Four by Satyajit Ray.

The Music Room (1958), directed by Satyajit Ray. The film opens with the sound of Indian classical music alongside the sound of European classical violins, and the juxtaposition introduces the theme of music, clash of cultures, and change. Change is perhaps at the forefront here as we soon enter the fading world of a zamindar (feudal land owner) who lives in the past while being confronted by the present and future at every turn. Much of the film takes place inside the zaminder’s crumbling mansion, itself a reminder of culture clash in its colonial splendour, and inside the failing mind of the feudal lord who refuses to accept change. His obsession is with music, and the film contains performances of Indian classical music and dance that take place, for the most part, in the opulent music room with its huge chandelier. In order to maintain position over his crass neighbour, a self-made man who embraces modernity (electricity, automobiles), the zamindar (Chhabi Biswas) is willing to spend all the remaining money, and his wife’s jewels, in order to continue presenting famous musicians in his ornate jalsaghar (Music Room). The final dance sequence in the Music Room is stunningly effective. Throughout the film we have symbolic touches: the small model boat, the white horse, the elephant, the automobile leaving behind a large dust cloud, the sound of music, the mansion, the encroaching river, the hookah and the cigarette, the huge mirror, the wall of portraits, and of course the chandelier. All of these touches are delivered with subtlety and lightness. The final shots show the dimming of the candle light alongside the beginning of sunrise. This is a masterful film from a masterful film maker.

 

The Big City (1963), directed by Satyajit Ray. This is Ray’s first film set in modern day Calcutta, and it begins with a shot of a trolley antennae sparking on its high wire as it moves along. The image let’s us know that something electric is about to happen. What that something is pits traditional ways with an emerging modernity that includes housewives finding work outside the home. The story focuses on Subrata Mazumbar (Anil Chatterjee), his wife Arati (Madhavi Mukherjee), and their extended family who live in cramped quarters and on the edge of poverty. Much of the film is shot in medium close-ups and close-ups that accentuate the tightness of the family dwelling both in terms of space and standard of living. Finding themselves in need of financial help, Arati decides to look for work, and she finds it selling knitting machines. It turns out she is good at her work and she soon finds herself moving up in her company. Meanwhile Subrata loses his job at a bank, making Arati’s income even more important for family survival. A lipstick tube, paper currency, a mirror all chronicle Arati’s emerging independence and sense of self-worth. The film, despite the rather closed-in camera work has a thrilling sense of life. We get to know this family, father, mother, grandfather, grandmother, son, sister-in-law well. We also get to know Arati’s boss, Himangshu (Haradhan Bannerjee). The film examines the economic divide in this city. It also notices racism in its depiction of the Anglo-Indian woman Edith (Vicky Redwood) who is treated badly at work. She finds a friend in Arati. This is a film that deals with difficult and important issues, and at the same time gives us characters we can like and even admire. 

 

The Coward (1965), directed by Satyajit Ray. Screen-writer Amitabha Roy (Soumitra Chatterjee) finds himself stranded in a small town. Local tea magnate, Bimal Gupta (Haradhan Bannerjee) offers to put him up for a night. When Amitabha meets Mrs. Karuna Gupta (Madhavi Mukherjee), he finds himself face to face with his girlfriend from some years ago. He still love this woman who he had hesitated to marry in the past. The film focuses on this reunion and the failure of Amitabha to come to terms with his past failure of nerve. Along with Akira Kurosawa, Jean Renoir, and Yasujiro Ozu, Satyajit Ray stands out as one of the great humanist film makers. What makes this film worth seeing is its understanding of human beings, their foibles and weaknesses and strengths. Here Madhavi Mukherjee delivers another strong portrait of a wife whose strength, stoicism, and talent remain despite a patriarchal system that places women as secondary to their husbands and partners. We saw her earlier in The Big City (1963), in which she plays a wife who goes out to work because her husband becomes unemployed. Here she is a dutiful wife who sets aside her painting in deference to her husband. Now her gift for art finds an outlet in drawing the household servants. In this closet drama, Ray manages to explore class and gender and the human condition.

 

The Hero (1966), directed by Satyajit Ray. Most of the film takes place on a train travelling to Delhi. The main character is film star, Arindam Mukherjee (Uttam Kumar), who is on his way to Delhi to receive an award. He is the main focus, suffering, as he does, from an existential crisis. We learn his back story through flashbacks and we learn something of his emotional crisis through his dreams. These sequences, both flashbacks and dreams, are handled masterfully. We also meet others on board, most importantly the magazine editor, Aditi (Sharmila Tagore) who “interviews” the famous film star, and who finds herself in a strangely compelling relationship with him. Others on board are a variety of people who are either star-struck or disapproving of film actors. There is also an advertising man who tries to get a commitment from a business man by using his wife as a lure. For her part, the wife desires to become a movie star. The plot is not complicated, although the human beings in this plot are. I kept thinking of the many other films that take place on board a train. This one is excellent. As always, Ray’s interests lie in humanity. His use of the train is fluid and seamless and he never makes us feel cramped as his camera moves through the corridors and into and out of compartments. I was reminded of Wes Anderson’s The Darjeeling Limited (2007) in the use of space and the dream sequences. The Hero is an impressive film.