The Cinema of Satyajit Ray: Between Tradition and Modernity (Cambridge Studies in Film) [Paperback]

Darius Cooper (Author)

Book Description

Series: Cambridge Studies in Film | Publication Date: January 13, 2000

The most comprehensive treatment of Satyajit Ray's work, The Cinema of Satyajit Ray makes accessible the oeuvre of one of the most prolific and creative filmmakers of the twentieth century. Providing analyses of selected films, including those that comprise The Apu Trilogy, Chess Players, and Jalsaghar, among others, Darius Cooper outlines Western influences on Ray's work, such as the plight of women functioning within a patriarchal society, Ray's political vision of the "doubly colonized," and his attack and critique of the Bengali/Indian middle class of today.

Editorial Reviews

From Library Journal

The powerhouse Indian film industry passes unnoticed outside of the subcontinent, and, for the most part, so does the work of its master filmmakers. It has been over a decade since the publication of Andrew Robinson's Satyajit Ray: The Inner Eye (1989) and Ben Nyce's Satyajit Ray: A Study of His Films (1988). This new monograph aims to approach the cinema of Ray from an Indian aesthetic as well as an Indian social and historical perspective. Cooper (literature and film, San Diego Mesa Coll.) adds much to our understanding, analyzing Ray's early films in terms of the concept of "rasa" (i.e., aesthetic perception) in terms of the status of Indian women, and vis-?-vis British and Hindu hegemony--among other things. Throughout, close analysis dovetails with Indian cultural contexts in effective ways. The result is a superb work of scholarship recommended for all libraries supporting international cinema.
-Neal Baker, Earlham Coll., Richmond, IN
Copyright 2000 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Review

"Well-informed descriptions of Indian society and history contextualize the author's careful presentation of each film's plot and hist well-grounded comments about the fim maker's stylistic decisions. Cooper writes lucidly enough that even upper-division undergraduates can make use of the book...an excellent jumping-off point for future studies of Ray's cinema." Choice

"...is clearly an important contribution to our knowledge of Satyajit Ray's films... The great strength of the book is that it provides an innovative and detailed analysis of many of Ray's films, and anyone with an interest in Ray should read this book. In addition, it adds an important dimension to cinema studies and will, therefore, be useful to anyone who is interested in world cinema." Herman Van Olphen, Journal of Asian Studies

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Product Details

• Paperback: 276 pages
• Publisher: Cambridge University Press; 1 edition (January 13, 2000)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0521629802
• ISBN-13: 978-0521629805
• Product Dimensions: 8.9 x 6 x 0.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 15.5 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,993,663 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars terribly annoying, December 16, 2004

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supastar (brooklyn) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Cinema of Satyajit Ray: Between Tradition and Modernity (Cambridge Studies in Film) (Paperback)

Darius Cooper's approach seems interesting and brave at the outset, but is really just a manufactured generic and shallow "Indian aesthetic," which boils down to a few Sanskrit words taken from some translated anthologies and superimposed over Ray's work. Whlie it might be acceptable to assume that certain Indian aesthetic ideas were pervasive throughout its history, there is absolutely no attempt to show that Ray ever would have looked into or cared for 1000-year old aesthetic theories of Sanskrit writers. The selective and specific theories and terms that Cooper applies with his interpretations, are forced to fit atop the text.

Cooper's attack on western readings of Ray's films that 'seem to suffer from a very serious lack of critical understanding of the social historical and cultural traditions of India..." raises a legitimate concern and his critique of the flat out wrong way in which the Krishna myth is superimposed on the story of Apu by a number of critics is right on point. The problem is, he simply takes a slightly more esoteric text and does the same thing. India is big. Where is the continuity between a tenth century Kashmiri writing about drama and the 20th century Bengali filmmaker?

This is a poor piece of scholarship, often a mere incorporation fof italicized Sanskrit words which add no elucidation to the interpretation, coupled with a whiny critique of prior Ray criticism. For Cooper, all "abhinaya" ends up meaning is gesture. Then why not just say gesture.

At his absolute worst, Cooper takes from the published screenplay as transalted by Shampa Banerjee and interprets dialogue from this screenplay that was NOT IN THE FILM!! At other times, he is more culturally ignorant than your worst 19th century white man's burden-type "scholar," as when he makes the sweeping generalizatoin that "In a Hindu family, the wife is never expected to speak to her husband except from a position of subservience. That is her social standing. She must have her sari over her had, and her face has to be partially covered in her husband's presence." What?? Says who? In the post-Gandhi post independence age, this is simply the way all "hindus" behave? It gets to the point where even his dedications, to "my Apus" and "my Ray woman" are annoying. This is the worst book on film criticism I have ever read. Somehow he played the whole "niche" market and wearing his nationalist agenda on his sleeve ("As an Indian myself") weakens the book further without giving him any of the authority he somehow seems to expect in matters of Sanskrit aesthetic theory.

5.0 out of 5 stars Fresh pespectives, October 24, 2010

By 

Donald H. Millikan - See all my reviews
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This review is from: The Cinema of Satyajit Ray: Between Tradition and Modernity (Cambridge Studies in Film) (Paperback)

An excellent introduction to the films of Satyajit Ray. The author, who grew up in India, spent years of study at the cinema department at the University of Southern California. This illuminating book grows out of his professional studies and deep personal reflection. Highly recommended!

0 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars darius cooper: an up and coming author!, February 18, 2001

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badhamash batleecabouch (USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Cinema of Satyajit Ray: Between Tradition and Modernity (Cambridge Studies in Film) (Paperback)

this book was the in-depth analysis of this great Director's work. Cooper is one of the first authors to really deconstruct the films of Satyajit Ray into a consolidated, comprehensive, and meaningful text. I hope to see more of this up and coming author sooner!