Satyajit Ray on Cinema

June 4, 2008 7:04 PM

"In this rare documentary, Satyajit Ray talks about his films. Part 1, 2, 3. Satyajit Ray... is regarded as one of the greatest auteurs of 20th century cinema. Born in the city of Calcutta into a Bengali family prominent in the world of arts and letters, Ray studied at Presidency College and at the Visva-Bharati University. Starting his career as a commercial artist, Ray was drawn into filmmaking after meeting French filmmaker Jean Renoir and viewing the Italian neorealist film Bicycle Thieves during a visit to London. He directed thirty-seven films, including feature films, documentaries and shorts. Ray's first film, Pather Panchali, won eleven international prizes, including Best Human Document at Cannes film festival"
posted by vronsky (7 comments total)

This scene from Goopy Gyne Bagha Byne is amazing.
posted by vronsky at 7:11 PM on June 4, 2008

Short highlight reel featuring Scorsese, Louis Malle, and James Ivory here.
posted by vronsky at 7:25 PM on June 4, 2008

I had the privilege of growing up in a city that had a theater dedicated to showing classic movies, and it ran a Satyajit Ray festival when I was in high school. His films were amazing on the big screen. Thanks for the post.
posted by prefpara at 7:27 PM on June 4, 2008 [1 favorite]

Oh yeah, that Goopy Gyne Bagha Byne scene is the bomb. Indo-surrealism. And the music: fabulous. Jaw harp! And the wavy mask closeups at 4:01, wow. Love love love.

Also, those characters we see in the jaw harp sections: their belly-bulbous costumes and their belly-bumping, the curly-cue head-gear one of them wears, and their movements... this is DEFINITELY where the Teletubbies creators got the whole shtick from.

Thanks, vron!
posted by flapjax at midnite at 7:33 PM on June 4, 2008

I thank you!
Andrew Robinson's 1989 Satyajit Ray: The Inner Eye is a damned good resource for those wanting to know more about this most extraordinary of filmmakers.
posted by Wolof at 11:10 PM on June 4, 2008 [1 favorite]

Thanks for this post—that scene from Goopy Gyne Bagha Byne is amazing, and I look forward to checking out the documentary.
posted by languagehat at 9:46 AM on June 5, 2008

OOOOOhhhh.... Thank you! I'll watch this tonight.

The first time I saw one of his films ( Pather Panchali ) was in Maine - in a small town, old fashion movie theater. The art school Dean had arranged for it to be screened - the audience was mostly young visual artists from around the world. When it ended, there was absolute, complete, stunned silence.
posted by R. Mutt at 10:16 AM on June 5, 2008 [2 favorites]