. Indeed, one day they run away from home to catch a glimpse of the train. The scene of Apu and Durga running through the fields of white ''[[Kans grass|kaash]]'' flowers to see the train is one of the most celebrated scenes in the film. While playing one day in the bushes, they discover their old aunt, Indir, dead.

Harihar, upon facing difficulty in earning adequately in the village, decides to travel to nearby cities. He plans to find some new occupation there, and promises Sarbajaya that he would return with enough money to repair their derelict house. During his absence, he seldom communicates, and the family sinks even deeper into poverty. Sarbajaya grows increasingly lonely and embittered as her sorrows pile up.


[[Monsoon]] season approaches and storm clouds gather. One day, during a downpour, Durga dances playfully in the rain for a long time. Soon she catches cold, and develops a fever. With very poor medical care available, her fever continues and eventually on a night of incessant rain and gusty winds, she dies.
Harihar, unable to earn adequately in the village, decides to travel to nearby cities for new vocations. He promises Sarbajaya that he would return with enough money to repair their derelict house. During his absence, he seldom communicates, and the family sinks even deeper into poverty. Sarbajaya grows increasingly lonely and embittered as her sorrows pile up. [[Monsoon]] season approaches and storm clouds gather. One day, Durga dances playfully in the downpour for a long time. Soon she catches cold, and develops a fever. With scarce medical care available, her fever continues and eventually on a night of incessant rain and gusty winds, she dies.


Harihar finally returns home and with childish ecstasy, he starts to show Sarbajaya what he has brought from the city. But Sarbajaya, who sits still like a stone until then, breaks down at the feet of her husband, and Harihar screams — he discovers that he has lost much more than he has earned. The family decides to leave the village, tearing away roots from their ancestral home. As they start packing, Apu finds the necklace that Durga had earlier stolen (though she denied it). He throws it into a pond as if to preserve her memory from any belated taint. The film ends with Apu and his parents riding a slow ox-cart to their new destination.
Harihar finally returns home and starts to show Sarbajaya what he has brought from the city. But Sarbajaya, who sits still like a stone until then, breaks down at the feet of her husband, and Harihar screams—he discovers that he has lost much more than he has earned. The family decides to leave the village, tearing away roots from their ancestral home. As they start packing, Apu finds the necklace that Durga had earlier stolen (though she denied it). He throws it into a pond as if to preserve her memory from any belated taint. The film ends with Apu and his parents riding a slow ox-cart to their new destination.


==Cast==
==Cast==

Revision as of 18:37, 21 May 2008

This article is about a film. For the novel upon which this film was based, see Pather Panchali (novel).
Pather Panchali
File:Pantherpanchali.jpg
Title card for Pather Panchali
Directed bySatyajit Ray
Written bySatyajit Ray, from a story by Bibhutibhushan Bandopadhyay
Produced byGovernment of West Bengal
StarringKanu Banerjee,
Karuna Banerjee,
Subir Banerjee,
Uma Dasgupta,
Chunibala Devi
CinematographySubrata Mitra
Edited byDulal Dutta
Music byRavi Shankar
Release date
1955
Running time
122 minutes
Country India
LanguageBengali

Pather Panchali (Bengali: পথের পাঁচালী, Pôther Pãchali IPA: /pɔt̪ʰer pãtʃali/, English: Song of the Little Road) (1955) is an Indian Bengali feature film directed by Satyajit Ray and produced by the Government of West Bengal. The film is based on the classic Bengali novel by Bibhutibhushan Bandopadhyay, Pather Panchali. It also marked the directorial debut of Satyajit Ray, later regarded as one of the greatest auteurs of cinema. It is the first film of the Apu trilogy and depicts the childhood of the protagonist Apu, in the rural countryside of 1920s Bengal.

Developed with a shoestring budget and several first-time actors and technicians, Pather Panchali was warmly received by the audience in India, USA and UK, among other countries. It received accolades from critics and multiple awards including the Indian National Film Award for Best Film and "Best Human Document" in the Cannes Film Festival in 1956. Magazines such as Time, Sight & Sound and The Village Voice have included the film in the lists of greatest movies of all time.

