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Special Features
- New 4K digital restorations of all three films, undertaken in collaboration with thee Academy Film Archive at the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences and L'Immagine Ritrovata
- Audio recordings from 1958 of director Satyajit Ray reading his essay "A Long Time on the Little Road" and in conversation with film historian Gideon Bachmann
- New interviews with actors Soumitra Chatterjee, Shampa Srivastava, and Sharmila Tagore; camera assistant Soumendu Roy; and film writer Ujjal Chakraborty
- Making "The Apu Trilogy": Satyajit Ray's Epic Debut, a new video essay by Ray biographer Andrew Robinson
- "The Apu Trilogy": A Closer Look, a new program featuring filmmaker, producer, and teacher Mamoun Hassan
- Excerpts from the 2003 documentary The Song of the Little Road, featuring composer Ravi Shankar
- The Creative Person: "Satyajit Ray," a 1967 half-hour documentary by James Beveridge, featuring interviews with Ray, several of his actors, members of his creative team, and film critic Chidananda Das Gupta
- Footage of Ray receiving an honorary Oscar in 1992
- New programs on the restorations by filmmaker ::koganada
Synopsis
The World of Apu
Originally released in India as Apur Sansar, The World of Apu was the last of Satyajit Ray's "Apu Trilogy." Pather Panchali (1955) covered Apu's early years in his native village, while Aparajito (1956) detailed his school years and the tragedy that temporarily brought him back home. Now Apu (Soumitra Chatterjee), having abandoned college due to lack of money, hopes to find success as a writer. He is sidetracked from this goal when he meets Aparna (Sharmila Tagore), whose impending wedding is canceled when the groom turns out to be mentally unstable. To save Aparna from a custom-dictated life of spinsterhood, Apu marries her himself. When she dies giving birth, the grieving Apu cannot bring himself to meet his son, and in fact deserts the boy for five years before learning how to gracefully accept his lot in life. Like the other entries in the trilogy, The World of Apu was based on Bibhutibhusan Bandopadhaya's semi-autobiographical novel Aparajito. In the manner typical of his earlier works, director Ray adopts a straightforward, realistic approach, avoiding any sort of attention-getting directorial techniques, the better to simply tell his story. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi
Aparajito
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 arrives in the teeming metropolis of Calcutta. Overwhelmed by life in the Big City, the impressionable country boy forgets about his loving mother. By the time Apu returns to his home, he finds it's too late to pick up pieces. Smaran Ghosal plays the adult Apu, with Pinaki Sen Gupta portraying his younger counterpart in the flashback. Aparajito was derived from a novel by Bibhutibhusan. The film also features a musical score by Ravi Shankar. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi
Pather Panchali
Pather 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. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi
Originally released in India as Apur Sansar, The World of Apu was the last of Satyajit Ray's "Apu Trilogy." Pather Panchali (1955) covered Apu's early years in his native village, while Aparajito (1956) detailed his school years and the tragedy that temporarily brought him back home. Now Apu (Soumitra Chatterjee), having abandoned college due to lack of money, hopes to find success as a writer. He is sidetracked from this goal when he meets Aparna (Sharmila Tagore), whose impending wedding is canceled when the groom turns out to be mentally unstable. To save Aparna from a custom-dictated life of spinsterhood, Apu marries her himself. When she dies giving birth, the grieving Apu cannot bring himself to meet his son, and in fact deserts the boy for five years before learning how to gracefully accept his lot in life. Like the other entries in the trilogy, The World of Apu was based on Bibhutibhusan Bandopadhaya's semi-autobiographical novel Aparajito. In the manner typical of his earlier works, director Ray adopts a straightforward, realistic approach, avoiding any sort of attention-getting directorial techniques, the better to simply tell his story. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi
Aparajito
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 arrives in the teeming metropolis of Calcutta. Overwhelmed by life in the Big City, the impressionable country boy forgets about his loving mother. By the time Apu returns to his home, he finds it's too late to pick up pieces. Smaran Ghosal plays the adult Apu, with Pinaki Sen Gupta portraying his younger counterpart in the flashback. Aparajito was derived from a novel by Bibhutibhusan. The film also features a musical score by Ravi Shankar. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi
Pather Panchali
Pather 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. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi
Cast & Crew
Soumitra Chatterjee - Apurba Kumar Roy (Apu)
Sharmila Tagore - Aparna
Alok Chakravarty- Swapan Mukherji
