SPOILERS:
"Apur Sansar" is all about the loss of life and acceptance of a new one. In the last part of the truly great "Apu Trilogy" Apu loses his new wife Aparna (a strikingly beautiful Sharmila Tagore) in childbirth and therefore cannot accept his newborn son Kajal.What follows is a journey with Apu through his mind and his thoughts.
Although it is a very powerful and highly crafted film (probably the most crafted and professional of the trilogy) it is my least favorite of the bunch.It doesn't have the greatness,powerful acting and surprises of especially "Pather Panchali" and "Aparajito".Still,high above average.
While "Pather Panchali" was in some ways a little bit amateurish made,which gives also his high charm,"Apur Sansar" has some great tricks in it.Like the scene after Apu and Aparna have seen a movie and the camera goes almost perfectly from the movie image into a taxi,or the scene in which the wedding ceremony walks by the river and then the camera focuses away from the river and on to Apu.Another very well made sequence is the one in which it seems that Apu throws himself in front of a train,the train is probably the most important symbol of the entire trilogy.
Ray created a highly recommended and very well made trilogy,because of his directing and the truly brilliant acting overall but also because of the superb soundtrack by the legendary Ravi Shankar who also contributes in a big way in this last film although I prefer his score for "Pather Panchali". Looking at the entire trilogy Ray surpassed my wildest imaginations and I expected quite a lot.Truly cinema history and I am really eager to see more of his work.
Pather Panchali 9/10 (number 52 in my all-time top 100 list)
Aparajito 9/10 (number 67 in my all-time top 100 list)
Apur Sansar 8/10
"Apur Sansar" is all about the loss of life and acceptance of a new one. In the last part of the truly great "Apu Trilogy" Apu loses his new wife Aparna (a strikingly beautiful Sharmila Tagore) in childbirth and therefore cannot accept his newborn son Kajal.What follows is a journey with Apu through his mind and his thoughts.
Although it is a very powerful and highly crafted film (probably the most crafted and professional of the trilogy) it is my least favorite of the bunch.It doesn't have the greatness,powerful acting and surprises of especially "Pather Panchali" and "Aparajito".Still,high above average.
While "Pather Panchali" was in some ways a little bit amateurish made,which gives also his high charm,"Apur Sansar" has some great tricks in it.Like the scene after Apu and Aparna have seen a movie and the camera goes almost perfectly from the movie image into a taxi,or the scene in which the wedding ceremony walks by the river and then the camera focuses away from the river and on to Apu.Another very well made sequence is the one in which it seems that Apu throws himself in front of a train,the train is probably the most important symbol of the entire trilogy.
Ray created a highly recommended and very well made trilogy,because of his directing and the truly brilliant acting overall but also because of the superb soundtrack by the legendary Ravi Shankar who also contributes in a big way in this last film although I prefer his score for "Pather Panchali". Looking at the entire trilogy Ray surpassed my wildest imaginations and I expected quite a lot.Truly cinema history and I am really eager to see more of his work.
Pather Panchali 9/10 (number 52 in my all-time top 100 list)
Aparajito 9/10 (number 67 in my all-time top 100 list)
Apur Sansar 8/10