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Is the trilogy "The Story of Apu" the least appreciated major cinematic masterpiece?

67.160.130.12

Definitely. I've just seen the first two installments, "Pather Panchali," and "Aparajito," and they alone would qualify Satjavit Ray as one of filmdom's greatest. Add to this the crown, "The World of Apu," and you enter an indeed elite group of films. This will be the third time I've seen these films and each time I marvel at the power, simplicity, and humanity. The performances are unsurpassed and the cinematography never has been, either.
I don't know why Indian films (except the silly Bollywood stuff) generate so little interest. Ray is a genius and as important to his country's cultural history as Kurosawa is to Japan's.
These aren't films you should see--- you MUST see them if you describe yourself as a film appreciator. How many films make you wonder at the human condition, make you question your life values? This isn't a film about Indian life, though it is very specific to its culture. It is, rather, a film about sacrifice: that of a father to his religion, a mother to her son, and a son to his calling and ambition. This film, and a few others, permanently vanquishes the argument that film somehow isn't a major art form. As long as there is interest in film, this will be not only revered, but loved.

Follow Ups:

Depends on who you are talking about, I guess. - Vinylized 08:47:49 11/11/11 (0)
His cinematographer on the trilogy, Subrata Mitra, is known as a legend in the field, while his use of soft lighting techniques were somewhat ahead of their time (at least the methods he used, on a very limited budget, to attain them).

These days, Satyajit Ray could be considered something of an obscure master, fine by me.
Mahanagar - manerac 14:57:24 11/03/11 (1)
Watched Mahanagar recently - the subtitling was atrocious, at least on the version from Netflix. Worth seeing, but Ray deserves better.
- Saw it some time ago, gave it 3 out of 5 Netflix stars. nt - tinear 09:53:26 11/07/11 (0)
  fds
Indian movies are developing past Bollywood, and some even escape artsy fartsy - late 06:01:45 11/03/11 (9)
I might try that trilogy, Netflix doesn't have the first one yet.

But as a rule, I'm not big on your art fart flicks.

For anyone that wants to dip their toes, Monsoon Wedding is prob a good
place to start.
- You in Italy must have been a hoot. "Look, honey, there's that - tinear 13:08:27 11/03/11 (8)
  artsy-fartsy St. Peter's Basilica!"
  - I've been there twice - late 09:25:56 11/04/11 (7)
    Loved the David, I got to see it before they put it behind plastic.
    
    As I have previously mentioned, buildings don't do much for me.
    
    The food was great, really liked the people, and the history.
    
    I'll let you handle the pretentious crap.
    - Yeah, Italy is full of pretentious building crap like the Duomo, St. Peter's, and the Vatican Museum. From - tinear 12:03:00 11/04/11 (6)
      your physique, it's no surprise you fixated on the food.
      BTW, David's sculptor was a pretty good painter and architect. Sorry, I forgot. How pretentious of me. Shoot, I won't even mention a film guy like Antonioni because.... he was intrigued by (you guessed it!) architecture. His films are full of it. If you don't like something, does that fit your definition of "pretentious?" Just curious. All of architecture... pretentious! Serious film.... pretentious!
      - You're pretentious, the buildings are inert ..nt - late 19:08:13 11/05/11 (5)
        
        In Reply to: RE: Yeah, Italy is full of pretentious building crap like the Duomo, St. Peter's, and the Vatican Museum. From posted by tinear on November 04, 2011 at 12:03:00
        
        .
        
        Inert. A word invented to describe you on a bicycle. nt - tinear 09:38:19 11/06/11 (4)
        
        In Reply to: RE: You're pretentious, the buildings are inert ..nt posted by late on November 05, 2011 at 20:08:13
        
        fds
        
        Like when I rode my bicycle across Italy from the Adriatic to the Med? ..nt - late 06:53:00 11/07/11 (3)
        
        In Reply to: RE: Inert. A word invented to describe you on a bicycle. nt posted by tinear on November 06, 2011 at 09:38:19
        
        .
        
        You'd have been happier riding from one side of Little Italy to the other. All you appreciate - tinear 09:54:19 11/07/11 (2)
        
        In Reply to: RE: Like when I rode my bicycle across Italy from the Adriatic to the Med? ..nt posted by late on November 07, 2011 at 06:53:00
        
        that's Italian, obviously, is the food.
        
        Have you been taking dysfunction lessons from Jazz or what ..nt - late 04:56:52 11/08/11 (1)
        
        In Reply to: RE: You'd have been happier riding from one side of Little Italy to the other. All you appreciate posted by tinear on November 07, 2011 at 09:54:19
        
        .
        
        :-). Nah, I don't mean half of what I say. Now, it's - tinear 14:35:41 11/08/11 (0)
        
        In Reply to: RE: Have you been taking dysfunction lessons from Jazz or what ..nt posted by late on November 08, 2011 at 04:56:52
        
        up to you to figure out the correct half.
        Say, how's that rear-wheel bike exerciser thingy working out for ya?
Funny you should mention Satyajit Ray - Doug Flynn 23:02:39 11/02/11 (0)
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Edits: 02/27/18

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