Satyajit Ray. He’s much more than just the Apu trilogy as recent viewings of Charulata, The Big City and The Music Room have proven. Ray’s case is he is a Mount Rushmore realist (along with Rossellini, De Sica and perhaps the Dardenne brothers or Kiarostami at this point but that 4th is a good debate) with an impressive 5 top 500 films. If I ever fully come around on the Apu trilogy (I have all three outside my top 300) he may shoot even farther up this list.
Best film: The Music Room. I think Ray unquestionably improved as a director between the first two legs of the Apu trilogy and this masterpiece in 1958. Formally this is a behemoth—repetition of the chandelier, shots of Chhabi Biswas sitting—marvelous. If you could only see one Ray film I would start here.
total archiveable films: 8
top 100 films: 0
top 500 films: 5 (The Music Room, Pather Panchali, Aparajito, Charulata, The World of Apu)
top 100 films of the decade: 5 (The Music Room, Pather Panchali, Aparajito, Charulata, The World of Apu)
most overrated: Pather Panchali is a great film but the TSPDT consensus has it at #55 and I’m at #324 so that’s a sizeable disconnect. I actually really liked the film but you need to see the 2nd and 3rd film to have the full effect.
most underrated: Aparajito is #577 on TSPDT. This is just as good as the opening film and it’s over 500 spots lower for some reason. This trilogy is like the original Boyhood except it starts from birth and goes until he’s much older. Ray finds the exceptional in the ordinary and even if the films make you feel a little bombarded with situational drama problems it is a worthy work of art. It even has some postmodernism working here as Ray is writing about himself as Apu in many ways.
gem I want to spotlight: Charulata. 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 (GrandBudapest). 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. A meditation on 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
stylistic innovations/traits: Ray has a very relaxed style and as I said above is a major figure in the history of cinematic realism. The simplistic style and the fact that the early version of neorealism (extraordinary things happening to ordinary people seems just like modern day drama but a poignant, well-earned drama). It’s impossible to deny thought that Apu is one of the most memorable characters in film history. His camera is observational and nuanced. That said—there are some moments of transcendent splash in Ray’s oeuvre like the dollies in The Music Room and the freeze frame finale in Charulata. As I said above The Music Room is one of the 25-50 strongest examples of film form— a devastating reoccurrence of images and symmetry.
top 10
- The Music Room
- Pather Panchali
- Aparajito
- Charulata
- The World of Apu
- The Big City
- Distant Thunder
- The Home and the World
By year and grades
| 1955- Pather Panchali | MS |
| 1956- Aparajto | MS |
| 1958- The Music Room | MP |
| 1959- The World of Apu | MS |
| 1963- The Big City | R |
| 1964- Charulata | MS |
| 1973- Distant Thunder | |
| 1984- The Home and the World |
*MP is Masterpiece- top 1-3 quality of the year film
MS is Must-see- top 5-6 quality of the year film
HR is Highly Recommend- top 10 quality of the year film
R is Recommend- outside the top 10 of the year quality film but still in the archives
Shatranj ke Khilari (1977) is up there with anything made by Ray. Think it will make his top 5, actually. His first major Hindi film, and the ensemble is very strong as well.
@AP– Great. I haven’t seen it. I look forward to catching up with it.
Okay, maybe you won’t answer me, but could you put the 25-50 strongest examples of film form please, the form is the most difficult thing to understand
@Aldo, In the mood for love is great. It has nice form and some good repetition with images/soundtrack etc. The stylistic elements are good and ties in well with the narrative.
What are some of your favorite films with good form @Aldo?
This is one of the first that comes to mind, thanks @Azman. I have no idea haha, what would be your favorites?
Thanks for your answers Drake, it is very useful.
@Aldo, i don’t have a list of good film form movies, however, In the Mood for Love is the usually the 1st movie that comes to my mind. High Noon is well structured, conventional narrative with some nice repetition of the clock images(I mention it because I saw it recently). I’ll really have to think about this to make a proper list. @Drake, what are 3-5 movies you sometimes think of when you hear good film form being mentioned?
