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Pather Panchali

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Once upon a time, in the early years of the last century, a young boy named Apu lived with his poor Brahmin family in a village in Bengal. The father, Harihar Ray (Kanu Bannerjee) is a poet and a priest, who would rather think of an idea for his next play than make an effort to get the money that is owed him, and who responds to the hardships of life with the simple declaration, "Whatever God does is for the best." Consequently, he has to travel far away for long periods of time to try and raise the money his family needs to survive, to pay back their debts, and to repair the family home, which is falling down. This leaves his wife and two children to survive as best they can in this intimate and poetic film.

The two things I knew about this classic Indian film before I watched it was that it was the first by director Satyajit Ray and the first in the Apu trilogy. I found the later more interesting because Apu (Subir Bannerjee) is arguable the least significant of the major characters in this film, which centers more on his mother, Sarbojaya (Karuna Bannerjee), and especially his sister, Durga (Uma Das Gupta). Durga is something of a petty theft, who is always stealing fruit from the neighborhood orchards. Her mother defends her behavior to the neighbors, pointing out that fruit does not have the name of its owner on it, but she does not know what to do about Durga, or about the family's old auntie (Chunibala Devi). Apu is a witness to some of what happens, but it is not until the end of the film that he has a scene of some importance. Even then, it is the poetry of the moment that matters more than anything Apu does, and you are left with a sense of wonder as to how Ray has crafted this film so that this relatively simple moment becomes so eloquent.

"Pather Panchali" was also known as "The Lament of the Path," "The Saga of the Road," and "Song of the Road," all of which give you a sense of the meaning and import of the title. You would be hard pressed to describe the plot of this movie in terms that would be enticing to an audience that is going to have to sit down and read subtitles for a film, but there are so many memorable moments in this film without dialogue, that being forced to read the English subtitles of the Bengali dialogue seems a small price to pay. This is about a poor rural family cursed with bad luck, and even that minor description gives no indication of the scope of this film. Even when nothing is happening, the scenes are still filled with meaning, and we never shake the feeling that we are watching real life.

After seeing this film I started reading up on Ray and the legendary story of how he made this film, it is rather unbelievable when you consider we are talking about one of the greatest "foreign" film directors of all time, right up there with Kurosawa, Bergman, and Fellini. The short version is Ray had never directed a scene, his cameraman (Subrata Mitra) was a still photographer who had never shot a film, and his young actors had been hired without tryouts. He also hired a young musician named Ravi Shankar to do the score, and the result was cinematic magic and a film debut that is unforgettable. "Pather Panchali" is followed by "Aparajito" (1957) and "Apur Sansar" (1959) in telling the rest of the story of young Apu as he grows up. I have not seen then yet, but of course I will. I just need to let the afterglow of having finally seen this film dissipate first before I move on to the next offering in the trilogy.

Delicate, almost lyrical black-and-white images, offer insight into the harshness of life in a rural Bengali village. Panther Panchali is the first movie in Satyajit Ray's (1921-1992) compelling Apu Trilogy. Ravi Shankar's hauntingly beautiful music takes this movie to a mythical level.

Satyajit Ray's ability to reveal this story at a leisurely pace, all while intriguing you with the details of Indian life, keeps you captive to the last minute. Even the old stone buildings of the ancestral home seem artistic.

In the first story we find Durga stealing guavas and Apu is not yet born. As Durga's mother, Sarbajaya (Karuna Bannerjee), struggles to look after family members she is already responsible for, her relatives criticize her for her lack of leadership in the family. The auntie Indir (Chunibala Devi) takes delight in Durga's adventures and loves the gifts of bananas and guavas.

There is a comforting scene where she is seen sitting against an ancient wall while she rocks Apu in a basket hanging from the ceiling. As she sings there is a moment of serenity in this world where each day seems to be a fight for survival. Her optimistic attitude is almost heroic in the light of how she is often treated. She has much to offer her community and excels at story telling. Watch for the scene where her face is silhouetted against the wall late at night. This movie has many cinematic moments that border on enlightened creativity.

For some reason, this movie reminded me of living in Africa on a campsite/farm where we would borrow a cup of sugar from the neighbors house or wander down a path to the river. Here we find the comical "Indir" stealing chilies or other cooking supplies from Sarbajaya. Sarbajaya is overwhelmed by her own life and yet later she is faced with her own loneliness as she sinks into depression.

Apu's father, Harihar, struggles to find work although he has dreams of seeing his plays performed. He is truly an example of a beautiful soul vibrating at a higher level of creativity than those around him and yet he is forced to take on menial work just to survive.