Title

The title is usually translated in English as the "Song of the Little Road". Path in Bengali conveyes the same meaning as "path" in English. Pather literally means "of the path". Panchali refers to a type of narrative folk song that used to be performed in Bengal, and was the forerunner of another type of folk song now known as jatra.[1]

Plot

Set in rural Bengal of the 1920s, Pather Panchali focuses on the lives of Apu (Subir Banerjee) and his family members. Apu's father Harihar Ray (Kanu Banerjee) lives in his ancestral home in the village Nischindipur, with his impoverished family. He earns a meagre living as a priest, but dreams a better career by writing scholarly plays and poetry. But, in reality, he is easily exploited—he even cannot muster the courage to ask his employer for the payment of overdue wages, although his family is in dire need of money towards household expenses.

Harihar's wife, Sarbajaya (Karuna Banerjee) has the responsibility for the care of their two children, Durga (Uma Dasgupta) and Apu, as well as an elderly sister-in-law, Indir Thakrun (Chunibala Devi). With limited resources, Sarbajaya resents having to share her home with the elderly and fragile Indir. Indir is very old, toothless, and bent over at almost a ninety degree angle when she walks. Periodically, she takes refuge in the home of another relative when Sarbajaya either forces her out or becomes overly offensive. Durga, a boisterous girl, steals fruits from the neighbor’s orchard and shares those with aunt Indir, with whom she feels some affinity. Sarbajaya bears the brunt of the neighbour's innuendos blaming her for Durga’s propensity for stealing. Durga cannot afford what her friends enjoy. Once, she even resorts to stealing a beaded necklace from one girl.

A frame from the 'discovery of train' scene. The scene is considered as one the magic moments of the film.

Apu and Durga shares an affectionate brother-sister relationship. Durga, as the elder sister, cares for Apu almost with motherly affection, although she does not let go any opportunity to tease him either. They share the simple joys of sitting quietly under a tree, running after the candy man who passes by ringing bells, viewing pictures in a bioscope shown by a travelling vendor, and watching a drama of a travelling acting troupe that comes to their village. In the evenings, they can hear the whistle of trains from far away. Indeed, one day they run away from home to catch a glimpse of the train. The scene of Apu and Durga running through the fields of white kaash flowers to see the train is one of the most celebrated scenes in the film. While playing one day in the bushes, they discover their old aunt, Indir, dead.

Harihar, unable to earn adequately in the village, decides to travel to nearby cities for new vocations. He promises Sarbajaya that he would return with enough money to repair their derelict house. During his absence, he seldom communicates, and the family sinks even deeper into poverty. Sarbajaya grows increasingly lonely and embittered as her sorrows pile up. Monsoon season approaches and storm clouds gather. One day, Durga dances playfully in the downpour for a long time. Soon she catches cold, and develops a fever. With scarce medical care available, her fever continues and eventually on a night of incessant rain and gusty winds, she dies.

Harihar finally returns home and starts to show Sarbajaya what he has brought from the city. But Sarbajaya, who sits still like a stone until then, breaks down at the feet of her husband, and Harihar screams—he discovers that he has lost much more than he has earned. The family decides to leave the village, tearing away roots from their ancestral home. As they start packing, Apu finds the necklace that Durga had earlier stolen (though she denied it). He throws it into a pond as if to preserve her memory from any belated taint. The film ends with Apu and his parents riding a slow ox-cart to their new destination.

Cast

Influences

In 1949, 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.[2] 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.[3] Among these was the neorealist film Ladri di biciclette (Bicycle Thieves) (1948) by Vittorio De Sica which had a profound impact on him. Ray later said that he came out of the theater determined to become a filmmaker.[4] The film had reconfirmed his conviction that it was possible to make realistic cinema with an almost entirely amateur cast and shooting at actual locations.[5] Indeed, the realist narration style of Pather Panchali reflects the effect of Italian neorealism.[6] Richard Corliss, the chief cinema critic of Time, has drawn parallel between the ease and precision of Pather Panchali and the works of Renoir, Ray's inspiration.[7]

Production

The novel

Main article: Pather Panchali (novel)

The novel Pather Panchali by Bibhutibhushan Bandopadhyay is a classic bildungsroman in Bengali literature.[8] It first appeared as a serial in a periodical in 1928,[8] and was later published as a book in 1929.[8] To a great extent, it was based on the author's own early life.[8] The bulk of the novel depicts a poor family's struggle to survive in their ancestral rural home and the growing up of Apu, the son of the family. The later part, where Apu and his parents leave the village and settle in Benaras, was incorporated in the film Aparajito by Satyajit Ray.[9] The author's widow granted permission to Ray to make a film based on the novel; however, the agreement was on principle only, no financial arrangement was made.[10] The lady generously allowed Ray, a complete novice then, to shoot a film on her husband's masterpiece.[10]

