Simply A Masterpiece

This is a coming of age storyline that you've seen in one form or another for decades. It takes a truly unique voice to make yet another one worth watching.

Blistering performances.

By the time the dramatic fireworks start popping off, each one feels earned.

Adapted form Sunil Ganguly's story, the film zooms in on the vagaries and vicissitudes of the then bourgeoisie and their disillusionment with their state of affairs. A motley quartet ventures into the woods of Palamau to spend some days in order to extricate themselves from the trammels of their ordered social and city life. Culled from the various strata in the middle class the four characters reflect completely different attitudes bound by a thread of friendship. 'Breaking the rules', they drop anchor at a government forest bungalow without the required permission, consequently browbeating, and finally bribing the chowkidar, putting his job at stake. They remain unshaven, exchange diatribes at a local arrack shop and indulge in a drunken twist causing problem to vehicles. Their behaviour with and indifference (frequently found among the bourgeois people) of the lower orders of the society and their suffering, quite often verging on brutality, may make them, for the time being, unlikeable; but their innocent and ignorant self-esteem doing them in at last draws back our sympathy once again. Ashim (as Soumitra Chatterji) loses his self-confidence finally after the memory game; Sanjoy (as Subhendu Chatterji) finds himself hollow as a man in front of a seductive Jaya; Hari himself mislays his wallet but beats the local boy Lakhai which rebounds on him at last; Shekhar (as Rabi Ghosh) is only the man who escapes much of the humiliation because of his hilarious nature.Their unexpected spotting, one morning, of two ladies of their social stratum within the tribal village brings them back, somewhat, to their superficial selves and they try to meet them in person and try their own hands at flirting. Though a forging of relationships is on the way under the hammer-blows of a set of consecutive meetings between the opposite sexes, yet each of the conceited quartet is blown to bits as the women come up trumps. Each of the quartet is chastened in his own way near the end of the film, and the women, winners in the beginning, appear to be pale, gloomy and their voices plangent beneath their jocund exterior and mellifluous chatter and pithy elicitation.Like in most of Ray's films, here also, the characters smile, but they find it rather painful to laugh. Though it is a matter of pity that a film of this momentousness received a lukewarm response form the native audience and critics when it was screened, yet it, then, was, and still is, a surefire narration of epic dimensions and the film's aura doesn't seem to dim even though it is watched over and over again. Unfortunately, they, who search for a single and simple theme in a film like this, will not be able to comprehend herein the interplay of various themes. Ray once said regretfully in a Sight & Sound interview, "The film is about so many things, that's the trouble. People want just one theme, which they can hold in their hands." He likened the structure of the film to a fugue, where disparate elements appear, develop interwoven, transformed pitted in a balanced way against each other.Lastly, the memory game sequence in the forest is as much psychological as it is appealing. Ray's astute handling of the mise-en-scene surpasses every character study heretofore attempted. Aparna pulls out when only Aparna and Ashim are left in the fray. Sexual undercurrents and each one's mental preferences are reflected during the game. With the forest as the setting the visitors engage in a primitive game of dethroning the other with one's mental might. The mysterious forest exudes revelations of the highest order at once perceivable and profound to be taken into, absorbed and preserved for perennial use by the unfortunate and innocent souls, who often get consumed with the fire of self-esteem and self-satisfaction thereby closing doors to experience and knowledge that's omniscience in it's vastness and immanence.

"Aranyer Din Ratri" is an underrated lyrical masterpiece from the great Satyajit Ray. Its structure is one of the most musical of Ray's films, yet it remains one of the most scathing indictments of pompous urban men. A must see. The memory game sequence alone is worth the price of the film.I feel compelled to respond to Ravenus, who writes: "Simi Garewal's hilariously accented Bengali makes her tribal character a hard act to digest." We must remember that Duli, the character Simi plays, is not a sophisticated woman from Calcutta, but a tribal woman from Palamau, which is 300 miles west of Calcutta. Her accent is perfect for the character.

Aranya Din-Ratri (the days & nights spent in remote forest area) Story of 4 bengali males shown beautifully by Director Mr. Satyajit Ray ! 4 friends take a break – 3 of them are average looking & tall and one is short and below average to look at. They do not make proper arrangements – just barge into a Goernment Guest House and bribe the caretaker to let them in by giving him some money. The poor care taker has an ailing wife so since he could not go out to buy stuff for them, the porter boy agrees to buy & carry food stuff for them.A typical life style of average common men (looser men rather) is shown here – how they just crib about having to butter the boss and please him by attending late night parties, boozing and spending time with cheap rich girls with artificial expressions and revealing outfits.One the friends was ditched lately by an educated girl (played by Aparna Sen) – who was fashion conscious (wore wigs to look more seducing) as well as very intelligent & observant who had the sense to smell tricky / foolish people from a distance. She had written a 5 paged letter to her boyfriend who in return could barely write half a page – showing that he was not very sound as far as 'literacy in romanticism' was concerned. This the girl understood and washed her hands off the idiot ! (very well done I would say) – the fact that her decision was absolutely right is seen later as the movie proceeds … when the same fellow indulges in intercourse with a 'dirty, smelly, ugly looking maid servant category, drunkard woman he meets in the forest remote area !!He does IT with her on open ground in the forest on the thorny weeds !! – so utterly frustrated and sex starved - just anyone would do for such men – therefore his girlfriend definitely made the right decision to ditch him.A looser man in all respect.Second fellow was a bit intellectual and adventurous , well read – in the game of "remembering names' he said Shakespeare and Sharmila Tagore – a lady he meets there, says Cleopatra – in fact each one took the name of the historical/ literary figure he / she either hero worships/identifies – or admires in one way or the other. He meets this quiet & attractive lady and gets drawn towards her – she had a traumatic childhood – the reason of her quietitude – Mother had died of fire in front of her and elder brother had committed suicide !Another looser who knows it all but cannot do anything about it.Third fellow was decent – playing it safe kinds – the widowed sister-in-law of sharmila tries to seduce him (missing her husband I guess) – had said Rabindranath Tagore in the game of 'Remembering names' by the way. A decent man who could change if he wanted to – looser or winner depended on him.Fourth fellow – happy go lucky – the fact that he was ugly & short was taken very lightly by him – had no attitude problems – couldn't have any in fact – compensating on his below average looks – so he turned comical and made things appear funny. A very common Bengali man category since the average height of Bengali men is around 5'5" and also Bengali men are dark and not very good looking – so they make fun of everything and anything and spend time making merry – with or without any reason.

Ray excells himself in this wonderfully sensitive rites-of-passage film. A group of friends in their twenties take a short vacation in the countryside together. After some confusion about their accommodation they find themselves staying near to two respectable young women of good family who stimulate their interest. Although the women appear not too interested at first, things change, and they all begin to spend time together. Each of the characters is profoundly different from the others, and it soon becomes clear that they have different goals - and perhaps needs - in life. That does not prevent an extraordinary sexual chemistry from developing which is all the more vivid for being understated and unspoken. The picnic scene where the girls suggest they all play a literary game is replete with poignantly repressed sexuality. As the film develops the four men begin to go their separate ways, but for the two women (and for one especially) the encounter with the men has stimulated feelings it is difficult to ignore. This is a film of extraordinary subtlety and depth. A classic of world cinema by one of the cinema's greatest directors, it deserves much greater recognition.