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(out of 5)
Satyajit Ray’s Apu trilogy continues after Pather Panchali with the further adventures of his delightful young hero. Now an adolescent, Apu is living with his parents in Benares when a sudden illness takes his father and his mother is responsible for earning a living. She begins work as a maid, but soon gives that up to go live with a relative in their ancestral village where he will take care of the two of them. Longing to better himself through education, Apu is sent to Calcutta to study and work, getting a job at a printing press. The days and nights of toil are difficult for him, while the distance from her son has a terrible effect on his mother, who wishes he would visit more. Ray’s delicate touch and beautiful sensibilities are well on display here, though the film does not hit as deep as the previous venture did, possibly because the character of Apu is kept more at a distance and not the contrast of joy and brightness in a world otherwise marked by harsh reality. All the same, it’s an exquisite film that fans of this leader in world cinema will greatly enjoy.
Directed by Satyajit Ray
Screenplay by Satyajit Ray, based on the novel by Bibhutibhushan Bandyopadhyay
Cinematography by Subrata Mitra
Produced by Satyajit Ray
Music by Ravi Shankar
Production Design by Bansi Chandragupta
Film Editing by Dulal Dutta
Film Festivals: Venice 1957
Cast Tags: Ajay Mitra, Anil Mukherjee, Bhaganu Palwan, Charuprakash Ghosh, Debabrata Chakraborty, Harendrakumar Chakravarti, Hemanta Chatterjee, K.S. Pandey, Kali Bannerjee, Kalicharan Roy, Kamala Adhikari, Kanu Bannerjee, Karuna Bannerjee, Keya Sengupta, Lalchand Banerjee, Mani Srimani, Meenakshi Devi, Panchanan Bhattacharya, Pinaki Sengupta, Ramani Sengupta, Ranibala, Santi Gupta, Saraswati Pandey, Shibnarayan Nag, Smaran Ghosal, Subodh Ganguli, Sudipta Roy, Udayshankar Tiwari
National Board Of Review Award
Top Five Foreign Films
Venice Film Festival Award
Golden Lion
British Academy Award Nominations
Best Film From Any Source
Best Foreign Actress (Karuna Bannerjee)
