21 of 23 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars
Through a glass, darkly, November 3, 2006
This review is from: The Adversary (Orig: Pratidwandi / Aka: Siddharta and the City) (DVD)
Satyajit Ray is an important film director, whose work shows a technical virtuosity equal to that of Orson Welles or Howard Hawks, sensitivity to character and social networks equal to that of Yasujiro Ozu, ability to depict a social background equal to that of Akira Kurosawa or Jean Renoir. Of his 37 or so films, eight are available in the UK, seven in the US (four titles common to both countries). Even in India only 24 of Ray's titles are available. Although commonly listed as among the half dozen or so greatest directors in cinema, at the moment at least those interested in film must take this assessment largely on trust.
Pratidwandi, the Adversary, was made in 1970. As in many of Ray's films, he was responsible for script, direction and music. It's an effective portrait of a city, Calcutta, at a particular time, seen from the viewpoint of a medical student, Siddartha, forced to leave university and find a job because of his father's death and the family's sudden descent into poverty.
Jobs are not to be found. Siddartha sits in countless waiting rooms, sweltering in the heat, waiting to be interviewed, never accepted despite his qualifications and ability. He is one of dozens who queue and are rejected. The city is in a state of unrest, the country in crisis. Prime Minister Indira Gandhi had declared martial law; political opposition was suppressed and turned covert as communist activists committed acts of terrorism in protest. The situation has repercussions in Siddartha's family. His younger brother is an activist willing to throw bombs; his sister finds work only by dallying with her boss after hours, to the distress of the children's mother. Siddartha, more sensitive than either, is torn between his love of both and concern as to where their behavior will take them. Ray contrasts the desperation of the Calcutta citizens with a band of tripping tourists getting high on the local 'color'. A prosperous businessman hits a pedestrian and is hauled from his car and beaten by a furious mob of bystanders while the businessman's teenage daughter watches terrified from the back seat. Finally Siddartha cracks. Furiously he demands more consideration from a group of employers. Told to mind his place, he overturns a desk, smashes furniture and leaves the city to accept a menial sales job in a backward village. The one hope he has is his developing relationship with a college acquaintance, Keya. Here, as in all his films, Ray is superb in conveying subtexts through glances and conversational ploys. In a few words, a few glances, is conveyed a relationship as convincing as any ever seen on film, the equal of that between Apu and Aparna in Apur Sansar, the World of Apu.
This release of the Adversary from the New York Film Annex is mastered from a worn film print. Contrast is high, lowering visibility in many scenes and twice, once outdoors in full sun and once indoors in an unlighted interior, the composition can hardly be seen at all. There are marks on the film surface at all times, stains and stretch marks which are the signs of frequent projection. Noise is audible throughout, detracting from the soundtrack music by Ray. Subtitles are large (almost a quarter the height of the screen) and obscure the composition of scenes, but they are the white ones once common which cannot be read on a white background. As well, not all dialog is translated. Several times a character asks a question (subtitled) but the answer is not translated. As a result this is not an easy edition to watch, tolerable only because, amazingly, it is such a rarity to have a Satyajit Ray film made available.
The same problems bedevil the two films released by Bollywood Entertainment, Charulata and Mahapurush. Charulata is Ray's best film, one of the half dozen greatest films ever made, and it's distressing to see it in an edition where surface noise covers the soundtrack and half the images are invisible. The same is true of the edition released by the Bengali distributor RE. These comments are thankfully not true of Eureka's Masters of Cinema edition of Abhijan, a superb restoration, nor of Sony's (US) or Artificial Eye's (UK) release of the Apu trilogy, nor hopefully of Kino's release of the Chess Players. True appreciation of Ray's achievement is really down to the viewing of just four or five of his films. Just imagine if of the 37 plays of Shakespeare you could only buy four or five, with two or more others available with half the text missing.
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1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
UNFORGETTABLE MOMENTS, July 28, 2011
This review is from: The Adversary (Orig: Pratidwandi / Aka: Siddharta and the City) (DVD)
"The Adversary" -- one of the fine films of Satyajit Ray -- is a great film classic -- if only for two scenes. In one, the protagonist spends a sweltering day in a stifling waiting room, hoping to get a job. What ensues is unforgettable. Later, in a second scene, the protagonist meets a young woman and talks with her about their future prospects while strolling atop a high-rise building in downtown Calcutta. In a vivid display of calculated mise en scene technique, Ray blocks his two subjects against a backdrop of thousands of Calcuttans, swarming in a park a dozen stories beneath them. With this empathetic visual metaphor, Ray captures the dilemma of India in the 1960s -- a country of great human assets but overwhelmed resources and infrastructure. This film provides great insight into the fascination and frustration of life in India during this era.
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