Product Details

• Actors: Kanu Bannerjee, Karuna Bannerjee, Pinaki Sengupta, Smaran Ghosal, Santi Gupta
• Directors: Satyajit Ray
• Producers: Apu Trilogy ( Aparajito , Pather Panchali , Apur Sansar ) ( The Unvanquished , Song of the Road , Th
• Format: Import, PAL, Subtitled
• Subtitles: English
• Region: Region 2 (Read more about DVD formats.)
• Number of discs: 3
• Rated: Unrated
• Studio: Artificial Eye
• Run Time: 333 minutes
• Average Customer Review: 4.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (18 customer reviews)
• ASIN: B000PS98WS
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #254,888 in Movies & TV (See Top 100 in Movies & TV)

Editorial Reviews

United Kingdom released, PAL/Region 2 DVD: it WILL NOT play on standard US DVD player. You need multi-region PAL/NTSC DVD player to view it in USA/Canada: LANGUAGES: Farsi ( Dolby Digital 2.0 ), English ( Subtitles ), SPECIAL FEATURES: 3-DVD Set, Black & White, Box Set, Documentary, Featurette, Interactive Menu, Photo Gallery, Posters, Production Notes, Storyboards, SYNOPSIS: Pather Panchali (Song of the Road):; Pather Panchali (Father Panchali), Indian director Satyajit Ray's first feature film, relates the story of an impoverished Bengalese family. When the father (Karuna Bannerjee) leaves for the city to pursue a writing career, the mother (Karuna Banerji) is left with the responsibility of caring for the rest of the brood. Gradually, the film's true central character emerges: Apu (Subir Banerji), the family's son. Though excruciatingly realistic at times, Pather Panchali takes an occasional timeout to dwell on the purely cinematic. For example, when the mother receives a postcard bearing good news, Ray dissolves to a pond, where a pair of water skates scamper about. The music by Ravi Shankar at first seems to be at odds with the action; soon, however, we come to accept the music as a logical outgrowth of the events at hand. A multiple award winner, Pather Panchali was the first of Ray's celebrated 'Apu Trilogy' (the other two entries were 1956's Aparajito and 1959's The World of Apu). The film was also released as The Song of the Road and The Lament of the Path.; ; Aparajito (The Unvanquished): ; The Unvanquished is the second of Indian director Satyajit Ray's 'Apu Trilogy' (the first was Pather Panchali). Ray's young protagonist Apu is permitted a formal education over the gentle objections of his mother, who'd wanted him to be priest. Eventually, Apu earns a university scholarship and a...Apu Trilogy ( Aparajito / Pather Panchali / Apur Sansar ) ( The Unvanquished / Song of the Road / The World of Apu )

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars brilliant film....., March 21, 2007

By 

D. Pawl "Dani" (Seattle) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Aparajito (DVD)

This is the second installment in the "Apu Trilogy," by masterful Indian filmmaker Satyajit Ray.
Apu (Pinaki Sengupta, as the young Apu and Smaran Ghosal, as the adolescent) has relocated with his mother (Karuna Bannerjee) and father (Kanu Bannerjee) to Banares. Apu's father is working as a medicine man there, and Apu is very ambitious to start school with the other young boys. This follows the life of this family, its joys, struggles and the choice Apu must make to either pursue the life of his father (as a priest) or venture out to Calcutta, as a scholarship student, to build a foundation for himself.

This film was shot beautifully and is really a great example of marvelous storytelling. Also, the acting is brilliant. The two young men who portray Apu as a child and a young man are wonderful and engaging--particularly Pinaki Sengupta whose eyes say so much in the scenes between him and his parents that there is very little need for dialogue. Beautiful.......

9 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Sarbajaya's Struggle for Meaning, April 7, 2004

By 

Rebecca Johnson "The Rebecca Review" (Washington State) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Aparajito (DVD)

This is the second film in director Satyajit Ray's Apu Trilogy and is best viewed after Pather Panchali and followed by The World of Apu. Harihar (Kanu Bannerjee) takes his wife, Sarbajaya (Karuna Bannerjee) and their son Apu to live in Benares. Their family home has been destroyed in the monsoon and with the loss of their daughter, they are struggling to cope emotionally as well as financially.

I found this movie to be more about the struggle Sarbajaya (Apu's mother) faces on a daily basis. She is an example of a woman who has given up her desires for the good of her family. As she cares for her family on a daily basis you can see how she is sinking into the darkest of depression. Not only is she terribly lonely, she does not fully recover from the loss of her daughter. While she is surrounded by members of her immediate community, she seems to strangely isolated and alone and the unfulfilled desires of her heart seem to weave an invisible and yet debilitating cocoon around her soul.

Throughout this movie, her sacrifice becomes even more beautiful as it allows Apu to see some of his own dreams come to fruition. Apu's father makes his living reading sacred texts by the shores of the Ganges River and then suddenly falls ill. Apu must continue his education and find his own way in this harsh world.

I love the scene where Apu pretends to miss the train and when his mother worries about what they are feeding him at school. The first few scenes also show birds sitting on umbrellas and then taking off suddenly. Could this be a foreshadowing for the situation in which Apu finally finds himself? I found these movies have quite a few "foreshadowing" moments that I only recognized on the second viewing. Which is why the Apu Trilogy must be watched more than once to be fully appreciated. These are finely woven stories that deal with the deepest human issues we all must face at some point in our lives.

~The Rebecca Review

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Deeply moving film, October 22, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: Aparajito [VHS] (VHS Tape)

It is incredibly difficult to review any film by Satyavit Ray because he is an artist without peer...director, screen writer, composer. Unlike so many Hollywood films, Ray's films seem real, not contrived and stike at the core of our feelings. His film , Aparajito, is one of the Apu trilogy (be sure to see all three including "The World of Apu" and "Pather Panchali"). This is a luminous depiction of a family tragedy. But like other of Ray's films, it leads to a personal "epiphany", a deeper understanding of the meaning of our lives.