Thursday, April 23, 2009

Apu Trilogy

The Apu Trilogy, not surprisingly made up of 3 films, is directed by Satyajit Ray. Today is the anniversary of his death in 1992. FilmReference.com has lists of resources and an article on his work. Bright Lights Film Journal has an interview. There is a Facebook page. Senses of Cinema has a profile of him, which concludes,
Ray makes us re-evaluate the commonplace. He has the remarkable capacity of transforming the utterly mundane into the excitement of an adventure. There is the ability to recognise the mythic in the ordinary,
...
More then any of his contemporaries in world cinema, he can create an awareness of the ordinary man, and he doesn't do it in the abstract, but by using the simplest, most common and concrete details such as a gesture or a glance.

What is also distinctive in Ray's work is that the rhythm in his films seems almost meditative. There is a contemplative quality in the magnificent flow of images and sounds that evokes an attitude of acceptance and detachment, which is profoundly Indian.


The Apu films:
Pather Panchali (1955)
Aparajito (1956)
Apur Sansar (1959)

Ravi Shankar did the musical score. The Apu trilogy is #76 on the artsandfaith.com list of 100 most spiritually significant films. The trilogy also has a spot on Time's list of 100 best films. Roger Ebert has the series on his "great movies" list. The Guardian seems to regret the films are seldom seen today. FilmReference.com says the films
had a profound effect on filmmaking within India and an important effect on the attention paid to Indian films outside India

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