Updated 5 November 2006
English 212, Section 3: World Cinema
Week 9: 23 October 2006
Professor: Don Larsson
6:00-6:15 Quiz 5
6:15-6:40 Indian film and Satyajit Ray
6:40-8:30 View The World of Apu
8:30-8:40 Break
8:40-9:30 Discuss The World of Apu
India History and Religion: A Quick Look
§ Culture of India deeply affected by its history
§ Waves of invasion and assimilation and syntheses of cultures
§ Indus Valley civilization: 3000 to 1500 BCE
§ 1500 BCE: Aryan invasion of lighter-skinned people from north
§ Beginnings of the Vedas, oldest Hindu texts, establishment of the case system
§ c. 500 BCE: Siddhartha Gautama founds Buddhism
§ 317-185 BCE: Maurya Empire, Emperor Asoka converts to Buddhism c. 250 BCE
§ 12th and 13th centuries CE: Arab Invasions
§ 1527 CE: Muslim Mughal Empire founded by Babur
§ 1510: Portuguese establish sea trade with India
§ 1610: British East India Company establishes trading post
§ 1769: East India Company controls all trade with India
§ 1858: Indian Mutiny agains East India Company, British government assumes control of Indian territories and trade
§ 1876: Queen Victoria is pronounced Empress of India by British Parliament
§ 1915: Mohandas (“Mahatma”) Gandhi begins independence movement
§ 1948: India granted independence, partitioned into states of India and Muslim state of Pakistan and East Pakistan (later Bangla Desh); Gandhi assassinated
Currently,
§ World’s second-largest nation in population and the largest democracy
§ Hindus are the majority religion
o Muslims make up only about 13% of the total population, but in total numbers that is still the third-largest Muslim population in the world (after Indonesia and Pakistan)
o Other religions—including the Sikhs, the Jains, Christians, Jews and Parsis—coexist, despite occasional violent outbreaks
§ Growing economic and technological power marked by great extremes between a growing population of the newly affluent and those who still live in urban slums or remote villages
§ One of the world’s nuclear powers, like its neighbor Pakistan
Hinduism, Rama and Krishna
Hinduism
§ Collection of practices and beliefs that date back at least to the Aryan invasions and may go all the way back to the ancient Indus civilization
o Extremely complex religion whose aspects can seem to contradict themselves
o polytheistic religion, worshipping many—even millions—of gods
o Also can be regarded as monotheistic
§ all gods and creation are just manifestations of the one “universal soul” or complete god-figure, called Brahman (not to be confused with Brahma the Creator mentioned below or the Brahmin priestly caste).
Trimurti, the three major gods who represent the eternal cycle of life, death and rebirth
Brahma the Creator
Vishnu the Preserver
Siva the Destroyer
Vishnu has been embodied in earthly forms known as “avatars,” in order to save the world from destruction or to bring knowledge and instruction to humans.
Rama, hero of the epic poem The Ramayana
§ Born as a prince into a royal family but forced into exile along with his loyal wife Sita. Sita is then abducted by a demon king to the island of Sri Lanka. With the aid of his brothers and an army of monkeys commanded by the monkey-god Hanuman, Rama finally slays the demon and rescues his wife.
Krishna, central figure of the Baghavad Gita, the “Song of God” (best known Hindu religious work, part of the Mahabharata, the huge epic that details the founding of the universe and of the Indian nation)
§ Known by his dark skin (usually black or blue in art works), his playfulness, and his playing on the flute.
§ Apu is compared to Krishna when he first appears in Aparna’s household.
