Thursday 13 August 2020

Pather Panchali (1955)




Impoverished priest Harihar Ray, dreaming of a better life for himself and his family, leaves his rural Bengal village in search of work.

I must admit I had grown sceptic suspecting the movie to be meanwhile outdated or maybe a bit schmaltzy. But I was completely wrong! Yes, the movie is slowly paced, but has a rhythm all of its own, a simple epic perfectly depicting the ups and downs of life. The movie is meticulously composed in single sequences, many of sheer breathtaking beauty, and step by step you grow more acquainted with the characters and their fates. This would be a perfect example for film studies, you could learn immensely from this movie, and so much more astounding that all participants (except some actors) were complete amateurs when making this movie!

Halliwell****: "A remarkable first film of a director now famous, showing that people are much the same though the details of their daily lives may be different. The pace may be slow but the content is mainly absorbing."

Maltin***1/2: "Unrelenting study...Grippingly realistic..."

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