22 of 24 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
An all time great movie -one of Ray's best works, February 16, 2002
Jalsaghar(The Music Room),made in 1958 is a masterpiece of World Cinema. It is must-see for all Ray fans in particualar and all the classic cinelovers in general.
The film is about a zamindar(landowning nobleman),played brilliantly by the great Chobi Biswas,whose tremendous passsion for staging very lavish musical arrangements ushers in his decadence.
The movie shows in flashback his best days with a happy family and most dignified presence in the sumptuous music and dance arrangements.
On the course of time,the nobleman loses money;his wife and son die in a shipwreck.
In a last and vein effort to bring back those yesterdays of glory and now-lost dignity the nobleman invests with all the money he had to stage another jalsa( musical arrangement ).
And this arrangement turned out to be his last.
The movie has got many memorable scenes notably one in the "jalsaghar" where he makes his presence felt by saying that he is the one who deserves (he being the host and organizer)to be the first giver of the token-money(as remuneration) to the artist ;and yet another one was when he gets the news of his kins' death and takes in hands restlessly his son's deadbody.
Who can forget the last scene where he becomes restless and takes out his aging stallion out of the stable and rides on it until he falls down.The scene aptly concludes the downfall of the zamindar .
Not many people know that Ray found the location of the this zamindar's palace in an awkward place in Nimtita in Bengal-Bangladesh border.
The palace in which the film was shot was actually that of the Chowdhurys and coincidentally enough the writer of "Jalsaghar",Tarashankar Banerjee, had one music loving Upendra Narayan Chowdhury (of this Chowdhury family of Nimtita) in his mind which served as the model of the Zamindaar of his story.
This is the film which can be seen time and again without getting tired.This is real genuine masterpiece.
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14 of 15 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Decay of home, decay of life, June 12, 2007
Although I have not viewed the DVD yet, I will update as to any special features, but I am sharing you my review from VHS.
If you have not been introduced to the cinematic world of Satyajit Ray, this 1958 may not be your best film to start out. Instead, try his last movie 1991, Agantuk, (The Stranger) or begin with the world classic mid 50's Apu Trilogy. The Music Room features lengthy Indian music and singing that may be difficult to endure, but it is essential to listen, because it is the essence of the film, the love of music.
Jalsaghar (The Music Room) takes place in the 30's in a huge deteriorating palace as the soil slowly erodes too. The theme is a contrast between decadence and wealth. All he has now is two loyal servants, a few gold coins, a horse, and an elephant. As the movie opens, we are in the present time, when Biswambhar Roy, a feudal landlord is depressed, he has lost his wife and son and his love for the grand music room, where he entertained traditional concerts, drinking, and dancing.
Biswambhar Roy is annoyed by the lights going off from his neighbor's new generator. The neighbor is wealthy and he is modernizing, while Roy is not. Soon, we are taken into flashback where evidence shows he was already beginning to lose wealth, but he said he would spend his last on his love of music.
His wife and son have gone to visit family, and in preparation of another concert in the music room, upon return, he learns they are dead from a whirlpool accident. Now begins the death of the cherished music room.
Satyajit Ray is one of the world's greatest directors, he writes, produces, and directs. He is also a short story writer, and was a graphic artist. He is multi-talented and uses motifs, symbolism, themes, imagery, wide landscape shots. The mirrors, chandeliers, lights, and candles represent wealth and life. You will see an enormous views, especially one that depicts the size of the decaying palace. See how Ray sets the mood and slowly pans the dying, cold, deteriorating music room that was once had musical life. Ray's films offer great insight into human relationships, cultural life, hardships and triumph.
If you have seen Ray's films, you may be aware of the unique faces of his characters. He has said, he chooses people with interesting faces, and it is true with one of his bearded singers. He also doesn't focus on heavy dialogue as he once said that peak moments of a film should be wordless.
Enjoy this wonderful classic and don't see it while sleepy!! Satyajit Ray's movies are exceptional! As another great director, Kurosawa, said, " Not to have seen the cinema of Ray means existing in the world without seeing the sun or the moon."
--- Rizzo
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6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Simply a masterpiece, September 15, 2005
This review is from: The Music Room (Jalsaghar) [Region 2] (DVD)
This is an amazing movie that explores the vanity and ruin of a once-prosperous feudal landlord (Biswambhar Roy) in Bengal around the turn of the century. Roy is a man who can not come to terms with a fast-changing world where his old feudal order is slowly disappearing and he is being upstaged by a vulgar money-lender (Ganguly) upstart whose family were once his beneficiaries and whom he considers beneath contempt for his lack of refinement. Even as he loses all else that he held dear, Roy remains a Zamindar to the end and decides on one last party in his Jalsaghar (music hall) that has remained closed for so long to teach the upstart a lesson.
The movie features excellent black-and-white cinematography, great acting and of course, the genius of Ray's direction.
To the lovers of music, this movie features a real treasure-trove of music with music direction by the late great Ustad Vilayat Khan, vocals by Akhtari Bai and a rare classic by the late Pakistani singer Salamat Ali Khan who was only 19 when he was recorded for this movie.
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