"Actor: Karuna Bannerjee"

• The Apu Trilogy (Criterion Collection) UK Only | Blu Ray | (25/05/2020) from £59.99   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £N/A

  Two decades after its original negatives were burned in a fire, Satyajit Ray's breathtaking milestone of world cinema rises from the ashes in a meticulously reconstructed new restoration. The Apu Trilogy brought India into the golden age of international art-house film, following one indelible character, a free-spirited child in rural Bengal who matures into an adolescent urban student and finally a sensitive man of the world. These delicate masterworks- Pather Panchali (Song of the Little Road), Aparajito (The Unvanquished), and Apur Sansar (The World of Apu)-based on two books by Bibhutibhusan Banerjee, were shot over the course of five years, and each stands on its own as a tender, visually radiant journey. They are among the most achingly beautiful, richly humane movies ever made-essential works for any film lover. Pather Panchali The release in 1955 of Satyajit Ray's debut, Pather Panchali, introduced to the world an eloquent and important new cinematic voice. A depiction of rural Bengali life in a style inspired by Italian neorealism, this naturalistic but poetic evocation of a number of years in the life of a family introduces us to both little Apu and, just as essentially, the women who will help shape him: his independent older sister, Durga; his harried mother, Sarbajaya, who, with her husband away, must hold the family together; and his kindly and mischievous elderly auntie, Indir-vivid, multifaceted characters all. With resplendent photography informed by its young protagonist's perpetual sense of discovery, the Cannes-awarded Pather Panchali is an immersive cinematic experience and a film of elemental power. Aparajito Satyajit Ray had not planned to make a sequel to Pather Panchali, but after the film's international success, he decided to continue Apu's narrative. Aparajito picks up where the first film leaves off, with Apu and his family having moved away from the country to live in the bustling holy city of Varanasi (then known as Benares). As Apu progresses from wide-eyed child to intellectually curious teenager, eventually studying in Kolkata, we witness his academic and moral education, as well as the growing complexity of his relationship with his mother. This tenderly expressive, often heart-wrenching film, which won three top prizes at the Venice Film Festival, including the Golden Lion, not only extends but also spiritually deepens the tale of Apu. Apur Sansar By the time Apur Sansar was released, Satyajit Ray had directed not only the first two Apu films but also the masterpiece The Music Room, and was well on his way to becoming a legend. This extraordinary final chapter brings our protagonist's journey full circle. Apu is now in his early twenties, out of college, and hoping to live as a writer. Alongside his professional ambitions, the film charts his romantic awakening, which occurs as the result of a most unlikely turn of events, and his eventual, fraught fatherhood. Featuring soon to be Ray regulars Soumitra Chatterjee and Sharmila Tagore in star-making performances, and demonstrating Ray's ever more impressive skills as a crafter of pure cinematic imagery, Apur Sansar is a moving conclusion to this monumental trilogy. Special Features: New 4K digital restorations of all three films, undertaken in collaboration with the Academy Film Archive at the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences and L'Immagine Ritrovata, with uncompressed monaural soundtracks on the Blu-rays Audio recordings from 1958 of director Satyajit Ray reading his essay A Long Time on the Little Road and in conversation with film historian Gideon Bachmann New interviews with actors Soumitra Chatterjee, Shampa Srivastava, and Sharmila Tagore; camera assistant Soumendu Roy; and film writer Ujjal Chakraborty New video essay by Ray biographer Andrew Robinson on the trilogy's evolution and production The Apu Trilogy : A Closer Look, a new program featuring filmmaker, producer, and teacher Mamoun Hassan Excerpts from the 2003 documentary The Song of the Little Road, featuring composer Ravi Shankar The Creative Person: Satyajit Ray, a 1967 half-hour documentary by James Beveridge, featuring interviews with Ray, several of his actors, members of his creative team, and film critic Chidananda Das Gupta Footage of Ray receiving an honorary Oscar in 1992 New program on the restorations by filmmaker :: kogonada New English subtitle translations PLUS: A booklet featuring essays by critics Terrence Rafferty and Girish Shambu

• Devi (1960) (AKA The Goddess) (Criterion Collection) UK Only | Blu Ray | (22/11/2021) from £19.98   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £N/A

  Master filmmaker Satyajit Ray (The Apu Trilogy) explores the conflict between fanaticism and free will in Devi (The Goddess), issuing a subversively modern challenge to religious orthodoxy and patriarchal power structures. In the waning days of mid-nineteenth-century India's feudal system, after his son (Apur Sansar's Soumitra Chatterjee) leaves for Kolkata to complete his studies, a wealthy rural landowner (The Music Room's Chhabi Biswas) is seized by the notion that his beloved daughter-in-law (The Hero's hauntingly sad-eyed Sharmila Tagore) is the reincarnation of the goddess Kalia delusion that proves devastating to the young woman and those around her. The opulently stylized compositions and the chiaroscuro lighting by cinematographer Subrata Mitra (Charulata) heighten the entrancing expressionistic intensity of this domestic tragedy, making for an experience that is both sublime and shattering. Bonus Features 4K digital restoration, with uncompressed monaural soundtrack Interviews with actors Sharmila Tagore and Soumitra Chatterjee, recorded in 2013 Video essay by film scholar Meheli Sen English subtitle translation PLUS: An essay by film critic Devika Girish

• The Apu Trilogy | DVD | (10/02/2003) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £49.99

  ""Pather Panchali"": This acclaimed debut by Satyajit Ray is the first part of a trilogy of poetic lyrical works. A boy named Apu is born to a poor but proud Brahmin family. His loving older sister Durga is a sweet girl but has formed the bad habit of stealing fruit from an aunt's orchard much to her mother's dismay. Their father Harihar a poet and lay priest finds a treasury job that will bring the family steady income for the first time in a while. For a brief period afterw