"Pather Panchali" is a Remarkably Beautiful, Human Tale

Satjayit Ray's Pather Panchali is about a small family struggling to get by in the countryside of Bengali. But really it is a film about what it means to be human; to live, to laugh and cry, to suffer, to not get what you want, to bond with your siblings, to fight with your parents, to watch those around you grow up and grow old and even die. It is a film of deep humanity that spends most of its time observing unintrusively into the lives of Indir (Chunibala Devi), Harihar (Kanu Banerjee), Sarbajaya (Karuna Banerjee), and most importantly Apu (Subir Banerjee), and Durga (as a child Runki Banerjee and as a teenager Uma Dasgupta). It is a movie of small triumphs -- the film's most exuberant scene features Durga and Apu seeing a train for the first time in their life -- and big losses -- more than one death occurs in the film. The film is a convincing and honest glimpse into village life in a small, remote place. The Ray family live in their ancestral home, a place in dire need of repairs, repairs they simply do not have the money for. Harihar keeps reassuring that one day they will move away when they can save up enough money; that day is pushed further and further away until it feels like a pleasant dream. The film is one about changing times and generational divides. We see Durga steal fruit from an orchard in the film's first scene to help feed her family; she is scolded by her mother, but though she grows older, and becomes a role model to her newly born brother, she is still the same mischievous girl at heart. The film is shot in a simple, sparse style; it is naturalistic and docu-realistic (featuring mostly amateur actors), capturing quietly stolen moments. Some of these moments are so striking, evocative and emotionally rich that they feel poetic. Pather Panchali takes its time; it rambles but, if given a chance, most certainly rewards.

Grade: A