Indian Cinema and Satyajit Ray
§ Indian cinema history goes back to silent era, during British rule
§ Films made for internal consumption, but complicated by multiple languages, ethnic groups, and role of government in individual Indian states
§ Indian films largely unknown outside India until after World War II and independence, then limited to a few independent directors like Ray
§ Most films were produced for audiences in India: entertainment focused, structured by star system, songs and dance
§ Bombay (now known as Mumbai) became center of most commercial film production, nicknamed “Bollywood” (more on Bollywood next week)
Satyajit Ray (1921-1992)
§ First Indian filmmaker to win international prestige
§ Films are almost complete opposite of Bollywood
§ Most films are realistic dramas, not musicals with songs and dances
§ Actors not part of the huge Bollywood star system, and sometimes are amateurs or nonprofessionals
§ Realistic style drawn partly from influence Jean Renoir and Italian Neorealism
§ Films were almost all made in Indian state of Bengal, based in city of Calcutta (now known as Kolkata)
§ Usually filmed in Bengali, rather than Hindi, Urdu or the other major languages spoken in Bollywood films
§ Studied painting with Indian artist, writer, and philosopher Rabidrinath Tagore, first non-Westerner to win Nobel Prize for Literature (and the grandfather of Sharmila Tagore, who plays Aparna in The World of Apu and also costarred in other Ray films)
§ 1947: Ray co-founds the Calcutta Film Society
§ 1950: See The Bicycle Thief on a trip to London
§ 1951: Meets Renoir, in India to film The River
§ 1955: Completes Pather Panchali/The Song of the Road, first film in Apu Trilogy
§ Wins Jury Prize at Cannes, becomes hit in Bengal but also in West
§ Followed by Aparajito/The Unvanquished, and Apur Sansar/The World of Apu
Major Concerns:
§ Role of the individual within a life of uncertainty and change
§ Tension between traditional Indian ways and values and desires to Westernize
§ Family relationships
§ Role of women in family and society
§ Relationship of individuals to nature and man-made surroundings
§ Later films increase social and historical comment and criticism, become somewhat more varied in style
§ Also some films for children
Major Films:
§ The Apu Trilogy: Pather Panchali/The Song of the Road, Aparajito/The Unvanquished, Apur Sansar/The World of Apu
§ The Music Room (1958)
§ Devi (1960)
§ Three Daughters (1961)
§ Khanchanjungha (1962, color)
§ Charulata/The Lonely Wife (1964)
§ The Adventures of Goopy and Bagha (1968)
§ Days and Nights in the Forest (1970)
§ Distant Thunder (1973)
§ The Golden Fortress (1974)
§ The Chess Players (1977)
§ Home and the World (1984)
§ An Enemy of the People (1989)
Other Independent Indian Directors:
§ Ritwak Ghitak: The Cloud-Capped Star (1970)
§ Mrinal Sen
o Both Marxists, critical of social inequality, but very different in style from each other and from Ray
§ Mira Nair: Salaam Bombay, Monsoon Wedding (more next week)
§ Deepa Mehta: Fire, Earth
Related: Ismail Merchant (producer), James
Ivory (director), Ruth Prawer Jhabvala (writer): The Householder,
Shakespeare Wallah, The Guru, Bombay Talkie, and many others, set in Britain or US
The World of Apu/Apur Sansar (Bengal, India,1959)
Director: Satyajit Ray; Script: Ray, from a novel by Bhitibhushan Bandyopadhyay; Cinematography: Subrata Mitra; Editing: Dulal Dutta; Music: Ravi Shankar
Cast: Soumitra Chaterjee (Apurba Roy/Apu); Sharmila Tagore (Aparna, Apu’s wife); Alok Chakravarty (Kajal, Apu’s son); Swapan Mukherjee (Pulu, Apu’s friend); Dhirish Majumdar (Shashinarayan); Sefalika Devi (Shashinarayan’s wife)
Some questions to consider:
1. At the beginning of the film, Apu is about to enter adult life. What obstacles does he find in the way of reaching his goals? How do his goals shift or alter as the film progresses?
2. What is the role of chance in this film? Does the way that events unfold suggest that life is unpredictable or that Fate plays a large role in determining how things work out?
3. Apu and Aparna are virtually strangers when they wed. What brings them together? How is the growth of their relationship suggested by such things as setting, costume, cinematography and editing?
