The Genius of Satyajit Ray - Re-evaluating Indian Tradition - Essay Example

Ray makes us re-evaluate the commonplace. He has the remarkable capa of transforming the utterly mundane into the excitement of an adventure: Helen Goritsas. How does Satyajit Ray achieve this in the Apu Trilogy? Illustrate your ideas with examples. Introduction: The Genius of Satyajit Ray – re-evaluating Indian tradition The directors of French experimental films, Italian neo-classical films have contributed to a great extent in creating a different genre of film-making across the globe. The Western socio-cultural and artistic discourse experienced the modernism since later part of 19th and initial days of the 20th century. Consequently, the same modernist ideas prevailed across the globe for a long period of time and even in the post Great War II period the same ideologies prevailed within the domain of cultural and artistic activism in different parts of the world, influencing artists all over the world. The world of film-making, in specific remained under the influence of Hollywood tradition but the experimental techniques and neo-classical films showed the world that great films can also be made by not following traditional Hollywood traditions. The tradition of Indian film making, and on a broader canvas, the world, came across a new experience of filmmaking through the genius of Satyajit Ray. On one hand, the great Indian director was interesting in fusing the Western techniques with Indian traditions and on the other, by infusing both these techniques, he aimed at reflecting over aesthetics of life from the perspectives of common people. What is mundane, commonplace and apparently does not have any special layers of interpretation, Ray, with his genius, and empowered with artistic observation, has attempted to provide those simpletons with identity of universal importance. Ray’s mastery can most conspicuously be observed through the Apu trilogy that acclaimed huge international response irrespective of the fact that his depiction of common people’s life is focused over tradition, culture and life of people belonging to a particular region, however, the humanistic approach of Ray was capable of providing these sentiments a scope of universal interpretation. Apu: Layers of Human Existence and Universal Dimension of Commonplace Ray’s Apu trilogy comprises three films, namely: Pather Panchali (1955), Aparajito (The Unvanquished) (1956) and The World of Apu (Apur Sansar) (1959). Each of the three films has provided comprehensive understanding of three different phases of life of an individual, the childhood, adolescence and his maturity through proper realization of emotions of himself as well as of the people around him. In the book, Our Films, Their Films, while reflecting over the art of filmmaking, Ray in the chapter “Film Making”, was reflecting over the kind of problems that he encountered during the early days of directing Pather Panchali. As, Ray never had any formal training of film direction, he focused more over improvisation and his optimism as well as passion for creating art almost near to perfection led him to directing the immortal trilogy. His initial difficulties in depicting the realism of emotions through shots acted as “an eye-opener for him. According to him, such difficulties “revealed to me the most challenging aspects of film making, which is the exploration of the truth of human behavior and the revelation of that truth through the medium of actors. Experience tells us that the subtlest of emotional states affects a person’s speech and behavior is at the very heart of cinema’s eloquence” (Ray 51-52). Exploring different layers of human emotions has remained one of the major preoccupations of Ray’s creativity throughout his career as a film director. In the Apu trilogy, audience encounters perhaps the Ray’s best treatment of human emotion and it is interesting to see that he always has attempted to explore such dimensions through focusing on the ordinary and common experiences that people experience in the daily course of their lives. In the first film among the trilogy, Pather Pachali, Ray shows experiences of Apu as a child during his stay in village. During this period of life, on one hand, while he receives sufficient scope to explore dimensions of his emotions, on the other, he also has been able to encounter different shades of life through interaction between other characters in the film, namely though his mother Sarbajaya and his elder sister Durga. Compared to his father Harihar, and his mother Sarbajaya, Apu’s exploration of his human dimensions has been greatly impacted under supervision and guidance of his sister Durga. “Durga is the spirit of the wilderness, epitomized not only in her name but also in her rain dance and in the movements of her body” (Mitchell 185). Apu would never have received the same kind of freedom of spirit unless he would have been enjoyed such a close proximity with Durga. While traditional teaching from his father Harihar and mother Sarbajaya was actually teaching him to practice spiritual restrain, his affinity towards Durga led him to realize new dimensions of life and even enjoy a fearless approach towards everything that is modern and capable of giving him the capacity to enjoy life from a quite different perspective. In this context, Apu’s adventurous journey towards seeing the train, which can be viewed as an intrusion of modernism in primitive existence, can be cited (Mitchell 185). If this incident is viewed from Western and highly modernist perspective, the aspect of exploring immense joy or excitement of an individual cannot be realized. However, if a viewer is observing the entire experience from the perspective of Apu and with the same level of empathy over the emotional situation as that of Apu, then the totally simple and common experience can be interpreted under light of extraordinary and extremely adventurous experience. The empathetic and improvised observation of Ray has enabled in creation of the situation. In addition to the example, the death of Durga is also a remarkable experience in the same context. Harihar, as a father, cannot said to be the most sensible but he has the universal feeling of affection for his children. He comes home almost an week after his daughter’s death and once he hears the news, his futility to perform duties as a father, love, affection, care for children, all these emotions have received a heart breaking manifestation through his mourning. In the next part of the trilogy, Aparajito (The Unvanquished), Ray presents a different dimension of Apu’s life in the cosmopolitan atmosphere of Calcutta, where he goes on with normal course of his life in the traditional way of his life and at the same time, he keeps exploring different dimensions of life through conflict between his new and traditional beliefs towards life. After his elder sister Durga, while Apu was affectionate towards his mother most, during this phase of his life, he also has developed a distance with her. According to critical observation, “Ray was … over-critical of his second film in the Trilogy …. Certainly, it is not as lyrical as the first film, nor as moving as the third … (Robinson 99), however, in this film exploration of different layers of human existence, through Ray’s craftsmanship, has received the highest degree of admiration. In the World of Apu (Apur Sangsar), the final film of the trilogy, Apu’s understanding of human emotions has been reflected from a matured and complete perspective. At one point of time, Apu regarded his new born son responsible for his beloved wife’s death and also was resolute not to get back to him for the rest of his life. With the progress of time, he gradually realized and started respecting the universal feeling of fatherly sentiments; consequently, compared to the earlier phase of his life he explored new dimensions of his existence and also took his son along with him. In each of the films, incidents that have moved audience are extremely commonplace but the pathos or undercurrent of emotions that remains stored, perhaps on very few occasions, has been explored with such universality of approach. Life of a common man, incidents that he keeps encountering in daily course of his life, contain different layers of interpretation, different dimensions of significance and through the artistry of Ray realization of the truth has again been perceived. Works Cited Mitchell, Timothy. Questions of modernity. Minnesota: University of Minnesota Press. 2000. Ray, Satyajit. Our Films Their Films. (3rd Ed). New Delhi: Orient Blackswan. 2007. Robinson, Andrew. Satyajit Ray: the inner eye: the biography of a master film- maker. (2nd Ed.). London: I.B.Tauris. 2004. Read More