Script

The film never had a complete script;[11] it was made from Ray's drawings and notes. Ray tried to extract and build a simple theme out of the apparently random sequences of significant as well as trivial episodes of the novel, while preserving the loitering quality of it.[9] Ray himself commented that, "The script had to retain some of the rambling quality of the novel ... because that in itself contained a clue to the feel of authenticity; life in a poor Bengali village does ramble."[9]

Ray's adaptation of the novel involved many changes, including compression, omission, and occasional addition.[9] Some notable shifts from the novel in the script include the death scene of Indir Thakrun, which occurs quite early in the novel in a village shrine at the presence of some adult members of the family; in the film she dies in the open in the presence of Apu and Durga. Also, the celebrated scene of Apu and Durga running to catch a glimpse of the train is not there in the novel, neither children manages to see the train there, although they made an attempt.[9] Finally, the ending of the film—the departure of the family from the village—is not the end of the novel.

Casting

Kanu Banerjee, an established actor of Bengali Cinema, portrayed the role of Harihar Ray, father of Apu and Durga. However, the role of Sarbajaya, wife of Harihar, was played by an amateur theatre actress of the Indian People's Theatre Association, Karuna Banerjee,[12] who was the wife of a friend of Ray.[13] Uma Dasgupta, who was selected by an interview to act as Durga,[13] also had some prior experience in acting in theatre.[12] For the role of Apu, Ray advertised in newspapers looking for boys of five to seven years age.[13] Several boys turned up in response, but none of them met the expectation of the director. Finally, Ray's wife spotted a boy in their neighbourhood as a possible candidate. This boy, Subir Banerjee, was eventually cast as Apu. The toughest hurdle in the casting process was to identify an actress suitable to enact the character of the wizened, 80 year old aunt Indir Thakrun. Ray eventually found Chunibala Devi, a retired stage actress living in a brothel,[14] as the right candidate to portray Indir. Several minor roles were played by the villagers of Boral, the shooting location.[12]

Filming

File:Apu Pather1.jpg
Wide open eyes, a continual motif in the Apu Trilogy

Shooting started in early 1953. In retrospect, the technical team was talented, even apart from Ray; both Subrata Mitra (cinematographer) and Bansi Chandragupta (art director) were later considered 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, who had been the art director of Jean Renoir's The River (1951).

Funding was a problem from the beginning, as no producer agreed to produce the film.[10] Ray borrowed money in order to shoot enough footage with which he planned to persuade producers to finance the whole film.[10] While shooting the footages, he zeroed in on Boral, a village near Calcutta, as the location of the shooting of the film.[12] Ray kept working as a graphic designer, pawned his life insurance policy and sold his collection of LP records in order to raise fund for the film. His production manager, Anil Chowdhury, convinced Ray's wife Bijoya to pawn her jewels as well. Still, partway through filming, Ray ran out of funds; shooting was suspended for nearly a year,[15] and could be done only intermittently after resumption. Ray acknowledged later that the delays made him tense, and it was three miracles that the saved the film, "One, Apu's voice did not break. Two, Durga did not grow up. Three, Indir Thakrun did not die."[16]

Monroe Wheeler, of New York's Museum of Modern Art (MoMA), was in Calcutta in 1954 when he heard about the shooting of the film and met Ray. He considered the footages of very high quality, and inspired Ray to complete the film so that it could be shown in MoMA's exhibition the next year.[15] The Government of West Bengal loaned him money, allowing him to finish the film. However, the government misunderstood the nature of the movie, and considered it as a documentary for rural uplift, such as the need for road improvement.[15] Indeed the money was loaned on record for 'roads improvement', a reference to the film's title.[17] Hollywood director John Huston was visiting India to find location for The Man Who Would Be King,[18] a film which was finally made much later in 1975. Some footage of Pather Panchali were shown to him. Huston recognized "...  the footage as the work of a great film-maker."[18] Thanks to Huston's recommendation, MoMA helped Ray with some additional money.[19]

