Satyajit Ray Film Festival in NYC

tacita

Those in and near New York City may wish to note of the Satyajit Ray film series at the Film Society of Lincoln Center's Walter Reade Theater. The series began Wednesday, April 15, and runs through 30. The full program is available here, and a NYTimes review can be found here.

Incidentally, I also came across a 1966 NYTimes review of Ray's first color film, Kanchenjungha, which premiered at Lincoln Center forty-three years ago as part of a "Festival of India", and will be shown next week. Having seen this magnificent mountain from Pelling (Sikkim), and having been, like the film's characters, a tourist in Darjeeling, this sounds to me like one not to miss.

If anyone has seen some of the lesser known films in the series, I'd be interested in reading your comments and recommendations though, admittedly, I may actually try to see them all.

__________________
Life is either a daring adventure, or nothing. ~Helen Keller

rajered

Don't miss Gopi Gyne Bagha Byne, Charulata, Pather Panchali, Aparajito and Apur Sansar

bruce3404

I'm in NY right now and would love to go, but the ticket prices are exhorbitant. I'm thinking one ticket here would buy me about 30 movie tickets in India. Having experienced both places during the past six months, I think it's somewhat safe to say that life is less expensive in India

KABAARY

IMHO Kanchenjunga was the least of his works....have a particularly soft corner for Nayak and Charulata and adore this humming (or whatever) from the latter :
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EcUHbTBElO0

tacita

Thanks, rajered.

Well, sure, by India standards! But $11 a pop is pretty standard, innit, even in OR? Still, if you're a Ray fan or just an Indiaphile, this is a unique opportunity to see films not available on DVD and to see India circa the 60s.

Nice!

edwardseco

Get a membership. Too distant alas. But, maybe its time to get the old CDs & DVDs out..

KABAARY

I know this is going OT but I'm so excited with what I just discovered and that too thanks to this thread (which is why I'm posting it here rather than PMing him - do excuse).

Jyoti Da it's probably unfair of me to test your memory like this....do you remember that meet up a year or so back which Vinay had organised in that lovely club near Safdarjung ? We had engaged in this conversation on movies during the course of which I mentioned this movie which had Sharmila Tagore in it and how the movie touched me deeply ? I did not remember the name of the movie and you could not recognise it either. In desperation, I had mentioned this scene where the song "Esho Esho Aamaar Ghore" was played but alas !

Guess what ! I posted that Charulata song link above and, while doing so, incidentally bumped into this !

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YoqykJtlw_E&feature=re lated

I'm so thrilled ! Now can you tell me the name of this movie ?

RWeHavingFunYet

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Avoid this movie: Chiriyakhana: It is one of the worst movies of Ray -- even Satyajit Ray hated it. The original director abandoned it and Ray was requested by the studios to finish it. It's a stupid murder mystery.

RWeHavingFunYet

Don't miss Kanchenjungha. You feel as if you've been to Darjeeling. You'll relive your visit. I thoroughly enjoyed it. The whole movie happens in one day in Darjeeling, wherein tourists flock to this hill station and the summit is not visible in summer except for brief moments for those who are looking The best part of the movie is, so much drama happens in the movie, in the end when the summit is clear -- nobody is looking

I also enjoyed Nayak (The Hero). This is a train journey from Calcutta to Delhi, and the whole movie happens on this train. You feel as if you are riding the train on your vacation meeting various characters and also chai wala chai, chai chai ...

The Best Movies are: Apu Trilogy (Pather Panchali, Aparajito, Apur Sansar), Charulatha, Jhalsagar], My Rating: 5/5

I did enjoy Nayak, Kanchenjungha and Teen Kanya (Three Daughters - 3 separate movies) 4/5

Mahanagar (The Big City), Calcutta Trilogy (Pratidwandi, Seemabaddha, Jana Aranya) 3/5

Devi is kind of depressing and drove me nuts -- 2/5

I didn't like Goopy Gyne Bagha Byne -- it's a kids fantasy movie. 1/5

Mrinmoyee

Hi Tacita,

Personally Devi, Jana Aranya and Aranyer Din Ratri are fantastic. Pather Panchali is a classic ofcourse. And I love Samapti (Aparna Sen is loverly in it :-)

Kanchenjunga is beautiful. Its a subtle story and very effective. :-) have fun watching...

RWeHavingFunYet

Satyajit Ray movies are easier to find in the western countries than in India. You could watch them for free in your local library DVD collection.
As I mentioned earlier, most of these movies (not all) -- in DVD format -- are available in the local libraries for free, to check out. One can rent them for free (trial period) or for a fee from online rentals NetfliX.

Click here for ==> List of Satyajit Ray Movies at NetfliX.

bruce3404

I have a few in my Netflix queue, but not all of Ray's films are available on DVD which is a real shame, especially considering how much utter garbage is out there. As far as movie prices go in NYC, they're actually close to double what I usually pay in OR, but then again, our cinemas aren't typically located on land that goes for millions per acre, so the prices here are understandable (I just choose not to pay 'em, figuring my money is better spent in the wonderful ethnic restaurants that seem endless here).

RWeHavingFunYet

I do agree with you that not all his movies are available on DVD. Yes, it's a real shame and sad. Even the ones which are available (other than the popular ones) have amateurish sub-titles and some sub-titles are not in sync. Unfortunately, there is a big screw up in marketing his movies. Criterion does a wonderful job in restoring and digitally enhancing even the silent era movies. None of his movies are in ==> Criterion Collection.

You are funny. How can you equate ethnic restaurants to Satyajit Ray movies.

I envy you and the NW. Remember NE is run by corrupt politicians and greedy wall street executives -- with inflated real estate and stock market prices -- who are responsible for the current economic melt-down -- world wide.

Well, these are hard to find movies and you got to pay big bucks to watch the movies with the so called intellectuals and the multi-millionaires of Manhattan.

jyotirmoy

Dear Kabaary, I couldn't open the link you had posted, will again try later.
In my opinion Kanchenjungha is one of Ray's master pieces so don't miss it. From movie making point of view it was also one of the most difficult projects, the story had no drama, the whole thing was spaced in just one afternoon. Still the film makes us have a glimpse of the complexity in the lives of the few characters.

edwardseco

Ah, just the right person for this thread..