Auteurship: Satyajit Ray REVISED

Autership: Satyajit Ray

            When you think of Indian cinema the name Satyajit Ray (2 May 1921 – 23 April 1992) should automatically come to mind. Ray was, and could still be, the most important Indian Bengali filmmaker ever. He directed 37 films throughout his career and besides being a filmmaker he was an accomplished fiction writer, illustrator, graphic designer and publisher.  Satyajit is primarily remembered for his masterpiece, the Apu Trilogy, which are the three movies I decided to see from his large collection of work. The Apu Trilogy consists of three films, Pather Panchali (Song of the Little Road), Aparajito (The Unvanquished) and Apur Sansar (The World of Apu). They are based on Indian writer Bibhutibhshan Bandopadhyay’s novels of the same name. The story depicts the life of a Bengali family and their struggles in India. It covers the life Apu, from a child in the first one to an adolescent in the second one and to an adult in the third movie.  It is a coming-of-age movie. Throughout the three movies Apu and his family live through all kinds of hardships like death, illness, and poverty. Apu experiences many traumatic events that make you feel for him as a character and keep you glued to the movie rooting for him and wanting to know if he’ll make it. There is a real sense of attachment and empathy that you feel for the characters because of the movie’s realism and sincere acting. The movies can be considered part of India’s New-Wave movement and can be classified also as an art film.

             Ray came from a prestigious and exceptionally artistic family. One can say he was destined to be a creative genius from the beginning. Both his father and grandfather were well-recognized writers in India. His father, Sukumar Ray, was a famous writer, poet, and playwright. His grandfather, Upendrakishore Ray was a children storywriter but also was a painter, writer, composer, and violin player.

Satyajit Ray is recognized for his autership, he designed the posters and text for all his movies, wrote most of the scripts and stories, made a considerable amount of the musical scores, and directed all of his own films.

Some reoccurring things in the trilogy that prove the auteurship of Ray in the films were the simplistic and beautiful use of still shots of nature after a dramatic event happened in the story to show the specific mood of the scene. The same thing applies with close ups of the characters faces displaying an emotion. This movie is a great example that there is no need for excessive or explicit dialogue or a dramatic crying scene or special effects, to communicate a character’s feelings to the viewer, all you need is the truth, which in this case Ray demonstrates with real, honest reactions from the characters and humble and poor villages and towns that portray Indian life in what I assume an authentic. Another thing Ray used was the same style of Indian music throughout the movies.

The three movies are in black and white. They are all in Bengali Indian and all take place in India also. The movies are vivid, raw, and sad realities of Indian life. They also show the beautiful relationships of the family as well. The relationship of mother/daughter, husband/wife, and aunt/nephew and niece are all displayed with a stunning reality. You also see the goodness of people in how families help each other in times of adversity. This goes on throughout the three movies; the feeling of growth and reality of people are demonstrations of Ray’s autership and of his style.

Even though Bibhutibhshan Bandopadhyay originally wrote the two books that would be adapted into the three movies made later by Ray, most people remember the story because of the movies. Satyajit Ray put his stamp in Bengali cinema and even though he has made countless other films he is still mostly synonymous with the Apu trilogy.