A step down from the Apu trilogy and The Music Room but still true to form for Ray’s oeuvre
Observationally nuanced and best appreciated and recognized Ray’s already established great strand of work in the neorealist tradition
Urban and modern- some western influence with the coworker who gets her sunglasses, lipstick
Not nihilistic but there’s a tragedy and hardship here—small moments of playfulness between Anil Chatterjee and Madhabi Mukherjee add a great deal
Very close-up heavy which benefits (and benefits from) Madhabi Mukherjee who would go on to star in the superior work Charulata the following year. She’s a fantastic actress
Some great singular cinematic moments- a dolly in on the father’s face resulting in a close-up when he finds out his son’s wife has a job. A great shot—another sequence is a montage the working women walking from their office out into the city to canvass (sell) to the glorious sitar score by Ray himself
Most of the rest of the great moments are close-ups of Mukherjee—the pride of her getting her first paycheck, which quickly turns into a more ambiguous concern, her “my work is faultless” line which I just ate up, she has another close-up when she finds out her husband has been fired- sublime acting
Ray has a great shot of her behind bars when she tells her to quit
It’s a normal family (neorealism) and in Ray’s eyes is an exceptional one and treats it as such
Great shot of Chatterjee behind the mosquito netting in despair
Goes handheld to show extreme emotion—nervousness on her first sales canvassing and then when she gets worked up after quitting her job
The ending is great- “such a big city” line and then walking into a sea of people
[…] The Big City – S. Ray […]