As the story progresses Apu grows into an adorable whisp of a child and I love the scene where he and his sister walk down the well-worn path. There are scenes of dancing in the monsoon rains and while all the characters seem to be living in their own worlds, they somehow function in their community in a meaningful way. As the rains bring life back to the land, nothing can prepare you for the emotional impact of the scenes that follow.

Overall, I was impressed with the brilliance of the storytelling and how each story weaves almost effortlessly into the next. Pather Panchali is one of the rare film experiences no one should miss. Not only does it address the basics of survival in a community, it makes you think about your own role and how your choices affect everyone around you.

If you can watch Aparajito and The World of Apu in the next few days following your first viewing of Panther Panchali, your experience will turn into a complete immersion in the intriguing and exotic world of Apu. After watching the first movie, I could hardly wait to watch the second and within a day I had watched the third. These movies will leave you in the deepest of contemplation for days and not only will you find yourself lost within the minds of the characters, you will enjoy all the connections between the movies.

~The Rebecca Review

Pather Panchali, a simple, moving, story of a family struggling to survive the harshness of poverty in a village in Bengal. Nothing magical, nothing remarkable, and yet their lives encompass all the varied emotions that is within us all. That is the greatness of this film. It is ageless and universal. The bond between the girl Durga and Auntie,the old old lady is sweet and moving. So is the love between the little brother Apu and elder sister Durga. The simple things that fill these children with happiness, like a passing train, transport us to the simplicity of our childhood. The song when old Auntie calls to God in the gloomy dusk, to relieve her from the burden of this earth is haunting and sad, in that we feel the utter loneliness of the old woman. Each scene, is filled with meaning and there are no artificial sounds. In one of the scenes, with Durga and Apu roaming in the fields, there is just a heavy stillness, broken just by the sound of a sighing wind. The sitar recital by Ravi Shankar when the monsoon breaks and the first drops of rain fall, with the insects dancing over the rippling lake is magical and poetic. This movie, considered the best of Satyajit's work, remains one of the best and unforgettable movies, for me.

Pather Panchali (Satyajit Ray, 1955)

This would be a ludicrously long review before I ran out of good things to say about Pather Panchali. But everyone else has already said all those things. If you didn't listen to them, you're not going to listen to me, but I'll put in a "see it. now." here for good measure and get onto what will be a review not of a great film, but a ludicrous DVD release.

Biswas proudly trumpets that it has exclusive rights to Pather Panchali in the DVD market. If this is the case, it should be considered a crime against nature. The video transfer is horrible, the sound transfer only marginally better. I've seen better subtitling on bargain-basement bootleg Chinese DVDs. If your only chance to see the film is in the Biswas DVD release, wait until you can catch a revival somewhere. This is terrible in the extreme, and hopefully, someday, someone will do something about it. The movie gets four stars; the DVD release, one.

A movie like this really spits in the face of Hollywood. Not on purpose; just inevitably. First of all, the story is simple--people on the brink. Their need, hope, love, despair are raw because their lives are. There are no gimmicks to keep us interested, and we don't need any. Excellent acting (even from the kids!) keeps this intensity from ever becoming melodramatic, and because of this directness, you feel that you really know (even become in some way) the characters. No matter what the viewer's background, it is impossible not to connect with these people. There is no filler in this movie; everything has meaning--a glance, a movement of the hand, trees in the wind all have something to say and no one has to spell it out for us. Shot in black and white, every scene is like a beautiful photograph. This movie just kept pushing home the fragile brutality of life and the responsibility we all have toward each other, how little it takes to make another's life just a little more bearable or unbearable. It's one of those movies that stays with you. I can't recommend it highly enough.

Some reviewer writes that this is an over-rated film. If anything this is an under-rated film. Because this is made in Bengali, very few people in India can appreciate this film far less the international audience. Bengali films and that too in 1950s were not promoted, not properly subtitled with the result that this film is confined to art-house audiences in India and elsewhere. I have seen Citizen Kane and let me tell you this is comparable if not better.

Ray is criticized on 2 fronts by 2 different sets of people. Some people denigrate him as having sold India's poverty for awards. Others castigate him from glorifying poverty and for given a rose tinted view of poverty.Well you cant please everyone.Ray is not a social reformer, he is an artist with celluloid. So while his films are not meant to stir you into "action", he also does not succumb to making traditional Indian escapist song fests so that everyone can feel "good".

This isnt a film--its a dream. It is about an Indian boy, who despite the death,sorrow,poverty he encounters at every stage in his life manages to keep his innocence and his dreams intact. It is about the courage to dream and the indomitable force of life. People who think this is dark and depressing miss out on the heart of Pather Panchali and on the Apu trilogy. On the contrary this is the greatest celebration of life ever captured on celluloid.

