Series 40 - Late Ray

So with the last post, I made it pretty clear that I was going to intermittently pursue the Eclipse Collection as time permitted, starting with this one - Series 40 - Laty Ray - - These are 3 of the last 4 films that Satyajit Ray did in his lifetime

I won't get into a big exposition here except to say that Satyajit Ray is one of the most famous of all Indian (and Bengali) directors and that no less than Akira Kurosawa said if you haven't seen a Ray film, you haven't seen the sunrise

on that theme, these films are the sunset, as it were

The first one, the Home and the World, from 1984, is his last period piece and was the one he suffered a heart attack while doing and got assistance finishing from his son.   The last two - An Enemy of the People (adapted from a Play by Henrik Isben) and The Stranger are much more constrained visually.  Ray was forced to work on studio sets with a doctor nearby, and as such they are extensively dialogue driven.   There is often only one or two exterior shots in the last films, and we get less of some of the glorious exterior shots that he had in  his earlier career.

Strictly speaking, he visits some of the same Indian themes in these pictures that he has done before - Ideas such as corruption in business, the role of women in traditional and modern society, and family bonds have all played a role in his previous films.  It has beens stated that he was becoming more activist, and perhaps he wanted to make a stronger statement than he had in the past but compared to films like "The Big City" or the films of the Calcutta Trilogy, I feel like they still hold back still a bit.

The Stranger is a wonderful swansong to end a career with.  At least one comment I read on it stated the Director felt that with it complete, he had no more need to make any more films, and he would pass away about a year after it's completion  - The story is that a long lost uncle pays a visit to a great-niece, and the intrigue and comedy with which they attempt to discover his true roots and origins make this one of the more interesting films I've seen on the subject.  

Key moments include a conversation in the film that a friend from Bengal asked me to watch ahead of this viewing between the Uncle and a Barrister that is an interesting commentary on what Civilization has brought/taken from humanity that needs to be seen a couple times to get the full force of, and of course, one last dance number for old times sake near the end.

There is a missing film here called Branches of the Tree that is similar to the last two - dialogue driven on small sets - I could see where that might be left off with all the other stuff - who needs a 3rd film of people talking for two hours, but it would have been nice to get it in for purity's sake

I heard on the Eclipse Podcast - (link last post) that Criterion got the rights to 18 of Ray's films, and that's not the entire collection - several have been released including the magnificent Apu Trilogy which inspired me to pursue all of Ray's feature films.   The Eclipse series fills a nice niche for some obscure genres (like my personal favorite, Nikkatsu Noir) but it also provides some nice blocks of directors who sometimes don't get the catalog fully explored.  With that in mind, these are great films for fans of Ray's work, but the other mainline Criterion films released, especially the Apu Trilogy, Charilata, the Music Room, and The Big City are a better introduction to one of the greatest directors in world cinema.   Start with the Apu Trilogy and try watching all three in one sitting and then follow the branches out from there

more about Satyajit Ray can be found at wikipedia

RB