I am a big fan of many Italian Neo-realist films, particularly films by De Sica, such as "The Children Are Watching Us" and "Umberto D." and I have really enjoyed several of Indian director Satyajit Ray, such as "The Big City"...so I assumed I would enjoy "Pather Panchali". After all, Parallel Cinema (also called 'New Indian Cinema') is India's answer to this style of film which uses real folks (non actors) in realistic situations. But, as I watched, I was shocked that I did not like this film. I felt oddly disconnected from it and at odds with the film experts who see "Pather Panchali" as a classic. Heck, it's currently the highest rated Indian film on IMDB....yet I just didn't like it. I felt the film was very, very slow and I had a hard time focusing on the story...mostly because there really wasn't much of one. These people are very poor, generally miserable and it just felt oppressive.
Just because I didn't like this film doesn't mean I won't try the other two films in Ray's 'Apu Trilogy'...but I felt disappointed by this one and I really wanted to like the movie...but didn't.
By the way, I've probably reviewed at least a couple hundred Indian films....so it's not like I don't enjoy their pictures nor Ray's work. It was just this particular one...and much of it might be because there's been so much hype about this being a great film, my expectations couldn't help but be too high.
Just because I didn't like this film doesn't mean I won't try the other two films in Ray's 'Apu Trilogy'...but I felt disappointed by this one and I really wanted to like the movie...but didn't.
By the way, I've probably reviewed at least a couple hundred Indian films....so it's not like I don't enjoy their pictures nor Ray's work. It was just this particular one...and much of it might be because there's been so much hype about this being a great film, my expectations couldn't help but be too high.