@Aldo, You’ll get a clearer understanding of form once you watch In the Mood For Love and once you read David Bordwell’s articles(as Drake’s mentions). Have you seen In the Mood For Love? If not, I really recommend you do.
Yes, I have seen it, but even so, would I recognize a movie with a good form?
@Aldo – Azman is quite right with In the Mood For Love. I’d encourage you to read as much from David Bordwell on film form. Ozu’s Tokyo Story has great formal construction (look for his use of cutaways or “pillow shots”). I think you should seek out the work of Jim Jarmusch as well- particularly Stranger Than Paradise. Roy Anderrson’s work. The Master. Punch Drunk Love. Y Tu Mama Tambien.
@Aldo, of course you could recognize a film with good form even with watching Wong kar Wai’s masterpiece. However, its essential viewing if you like film form and it may be the best example of film form in the medium’s 100+ year history.
If you want to know what film form is, I strongly suggest reading articles (especially the ones Drake linked).
It is many things such as repetition, style with the narrative etc. If you still have any questions about what form is after reading online articles, feel free to ask me, I will be happy to help you.??
Hello Drake. How many Ray films do you have in the archives now? Were there any big surprises?
What are you watching these days. Director study?
@AP- Finished the Ray study not too long ago- great fun. I now have 16 Ray films in the archives. That stretch of work between 1955-1964 is especially strong. The Goddess (1960) also known as Devi was a very nice surprise. I am in the middle of a Seijun Suzuki and a Park Chan-wook study currently. I finished up a little Randolph Scott marathon (rare to do an actor but was fun to catch some more westerns before the summer ended) and then a fair amount of both new and random stuff as it comes along.
@Drake – what did you think of The Goddess (Devi), Tokyo Drifter, Branded to Kill? I was able to catch all 3 last week and was very impressed. Still mulling their grades over but considering HR/MS.
@LeBron Smith- Yes, very strong. All three will on the top 1000 when I update the top 500 and expand it to 1000.
@Drake – Awesome to hear. Did you come across any other films by Ray or Suzuki that were at the same level or close to the same level as those three? Looking to add some things to my watchlist haha
@LeBron Smith – Gate of Flesh (1964) is right there for Suzuki. For Ray, it is his Apu trilogy, The Music Room, Charulata, and The Goddess at the top.
My ranking of Ray`s films that I`ve seen:
1. The Music Room MP
2. Pather Panchali MP
3. Charulata MS/MP
4. Aparajito MS
5. Apur Sansar MS
6. The Goddess MS (it could go higher)
Love your blog, interested in the comment on stylistic innovations/traits, would love a list on the 25-50 strongest examples of film form.
@Dennis- Thanks for the comment on the website and for visiting the site. I’ve compiled a few here- but you can search just throwing “film form” in the search bar and see what pages/reviews it comes up on.
https://thecinemaarchives.com/2018/09/19/the-searchers-1956-ford/
https://thecinemaarchives.com/2019/04/02/peppermint-candy-1999-chang-dong-lee/
https://thecinemaarchives.com/2019/03/25/in-the-mood-for-love-2000-kar-wai-wong/
https://thecinemaarchives.com/2020/03/26/mon-oncle-damerique-1980-resnais/
https://thecinemaarchives.com/2020/12/22/teorema-1968-pasolini/
https://thecinemaarchives.com/2020/12/30/the-assistant-2019-green/
https://thecinemaarchives.com/2021/06/14/the-music-room-1958-satyajit-ray/
Hey Drake, what would you consider to be your top 10 debut films? Would Ray make it on the list with Pather Panchali?
@Gohan- Updating the top 500 list as we speak – but for now (at least for the next few weeks) going down this would be a good way to do it https://thecinemaarchives.com/2019/04/10/the-best-500-films-of-all-time/ and then in 2018 I put this together https://thecinemaarchives.com/2018/11/26/best-debuts-of-the-21st-century/
Do you still have the 10-year moratorium thing? If yes from what year onwards are films ineligible? 2014?
@Malith- 2013 will be included but not 2014