Apur Sansar (1959)

 Satyajit Ray's "Apur Sansar"

"Apur Sansar" marks the final installment in Satyajit Ray's film trilogy centered around the character of Apu. Its global success, along with its preceding films "Pather Panchali" and "Aparajito" made Ray a recognized and respected filmmaker. He would go on to have a prolific career in cinema, but it was the Apu trilogy that is forever recognized as a changing moment in Indian cinema.

"Apur Sansar" continues the story of Apu, who is now an unemployed graduate living in Calcutta. Apu struggles to write a novel while being unable to make rent. While attending a marriage ceremony with his friend, Pulu, Apu ends up marrying the bride, Aparna, instead. Aparna moves to Calcutta with Apu, where the two end up happy together. However, after a tragedy, Apu must decide what to do with his life.

I can't help but feel that one cannot understand the full impact of the film without the weighted context from the first two installments. That being said, "Apur Sansar" is a completely singular experience on its own, and can be completely understood in its context without the other films. However, the full weight of what Apu is going through by the film's end is much more impactful with the added grief of living through the deaths in his family. 

One could posit that "Apur Sansar," along with the other films in the trilogy, is a coming-of-age story. While that may be true, it does seem as though the difficulties that Apu goes through extends beyond the typical structure of youth. Apu goes through the same familiar situations that anyone goes through, especially with the experience of falling in love. However, the continued tragedies in his life turns the coming-of-age element into an existential piece. 

This level of existentialism is brought out through Ray's direction. One can clearly see the growth of Ray as a filmmaker through watching the Apu trilogy. Ray continues to employ the same neo-realism used in the beginning with "Pather Panchali," but moves into more modern territories of composition in order to illicit the same existential sentiments mirrored by our tragic figures. Ray uses framing and composition to enact a spiritual quality to his pictures, invigorating the frames with unearth internality. The dramas and struggles that lie just under the surface are just as engaging as those taking place in the plot.

While "Pather Panchali" is my personal favorite of Ray's films, it is "Apur Sansar" that demonstrates how his filmmaking has evolved from his debut. It is the closing of a book on the story of Apu and the final installment of one of the greatest trilogies in all of cinema.