Pather Panchali
Release date: 1955-08-26
Votes: 467
Genres: Drama, History
Impoverished priest Harihar Ray leaves his rural Bengal village in search of work. His wife, Sarbojaya, looks after their rebellious daughter, Durga, and young son, Apu. The children enjoy the small pleasures of their difficult life.
Reviews
CinemaSerf
Part one of Satyajit Ray's trilogy introduces us to the poverty stricken family of the young "Apu" (Subir Banerjee). His family once had a guava orchard, but his poet and philosopher father "Harihar" (Kanu Bannerjee) had to trade that in to square up his profligate brother's debts. That now means that his mother "Sarbojaya" (Karuna Bannerjee) has to try to keep food on the table for them, his pilfering sister "Durga" (Uma Das Gupta) and their resident elderly aunt "Indir" (Chunibala Devi) - and that's not a task she relishes! With nothing much coming in, her's is the job of scraping together the means of buying food and living with the disdain of her neighbours. Finally, "Harihar" concludes that he must go and find work - so off he goes leaving the family to fend for themselves - and all of this with the monsoon season looming large over their dilapidated home. Being the first of a trilogy, this is much more of an establishing exercise - we get to meet the constituent parts of this happy but strained and frequently quarrelsome family; we see just how hand-to-mouth their existence is; we experience some of the culture of shame that is visited on those less fortunate - and we also get to appreciate the stoicism of a family with very little prospect of light at the end of their tunnel. What really adds richness to this story is the photography. It's so intimate in it's presentation. Everything here looks spontaneous and natural, the antics of the children - especially the fruit stealing sister; the boys playing and cavorting around. Even the constant bickering between aunt and mother comes across as entirely convincing. The jigsaw puzzle of his life is only gradually being put together, but you can sense that "Apu" is in for some adventures as he strives for a better life for him and his family, and even at a young age we all see his potential, and the potential for him to fail. I saw a 16mm print of this recently and though the subtitles had faded slightly, it was quite an astonishing production to watch and as an observation of subsistence life, it's really quite poignant.
Movie Recommendation
The World of Apu1959-05-01Apu, now a jobless ex-student dreaming vaguely of a future as a writer, is invited to join an old college friend on a trip up-country to a village wedding.More...
Aparajito1956-10-11Apu and his family have moved away from the country to live in the bustling holy city of Benares. As he progresses from wide-eyed child to intellectually curious teenager, eventually studying in Kolkata, we witness his academic and moral education, as well as the growing complexity of his relationship with his mother.More...
The Hunt1966-11-07Three veterans of the Spanish Civil War go rabbit hunting. While doing so, old wounds open up.More...
Bluebeard's 8th Wife1938-03-25American multi-millionaire Michael Brandon marries his eighth wife, Nicole, the daughter of a broke French Marquis. But she doesn't want to be only a number in the line of his ex-wives and undertakes her own strategy to tame him.More...
The Elephant God1979-01-04Set in the holy city of Benares, this is the second film about the detective Feluda, who goes on a holiday with his cousin, Topshe, and his friend, Lalmohan Ganguly. But the theft of a priceless deity of Lord Ganesh (the Elephant God) from a local household forces him to investigate.More...
The Versace Saga2023-07-28The Versace story is a family story of glory and tragedy that reads like a glamorous soap opera. In the late 1970s, Gianni Versace founded a small family business that would grow into a global fashion empire with his older brother in charge of the finances and his sister as artistic director. His audacious designs would revolutionise the fashion industry.More...
Stalingrad1990-02-01The WWII pivotal battle of Stalingrad is shown through the eyes of the soldiers and officers on both sides of the war.More...
Vishwaroopam2013-01-25Vishwanathan, a Kathak dance teacher in New York, is happy in his marriage with Nirupama, a nuclear oncologist who married him to pursue higher studies in the USA. Deciding to cut ties with her husband, Nirupama hires a private detective to monitor his activities. To her utter shock, certain truths about her husband are subsequently revealed, setting off a chain of events that will change both of their lives irreversibly.More...
Princess Yang Kwei-fei1955-05-03In eighth century China, the Emperor is grieving over the death of his wife. The Yang family wants to provide the Emperor with a consort so that they may consolidate their influence over the court. General An Lushan finds a distant relative working in their kitchen whom they groom to present to the Emperor. The Emperor falls in love with her and she becomes the Princess Yang Kwei-fei. The Yangs are then appointed important ministers, though An Lushan is not given the court position he covets. The ministers misuse their power so much that there is a popular revolt against the Yangs, fueled by An Lushan.More...
Gol Maal1979-04-19A man's simple lie to secure his job escalates into more complex lies when his orthodox boss becomes suspicious.More...
Virus2019-06-07A real life account of the deadly Nipah virus outbreak in Kerala, and the courageous fight put on by several individuals which helped to contain the epidemic.More...
Accident1967-02-09Stephen is a professor at Oxford University who is caught in a rut and feels trapped by his life in both academia and marriage. One of his students, William, is engaged to the beautiful Anna, and Stephen becomes enamored of the younger woman. These three people become linked together by a horrible car crash, with flashbacks providing details into the lives of each person and their connection to the others in this brooding English drama.More...
A Sunday in the Country1984-04-11In France, before WWI. As every Sunday, an old painter living in the country is visited by his son Gonzague, coming with his wife and his three children. Then his daugther Irene arrives. She is always in a hurry, she lives alone and does not come so often... An intimist chronicle in which what is not shown, what is guessed, is more important than how it looks, dealing with what each character expects of life.More...
Touki Bouki1973-05-10Mory, a cowherd, and Anta, a university student, try to make money in order to go to Paris and leave their boring past behind.More...