Soundtrack

The soundtrack of the film was scored by the sitar maestro Pandit Ravi Shankar. The whole background scores feature pieces based on several Ragas of Indian classical music. Played mostly in sitar, the soundtrack is featured in the list of 50 greatest film soundtracks published by The Guardian.[20] Ravi Shankar saw about half the film in a roughly edited version before composing the background score.[21] However, he had already read the novel, and so, knew its story. When Ray met him, he sort of hummed a tune which had both classical touch as well as a folk hue;[21] the tune, usually played in a bamboo flute, became the main theme tune of the film. The most important pieces of the score were composed in a night-long session lasting about eleven hours.[21] Shankar also composed two solo sitar pieces—one based on the raga Desh (traditionally associated with rain), and one sombre piece based on the raga Todi.[21]

Release

Ray and his team worked day and night for the post-production, and just managed to get the film ready to send it to MoMA for the exhibition in May 1955.[21] However, the film lacked subtitles.[22] It was billed as "The Story of Apu and Durga", and was a part of a series of six evening performances at MoMA including the US debut of sarod maestro Ali Akbar Khan and the classical dancer Shanta Rao.[22] Pather Panchali was well received there.[22]

Before its release in Calcutta, Ray himself designed some large advertisements, including a neon sign showing Apu and Durga running that was placed strategically in a busy location of the city.[22] It was released in a Calcutta cinema on 26 August 1955 with poor initial response.[23] However, soon word got around, and within a week or two, the screenings were filled up with audience. It opened again at another cinema hall, where it ran for seven weeks.[23] A delay in subtitling caused postponing of the film's release in UK to Christmas 1957.[24] It was in the US in the next autumn that the film received a great success. It ran for eight months at the Fifth Avenue Playhouse in New York.[24]

As of 2008, Pather Panchali is available in DVD in both Region 2 PAL and Region 1 NTSC formats. Artificial Eye Entertainment is the distributor of Region 2 while Columbia Tri-Star is the distributor for Region 1 format.[25] The DVD has English subtitles.

Critical reception and awards

See also: Awards conferred on Satyajit Ray

Despite sustained opposition of the government of West Bengal and Government of India because of its depiction of poverty, Pather Panchali was sent to the 1956 Cannes Film Festival with personal approval of the Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru.[26] The film was screened toward the end of the festival and at the same time as a party was thrown by the Japanese delegation, so only a small number of critics attended the show; however, although some were initially unenthusiastic at the prospect of yet another Indian melodrama, they reportedly found "the magic horse of poetry" slowly invading the screen.[27] Subsequently, the film was awarded the Best Human Document prize at this festival.

In India, the reaction to the film was enthusiastic. The Times of India wrote that "It is absurd to compare it with any other Indian cinema [...] Pather Panchali is pure cinema".[28] In the United Kingdom, Lindsay Anderson wrote a glowing review of the film, [28] noting it as "a beautiful picture, completely fresh and personal. [Ray's camera] reaches forward into life, exploring and exposing, with reverence and wonder."[29] 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."[29] 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."[29] Pauline Kael commented: "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."[30] Time wrote that " Pather Panchali is perhaps the finest piece of filmed folklore since Robert Flaherty's Nanook of the North."[31]

However, the reaction was not uniformly positive. After watching the movie, François Truffaut is reported to have said, "I don’t want to see a movie of peasants eating with their hands."[17] Bosley Crowther, then the most influential critic of The New York Times, wrote in a scathing review of the film, "Any picture as loose in structure or as listless in tempo as this one is would barely pass as a "rough cut" with the editors in Hollywood."[32] Early in 1980, Ray was openly criticized by an Indian Member of Parliament and former actress Nargis Dutt, who accused Ray of "exporting poverty,"[33] while some commentators accused Ray of glorifying poverty in Pather Panchali and Ashani Sanket through lyricism and aesthetics.

