Satyajit Ray
Satyajit Ray
RANKED:
2. The Music Room (1958)
Although he experience much critical and commercial letdowns in his early career, Satyajit Ray still somehow managed to create masterful works of impressive artistry. His 1958 film "The Music Room" was no different. Through this adaptation from a short story, the film recounts the life of a powerful landlord whose wealth, abundance, will, and even his family slowly slip away from him. What Ray expertly integrates into the story becomes its very epicenter: the use of music and sound. Through this integral integration of sound and music, our protagonist becomes obsessed. He spends his days clinging to his self-delusions of continued power through his obsessions with arranging public performances. By doing so, he sacrifices everything, including the life of his family. All of this to continue in his battle with a commoner who begins to gain in wealth through his 'new money' enterprises that beckons in the new 20th century modernity, which only spells a certain end to our protagonist. As the film progresses, we watch as our protagonist disintegrates. This disintegration, along with the telling of this story through Ray's expertly crafted Renoir-esque mise-en-scene, as well as the completely spellbinding use of music and sound, makes "The Music Room" a masterwork.
1. Pather Panchali (1955)
It had taken Satyajit Ray 3 years to make his 1955 masterpiece "Pather Panchali," along with having difficulty in getting anyone to fund it. However, the film itself was well worth it, as it has become of the most significant human documents in film history. Ray had studied for years in the art of filmmaking, even directly under the tutelage of Jean Renoir himself. The primary point of inspiration for "Pather Panchali" was the Italian neo-realist movement, as Ray had been inspired by Vittorio De Sica's 1948 masterpiece "Bicycle Thieves" to make the film. Ray's film stays true to its neo-realist roots, as it contains many elements of realist cinema, like having several passages with no dramatic development, demonstrates the usual realities of life, and is frank in its depiction of abject poverty. The film follows an impoverished family living in a small hut on the outskirts of Bengal. Through various tragedies, struggles with feeding their family, and growing resentment amongst the family members, we observe the frustrating life of a family with no means. However, Ray is able to elevate this through his spiritual rendering of these images. Ray creates an immersive realist experience while also using his abilities as an auteur to capture something poetic and spiritual within the confines of the frame. The result is nothing short of transcendent.
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