And the haunting background score, the beautiful imagery, the rains falling on the pond, the necklace vanishing into the vegetation over the water......oh if this is not poetry then tell me what is ?

See this....just see this.Thats all I can say.

I first saw this movie in 1967 as part of my Peace Corps training before I was sent to live in a South Indian village for two years. All of the superlatives about the cinematic experience mentioned elsewhere are certainly well earned. However, my experience of the movie will forever be linked to my two years of living in an Indian village. Some of the reviewers of the movie talk about the haunting images of love and survival that will remain with them for a long time. I can only say that the images from the movie that were so moving represent a small fraction of the often overwhelming images and experiences I gained firsthand from living with people who could have been characters in Pather Panchali or either of the other two movies in the trilogy. What Ray has done is to create an epic poem about a man's life, in three films, that is powerful in part because it is based upon his faithful re-creation of the most minute details of his own experience of Bengali village life. It has been more than 35 years since I left that South Indian village as a young man and my memories of my life there are tinged with the same poignancy and strong emotions that come when viewing Pather Panchali. Over the years, I have seen most of Ray's other films, mainly in India. However, none of his other films surpasses Pather Panchali in power and beauty.

No question about the fact that the effort that went into restoring the film is laudable. The DVD disappoints somewhat on a couple of counts. Firstly, if you want to watch it again with subtitles off, just to admire the visual compositions (in Ray's own words, there's no beautiful or ugly shots...only the right and wrong ones) that went into the storytelling, it doesn't let you do so. The subtitles, can, therefore be distracting. Secondly, there are loads of material written (a lot of it by Ray himself) and filmed (like interviews, especially the ones by Lindsay Anderson, and by Shyam Benegal/Govind Nihalani) with anecdotes of how the film was shot, and which could have been included in the DVD; such are material which make a DVD a truly collectible item. But really can't complain too much ... better something than nothing.

Pather Panchali is quite simply one of the greatest films of all time. It packs an unimaginably intense emotional wallop that I have not felt in some time at the cinema. It is one of maybe three or four movies I have ever cried at. A fellow reviewer put it best when he said that it is the very simplicity of the story that makes it so intense, and one is so completely drawn into the story of the poor Brahmin family that at the tragic climax of the film, we feel the grief of the family just as they would have. I had to see this movie three times during its limited engagement in Seattle, and it remains one of the most profound experiences I have ever had.

I'm sorry to see that as if this date Amazon has no copies of this film for sale. I hope this is temporary. It would be a shame if this film were not made available for people to own.

I have all three DVDs of the Apu trilogy. This, the first in the trilogy, is the best one, I think. Three of the major themes are the irrevocable nature of loss, the power of human love, and the simple but powerful ways we experience redemption.

Many reviews focus on the title character, Apu, yet this is also a powerful portrayal of various phases of women's lives: maiden, mother, and crone, if you will. Durga, the maiden, is often described as a petty thief, yet her acts often seem heroic to me and serve to underscore the pettiness and selfishness of her neighbors. Why should Durga have to steal guavas from the land that used to belong to her father? Why can't the neighbors share?

As for stealing the beads, Durga's desire for something pretty, while not so heroic, is perfectly understandable when one realizes how little Durga is appreciated in a family that dotes on Apu, the boy. Yet there are no villains in this film. All characters are fully rounded. The mother, who often seems cruel, is also a sympathetic character who tries to keep her pride in tact while descending deeper into poverty all the time.

The grandmother is, to me, the best character of the bunch. She's as mysterious as she is mischevious. The petty bickering between Durga's mother and grandmother doesn't show an absence of love but results from the pressures of day to day survival. The women, in fact, are woven into the same tapestry of life. In one brilliant shot, the mother is shown holding her weary back while the grandmother, bent from years of hardship and work, shuffles in the background. Life is hard and the inevitability of old age is just around the corner. How is one's hard work and sacrifice repaid? Are we destined to end up like Durga's grandmother, whom nobody seems to want? Nobody, save Durga, who has a pure heart and shows her love by bringing lovingly her hungry grandmother stolen guavas.

The people and situations are never sentimentalized, not even the death of the grandmother, whose body is discovered by Durga and Apu.

Yes, this is the story of Apu, a young boy, but it's also the story of the three main phases of women's lives. This film is rich visually and is one the viewer will think about for a long time. One of my all-time favorite films. PATHER PANCHALI is the best of the three, but THE WORLD OF APU doesn't miss this distinction by much.