Twenty years after the release of Pather Panchali, Akira Kurosawa summarised the magic of the film as follows, "I can never forget the excitement in my mind after seeing it [Pather Panchali]. I have had several more opportunities to see the film since then and each time i feel more overwhelmed. It is the kind of cinema that flows with the serenity and nobility of a big river... People are born, live out their lives, and then accept their deaths. Without the least effort and without any sudden jerks, Ray paints his picture, but its effect on the audience is to stir up deep passions. How does he achieve this? There is nothing irrelevant or haphazard in his cinematographic technique. In that lies the secret of its excellence."[34]

Pather Panchali won multiple national and international awards. It won President's Gold and Silver medals in New Delhi in 1955. 1956 Cannes film festival awarded the film with the special prize of "Best Human Document".[35] In the same year, Pather Panchali won Indian National Film Award for Best Film, Diploma of Merit at the Edinburgh International Film Festival, "Vatican Award" at Rome, and "Golden Carbao" at Manila. In 1957, the film won the awards for the best film and best direction in San Francisco International Film Festival, and "Selznik Golden Laurel" in Berlin. 1958 saw the film win two Canadian awards—Best film at Vancouver and "Critics' Award: Best Film" at Stratford. National Board of Review of Motion Pictures in New York selected the film as "Best Foreign Film" in 1959. As late as 1967, Pather Panchali won "Kinema Junpo Award: Best Foreign Film" in Tokyo.[36] It won "Bodil Award: Best Non-European Film of the Year" from Denmark in 1969.[37]

Legacy

See also: Apu trilogy

Pather Panchali was followed by two films that continued the tale of Apu's life—Aparajito (The Unvanquished) in 1956 and Apur Sansar (The World of Apu) in 1959. The three films are together known as the Apu trilogy. Aparajito portrays the adolescent Apu, his education in the rural school and in a Calcutta college. The central theme in Aparajito was the poignant relation between a doting mother and her young ambitious boy. Apur Sansar tales the story of the brief family life of Apu, and his reaction at premature death of his wife, and finally bonding with his son who he left as an infant. Both the two sequels won multiple national and international awards.[38] Ray did not have any specific plan to make a trilogy from the start. Indeed, he planned to make the third installment only after being asked about the possibility of a trilogy at 1957 Venice film festival,[39] where Aparajito won the Golden Lion.

Pather Panchali ushered in a new tradition of film-making in India, one in which ‘authenticity’ and ‘social realism’ were the key terms.[40] Although described as a turning point in Indian cinema,[41] some commentators opined that Pather Panchali did not usher in a modern age in Indian cinema.[6] Rather, the film refined an already existent "realist textual principle" in Indian cinema.[6] Time, in 1963, wrote that Satyajit Ray, thanks to Pather Panchali, was one of the "hardy little band of inspired pioneers" of a new cinematic movement that was enjoying a good number of imitators worldwide.[42] The film has been considered as a "global landmark " and "among the essential moviegoing experiences".[43]

Philip French of The Observer has described Pather Panchali as "one of the greatest pictures ever made".[44] Prolific online film critic James Berardinelli writes, "This tale, as crafted by Ray, touches the souls and minds of viewers, transcending cultural and linguistic barriers".[45] The film was included in the 1992 edition of the top 10 Critics' Poll list of Sight & Sound, the British Film Institute's film magazine.[46] The Village Voice ranked the film at #12 (tied with The Godfather) in its Top 250 "Best Films of the Century" list in 1999, based on a poll of critics.[47] In 2005, The Apu Trilogy was included in Time magazine's All-time 100 greatest movies list.[48]

Following Pather Panchali, Satyajit Ray went on to make a total of thirty-seven films, including feature films, documentaries and shorts. He was adept at scripting, casting, scoring, cinematography, art direction, editing and designing his own credit titles and publicity material. He developed a distinctive style of film-making,[49] with visual lyricism and strong humanism forming the basis of his works,[50][51] as in his debut film Pather Panchali. Consequently Ray established himself as an auteur of cinema, sharing the stage with directors such as Federico Fellini, Akira Kurosawa, Ingmar Bergman and Michelangelo Antonioni, among others.[49]

