Among Satyajit Ray’s best work- a meditation on passions, politics, romance and writing
More leisurely paced than most of Ray’s work
Brilliant shot of camera attached to a swing to capture Madhabi Mukherjee’s face- this would be picked up by others including Truffaut and wes Anderson (Budapest)
The three leads are all brilliant but Madhabi Mukherjee in particular gives a spectacular performance- there’s countless examples but there’s a great moment when she realizes that she loves her cousin-in-law and she is in trouble. Her husband has a similar moment when he realizes that and the cousin-in-law’s has a moment of clarity surrounding his love of charulata as well
Unrealized love
The finale is justifiably famous. It’s a series of freeze frames of open hands. It’s up there with (and of course echoes the 400 blows.
Wonderful sequences of the way Ray shoots charulata eavesdropping on her husband telling her crush to get married.
The husband is annoying sensible and virtuous- the side story of the betrayal of money on the husband makes it harder on charulata and cousin-in-law
A long gorgeous tracking shot going up from the ground to charulata’s unblinking eye which turns into a long dissolve montage mix of her getting ideas to write her great article
The film doesn’t have the devastating form and symmetry of the music room
Ray does his own music—which is wonderful and re-used in Darjeeling limited
The subtle tracking shots of charulata walking around her house is so nuanced in the editing- it’s almost like a bresson film
Mindless card game for 5 minutes to show her life and boredom— she’s a prisoner in her chic house with elegant wall-paper and décor- even has her opera glasses to look out
Must-See film- top 5 of the year quality after one viewing
[…] Charulata – S. Ray […]