Charulata1964-04-17In 1870s India, Charulata is an isolated, artistically inclined woman who sees little of her busy journalist husband, Bhupati. Realizing that his wife is alienated and unhappy, he convinces his cousin, Amal, to spend time with Charulata and nourish her creative impulses. Amal is a fledgling poet himself, and he and Charulata bond over their shared love of art.More...
The Music Room1958-10-10An aging, decadent landlord’s passion for music becomes the undoing of his legacy as he sacrifices his wealth in order to compete with the opulent music room of his younger, richer neighbour.More...
Only Angels Have Wings1939-05-15A traveling performer arrives at a remote South American port town where the head of an air freight service must risk his pilots' lives to earn a major contract.More...
High and Low1963-03-01A Yokohama shoe executive faces a wrenching choice when kidnappers mistakenly seize his chauffeur’s son but demand the ransom anyway.More...
Imitation of Life1959-04-09In 1940s New York, a white widow who dreams of being on Broadway has a chance encounter with a black single mother, who becomes her maid.More...
Similar Movies
3 Women
1977-04-29Two co-workers, one a vain woman and the other an awkward teenager, share an increasingly bizarre relationship after becoming roommates.The Kid
1921-01-21A tramp cares for a boy after he's abandoned as a newborn by his mother. Later the mother has a change of heart and aches to be reunited with her son.Smoke
1995-06-09Writer Paul Benjamin is nearly hit by a bus when he leaves Auggie Wren's smoke shop. Stranger Rashid Cole saves his life, and soon middle-aged Paul tells homeless Rashid that he wouldn't mind a short-term housemate. Still grieving over his wife's murder, Paul is moved by both Rashid's quest to reconnect with his father and Auggie's discovery that a woman who might be his daughter is about to give birth.U Turn
1997-10-03When a desperate man’s car breaks down in a bizarre desert town while evading vengeful bookies, he becomes entangled in a dangerous love triangle. Caught between a married couple, he’s faced with deadly contracts to kill them both.Thank You for Smoking...
2005-09-09Nick Naylor is a charismatic spin-doctor for Big Tobacco who'll fight to protect America's right to smoke -- even if it kills him -- while still remaining a role model for his 12-year old son. When he incurs the wrath of a senator bent on snuffing out cigarettes, Nick's powers of "filtering the truth" will be put to the test.The Bitter Tears of P...
1972-10-05Petra von Kant is a successful fashion designer -- arrogant, caustic, and self-satisfied. She mistreats Marlene (her secretary, maid, and co-designer). Enter Karin, a 23-year-old beauty who wants to be a model. Petra falls in love with Karin and invites her to move in.Being There
1979-12-19A simple-minded gardener named Chance has spent all his life in the Washington D.C. house of an old man. When the man dies, Chance is put out on the street with no knowledge of the world except what he has learned from television.Cocoon
1985-06-21When a group of trespassing seniors swim in a pool containing alien cocoons, they find themselves energized with youthful vigor.The Good Shepherd
2004-03-21When a clergyman is accused for the murder of a social worker, the parish priest recruits a reporter (and his ex-girlfriend) to clear his name.Hunger
2008-05-15The story of Bobby Sands, the IRA member who led the 1981 hunger strike during The Troubles in which Irish Republican prisoners tried to win political status.Purple Noon
1960-03-10Tom Ripley is a talented mimic, moocher, forger and all-around criminal improviser; but there's more to Tom Ripley than even he can guess.My Cousin Vinny
1992-03-13Two carefree pals from Brooklyn traveling through rural Alabama on their way back to college are mistakenly arrested, and charged with murder. Fortunately, one of them has a cousin who's a lawyer - Vincent Gambini, a former auto mechanic from Brooklyn who just passed his bar exam after his sixth try. When he arrives with his leather-clad girlfriend, to try his first case, it's a real shock - for him and the Deep South!Plunkett & MacLeane
1999-01-22Will Plunkett and Captain James Macleane, two men from different ends of the social spectrum in 18th-century England, enter a gentlemen's agreement: They decide to rid the aristocrats of their belongings. With Plunkett's criminal know-how and Macleane's social connections, they team up to be soon known as "The Gentlemen Highwaymen". But when one day these gentlemen hold up Lord Chief Justice Gibson's coach, Macleane instantly falls in love with his beautiful and cunning niece, Lady Rebecca Gibson. Unfortunately, Thief Taker General Chance, who also is quite fond of Rebecca, is getting closer and closer to getting both.The Hurricane
1999-09-17The story of Rubin "Hurricane" Carter, a boxer wrongly imprisoned for murder, and the people who aided in his fight to prove his innocence.The Player
1992-05-08A Hollywood studio executive is being sent death threats by a writer whose script he rejected - but which one?Fortune of Chance
2023-10-18After a long night out two lonely people awake in unfamiliar places on opposite ends of the same city. Their eventual meeting in a city park can only be described as good fortune.Cries and Whispers
1972-12-21As Agnes slowly dies of cancer, her sisters are so immersed in their own psychic pains that they are unable to offer her the support she needs.The Flight of the Pho...
1965-12-15A cargo aircraft crashes in a sandstorm in the Sahara with less than a dozen men on board. One of the passengers is an airplane designer who comes up with the idea of ripping off the undamaged wing and using it as the basis for a replacement aircraft they need to build before their food and water run out.Metamorphosis
2007-01-01In the Seventeenth Century, while Hungary is fighting the Turks, the population of a small village in the Carpathian Mountains faces the evil Countess Elizabeth Bathory, accused of drinking and bathing in blood of virgin women.