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Aging Death India Poverty

Pather Panchali is the first film in the director's "Apu Trilogy". The story itself is pretty minimal. In fact, you could almost say that it's missing. What's cool about this movie is the way it brings you into the lives of a poor Brahmin family living in India in the mid fifties. I'm assuming this is something that's outside of the experience of most of us and something that will seem altogether foreign to nearly everyone that reads this. The movie will open your eyes and introduce you to an altogether different way of life. The title translates to "Song of the Little Road" {according to the credits} by the way.

The quality of the DVD wasn't all that great. The movie really could stand some restoration. The film transfer's a bit jerky and there are a lot of artifacts and scratches. I found that this added a bit rather than detracting though. It makes it seem a bit more "real". The film itself is nicely filmed in black and white. It's composed beautifully. The only places it really suffers can be easily attributed to age and the limitations of technology in 1955. The sound is scratchy and tends to clip a bit the way old soundtracks do. The soundtrack itself is a lovely bit of Indian classical that does a lot to set the mood and place of the film. The audio quality serves to keep you aware of the time.

The movie begins with an older woman yelling loudly about a girl that's stealing from her orchard. Cut to "Durga {Uma Das Gupta}" wandering hither and yon across the countryside. Cut to a few interactions between the local women and to "Mom {Sarbojaya Ray {Karuna Bannerjee}}" berating "Auntie {Indir Thakrun {Chunibala Devi}}. As a result of mom's berating, Auntie throws a tantrum and leaves home and Durga gets energetic about her chores. Cut to "Dad {Harihar Ray {Kanu Bannerjee}} pacing worriedly across the floor of a dark and dreary room while mom gives birth on the bed.

IT'S A BOY!! APU!! {Subir Bannerjee}

Auntie returns, the next day, in much better spirits. The rest of the movie follows the life of the family over the course of several years. At points the film is nearly surreal. In addition to being touching and thought provoking it may manage to jerk a tear or two. It's a very realistic portrayal of poverty, pain and suffering that's horribly cold and desolate at times but does have it's pleasant moments. You really do owe it to yourself to see this one.