Evaluation of The World of Apu Film - Movie Review Example

 The World of Apu – Film Evaluation Report Directed by Satyajit Ray, one of the most famous and influential directors of all time, The World of Apu achieved worldwide recognition as it was released in the year 1959 as the final part of the trilogy titled ‘Apur Sansar’ or The World of Apu. The film has been set in West Bengal in India and is about a young man by the name of Apu and the kind of life that he leads. The film has also been partly based on a novel written by a Bengali author. Satyajit Ray has tried to make a statement through the film by helping people understand the kind of emotions a young man slowly wafting into adulthood goes through and the kind of life he begins to lead once he is married and has other responsibilities of taking care of his children and wife. It is a very emotional deep film that talks about human feelings and relationships that people share with one another. This film soon went on to win international awards making it one of the most widely sought after films to understand the lives of people and kind of struggle that they each go through. The film starts off by describing the life of a young Bengali man, unemployed and living in a small room in the bustle of the main city, Calcutta. He is comparatively poor and thus is trying to make a name for himself by seeking a job and earning his daily meals, and is not able to afford higher education in the university despite his teacher telling him to do so. Side by side, the man is also trying to earn a little more by providing children with private tuition. However, at the same time, one can witness Apu trying to keep his personal interests alive as well. He is fond of writing and reading, and he often takes time out to do the same even though he is not able to follow through with his passion in life and his forced to opt for a career path different than the one that he would like to because of obvious reasons. The story takes a turn as Apu meets an old friend and they go off to a village to attend his cousin Aparna’s marriage. Soon however, everyone present discovers that the bride has been suffering from a mental ailment and the groom is not too keen on marrying her. But the priests let everyone know that if the bride is not married off during the auspicious hour, she will remain unmarried all her life. Apu, takes the opportunity to help her out, without knowing what he is getting himself into, as the other villagers persuade him to, and offers to take her hand in marriage. On returning to Calcutta, he takes up a clerical job and the story proceeds as he tries to understand his new bride and a relationship soon blossoms between the two. Aparna leaves Apu in some time as she dies while giving birth to their new born, Kajal. The story takes another turn as the life of Apu with respect to his young son is portrayed on screen. He leaves the child with Aparna’s parents and becomes a loner and nomad as he travels to remote areas of the country on his own, not knowing how to shoulder the responsibility of his child and bear the loss of his wife at the same time. He finds himself losing himself and even throws away the manuscript that he had been writing for years. However, his friend Polu again seeks him out and helps him understand how his son Kajal needs his help and assistance in growing up and that Apu can provide him with love and affection better than what he had received during his childhood years. As Kajal meets him, he refuses to accept him as his father, however the two soon sort out their differences and try and give each other a space in their lives. This is how a mere matter of simple emotions has been so beautifully depicted in this story by the director through the use of simple filming and camera techniques. The film has also helped to reveal a great deal about the life and times of the director himself. This can be seen in the simple editing and cinematography. The use of simple lighting in most of the scenes, focus on the main characters and objects has all helped to comprehend that Satyajit Ray has a very straightforward rule on filming. The purpose of filming in the particular manner as he does helps to reveal his love for making his audience understand the kind of emotions that the protagonists go through at different points during the film. Clever techniques have been used, for example, the camera lighting in a number of scenes, including intimate scenes between Apu and Aparna have been done with a simple spot falling on each of their faces. The camera also focuses on objects around the room, for example, Aparna’s bangles, in order to signify their relationship and its strength or weakness at the particular point during the film. Extreme close ups taken help to signify the kind of facial expressions that the characters have and thus try to help the audience understand the emotions they are going through at the same time. This has been used a great deal in the movie as well, in order to show the plight of Aparna after their marriage, and also Apu’s situation after his wife’s death. Moreover, towards the end of the movie, close ups have been taken of Apu doing away with his manuscript and moving away from his son. This has been done to show the kind of inner trauma that he was going through at the time, and the reasons for which he was not able to even show his face in front of his child. Close ups have been taken during this time in order to portray the kind of tension that was going through him because he did not know how to provide for his son or be with him and help him live a better life. The mise-en-scene or set has been used well in order to show the world around Apu and the kind of environment he was living in. Satyajit Ray has used his surroundings well; even though the movie does not contain any special effects, it does contain effects made with the help of lighting techniques in order to show the poverty and misery stricken state of life that Apu was living in. the use of frozen frame shots have also been made in order to show the drama that was going through Apu’s life and also to provide the audience with a certain perspective regarding Apu’s life. These may also be directed as the daring techniques used in the film. The director has tried to move out of his comfort zone and try and use these lighting techniques that are simple but have been able to provide the film with maximum effect as compared to other contemporary films made during this time and age as well. Filmed in black and white, this film does not have any scope for using colour techniques; however, even then, the director has tried his best to use gray areas for the purpose of filming. (Ray, Satyajit) Soft lighting with the use of the lens flare has been made during transitions of scenes within the movie. In places where vibrant lighting has been required, it has been used well by the director, still trying to keep many people within the frame in focus for the audience to be able to understand what is going on. Ray has also operated the camera himself and collaborated with the art and design team in order to provide his expertise in the field. According to him, any shot being taken that does not turn out to be effective through the camera, is a waste of money and a pure shot, even though it might turn out to look very pleasing to the naked eye looking at it. Thus, a camera according to him was only used for taking camera angle shots. The film has had an excellent impact on people all over the world, especially those trying to study filming techniques and camera direction. It has become a very important part of all film studies as the way Ray does it, it is almost as if it signifies the flow of poetry or the flow of water lazily down a river. Thus, all these techniques have been used in order to depict simple human emotions and help people understand things like happiness and grief as well as responsibility. It has thus, through this helped to send a message across to people about how simple life can be, but how people tend to make it complicated. It talks about the kind of love and emotions that people should share with each other before it is too late in life; through the death of his wife, Apu understood the need he had for her, and subsequently, how he could catch up and make up for the same by simply providing his son the love and affection that he had been neglecting to give to someone all his life. Through his son’s eyes, he was able to understand the innocence and simplicity of love. Works Cited Ray, Satyajit. Film making. Satyajit Ray Forum. Satyajitray.org. Web. Read More