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Blu-ray

Pather Panchali = Song of the little road

Call Number

  • BLU-RAY FOREIGN (CEN)

Edition

Blu-ray special edition.

Languages

In Bengali, with English subtitles.

Performers

Kanu Banerjee, Karuna Banerjee, Subir Banerjee, Uma Das Gupta, Chunibala Devi, Shampa "Runki" Banerjee.

Publication Information

[New York, NY] : Criterion Collection, [2015]

Physical Description

1 videodisc (125 minutes) : sound, black & white ; 4 3/4 in.

Audience

Not rated.

Summary

A breathtaking milestone that brought India into the golden age of international art-house film, Satyajit Ray's The Apu Trilogy follows one indelible character, a free-spirited child in rural Bengal who matures into an adolescent urban student and, finally, a sensitive man of the world. Ray's delicate masterworks--Pather Panchali (Song of the Little Road), Aparajito (The Unvanquished), and Apur Sansar (The World of Apu)--based on two books by Bibhutibhusan Banerjee, were shot over the course of five years, and each stands on its own as a tender, visually radiant journey. These films--which have risen from the ashes in meticulously reconstructed restorations, after the original negatives were burned in a fire--are among the most achingly beautiful, richly humane movies ever made.

With the release in 1955 of Satyajit Ray's debut, Pather Panchali, an eloquent and important new cinematic voice made itself heard all over the world. A depiction of rural Bengali life in a style inspired by Italian neorealism, this naturalistic but poetic evocation of a number of years in the life of a family introduces us to both little Apu and, just as essentially, the women who will help shape him: his independent older sister, Durga; his harried mother, Sarbajaya, who, with her husband away, must hold the family together; and his kindly and mischievous elderly "auntie," Indir--vivid, multifaceted characters all. With resplendent photography informed by its young protagonist's perpetual sense of discovery, Pather Panchali, which won an award for Best Human Document at the Cannes Film Festival, is an immersive cinematic experience and a film of elemental power.

Notes

Based on the novel Pather Panchali by Bibhutibhusan Banerjee.

Originally released as a motion picture in 1955.

Issued as part of the box set The Apu trilogy by the Criterion Collection.

Special features: New 4K digital restoration, undertaken in collaboration with the Academy Film Archive at the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences and L'lmmagine Ritrovat, with uncompressed monaural soundtrack ; audio recording from 1958 of director Satyajit Ray reading his essay "A Long Time on the Little Road" ; new interviews with actors Soumitra Chatterjee and Shampa Srivastava and camera assistant Soumendu Roy ; excerpts from the 2003 documentary The Song of the Little Road featuring The Apu Trilogy composer Ravi Shankar ; new English subtitle translation.

Subjects