Notes

  1. ^ Mohanta, Sambaru Chandra. "Panchali". Banglapedia. The Asiatic Society of Bangladesh. Retrieved 2006-09-09.
  2. ^ Robinson 2005, pp. 42–44
  3. ^ Bhattacharya, Roshmila. "Pather Panchali: Agony and Ecstacy". Screen. Indian Express Newspapers (Bombay) Ltd. Retrieved 2008-05-19.
  4. ^ Robinson 2005, p. 48
  5. ^ "'Bicycle Thieves' Effect". Biography. www.satyajitray.org. Retrieved 2008-05-18.
  6. ^ a b c Ruberto & Wilson 2007, p. 16
  7. ^ Corliss, Richard (1999). "From Asia's Film Factories, 10 Golden Greats". Time. 154 (7/8). Retrieved 2008-05-19. {{cite journal}}: Unknown parameter |month= ignored (help)
  8. ^ a b c d Robinson 2003, p. 74
  9. ^ a b c d e Robinson 2003, p. 75
  10. ^ a b c d Robinson 2003, p. 77
  11. ^ Robinson 2003, p. 76
  12. ^ a b c d Robinson 2003, p. 78
  13. ^ a b c Robinson 2003, p. 79
  14. ^ Robinson 2003, p. 80
  15. ^ a b c Robinson 2003, p. 83
  16. ^ Robinson 2003, p. 84
  17. ^ a b "Filmi Funda Pather Panchali (1955)". The Telegraph. 2005-04-20. Retrieved 2006-04-29. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
  18. ^ a b Robinson 2003, p. 87
  19. ^ Amitav Ghosh in his essay Satyajit Ray in Khair 2005, pp. 3–4
  20. ^ "The 50 greatest film soundtracks". The Observer. Guardian News and Media Limited. March 18 2007. Retrieved 2008-05-12. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
  21. ^ a b c d e Robinson 2003, p. 88
  22. ^ a b c d Robinson 2003, p. 89
  23. ^ a b Robinson 2003, p. 90
  24. ^ a b Robinson 2003, p. 105
  25. ^ "Pather Panchali". dvdcompare. www.dvdbeaver.com. Retrieved 2008-10-12.
  26. ^ Robinson 2003, p. 104
  27. ^ Seton 1971, pp. 33
  28. ^ a b Seton 1971, pp. 112–15
  29. ^ a b c "Pather Panchali (Song of the Little Road)". SatyajitRay.org. Retrieved 2008-05-18.
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  31. ^ "New Picture". Time. Time Inc. October 20 1958. Retrieved 2008-05-18. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
  32. ^ Crowther, Bosley (September 23 1958). "Screen: Exotic Import; Pather Panchali' From India Opens Here". The New York Times. The New York Times Company. Retrieved 2008-05-18. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |date= (help) (Free Registration required)
  33. ^ Robinson 2003, pp. 327–328
  34. ^ Robinson 2003, p. 91
  35. ^ "Awards for Satyajit Ray". Ray Film and Study Collection. University of California - Santa Cruz. Retrieved 2008-05-18.
  36. ^ "Kinema Junpo Awards (1967) page from IMDb". Retrieved 2008-05-19.
  37. ^ "Bodilprisen (1960-69)". Filmmedarbejderforeningen. Retrieved 2008-05-19. Template:Da icon
  38. ^ "Awards for Films". About Ray. www.satyajitray.org. Retrieved 2008-05-19.
  39. ^ Wood 1972, p. 61
  40. ^ Likhi, Abhilaksh (15 August 1999). "Sense & Cinema". The Tribune. The Tribune Trust. Retrieved 2008-05-18. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
  41. ^ Bhaskaran, Gautaman (September 5 2004). "Ray's eternal song". The Hindu. Retrieved 2008-05-18. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
  42. ^ "A Religion of Film". Time. Time Inc. September 20 1963. Retrieved 2008-05-18. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
  43. ^ Clark, Mike (30 October 2003). "New on DVD". USA Today. Gannett Co. Inc. Retrieved 2008-05-18. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
  44. ^ Philip French (5 May 2002). "Pather Panchali". The Observer. Retrieved 2006-07-27. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |date= (help); Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |publisher= (help)
  45. ^ James Berardinelli (1996). "Review: Pather Panchali". ReelViews. Retrieved 2006-04-03.
  46. ^ "The Sight & Sound Top Ten Poll: 1992". Sight & Sound. British Film Institute. Retrieved 2008-05-20.
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  48. ^ "All-time 100 Movies". Time. Time Inc. 2005. Retrieved 2008-05-19.
  49. ^ a b Santas 2002, p. 18
  50. ^ Gokulsing & Dissanayake 2004, p. 32
  51. ^ Goristas, Helen. "Satyajit Ray". Senses of Cinema. Retrieved 2008-05-19.

Bibliography

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