4. What accounts for the sudden change in Apu’s character in the last part of the film? How does he finally reach a resolution for the problems that are afflicting him?
5. What is the role of the road in the film? What does the ending suggest?
Discussion Summary
The World of Apu is the third film in the trilogy begun with Pather Panchali and Aparajito, but it is not necessary to have seen the first two to understand this one. At the beginning, Apu has been forced to leave the university due to a lack of financial support. Through scenes with his landlord and neighbors, we learn that he is a good-humored young man who wants to become a writer. Looking for work, he discovers that he is either underqualified to be a teacher or overqualified to paste labels on bottles at a pharmaceutical company. His friend Pulu even suggests that Apu still has not lived enough to be able to do the kind of writing that he wishes, but he suggests that he take a break from city life and accompany him to a small village, where Pulu’s cousin is being married. When Apu and Pulu arrive for the ceremony, the young man immediately impresses the bride’s mother, who compares him to the god Krishna. It turns out, however, that the intended groom has been driven mad by the heat, and the wedding is about to be called off, leaving the bride, Aparna, with the reputation of being cursed. In desperation, Pulu suggests to Apu that he take the groom’s place. Apu rejects the idea as “medieval” nonsense at first but then reconsiders once Aparna indicates that she is not opposed to the idea.
Apu and Aparna return to Calcutta, where Apu eventually does find work as a tutor. The couple slowly learn about each other and fall even more deeply in love, until Aparna leaves to go back to her mother, who will care for her as she is about to give birth. She dies in childbirth, though, and Apu is driven to despair. He roams the length and breadth of India, even destroying all of his writings so far, while Kajal, his son, is brought up by his grandparents. Eventually, Pulu discovers Apu, now working in a mine and persuades him to come meet the boy. Wanting to sign final responsibility for Kajal over to the grandparents and intending to leave the country, Apu meets Kajal, who is wild and undisciplined, with fantasies about the father he has never met. Apu is finally able to talk to the boy on the level of a friend, and at the end Kajal agrees to go with him back to Calcutta. As the film ends, father and son are on the road again.
The simplicity of The World of Apu is potentially misleading because its surface masks the deeper conflicts that run in any story of a young man coming of age but that also reflect tensions in post-independence Indian culture. Despite his own background in village life, Apu when we meet him is someone who has not yet really tasted life at its fullest. Living on his own in a small apartment that he does not tend to, his life reflects the idleness of a dreamer, but he quickly has to learn about the practical necessities of making a living, a necessity that is even stronger once he becomes married.
The film reflcts the humanism of French director Jean Renoir and the aesthetic of the Italian Neorealists in focusing on the ordinary lives of this special but not extraordinary young man and the ordinary people who live around him. Most of the actors are nonprofessionals, and their appearance and speech directly reflect the actual conditions of their lives. At the same time, Ray suggests mythic overtone to his story. Apu is an aspiring artist, someone who can speak for and voice the emotions of others, and his playing with flute suggests the playful qualities of Krishna, an embodiment of ultimate knowledge and wisdom for millions of Hindus. The comparison is not overdrawn, but it does suggest some special destiny that may await this young man.
Chance and destiny go hand in hand during the film when Apu meets Aparna. As unlikely as it is, the quick marriage of these two strangers is not that unusual in a country where arranged marriages are the norm. The difference here is that there does seem to be some immediate connection deeper than words between this couple. The two complement each other, as they develop their marriage while also becoming friends and partners. Aparna fans her husband while he eats, as a traditional wife would, but he also takes turns fanning here as she eats. Aparna is initially overcome by the sadness of her sudden change of life, and nearly breaks down at hearing the shriek of the train that passes by Apu’s apartment, but she too quickly adjusts, bringing some comfort and decoration to the previously run-down apartment. She even watches Apu’s finances, worrying that he is spending too much money on hired cab instead of taking the bus and refusing to have a maid to help her, even though she had been brought up in relative luxury.
This growing kinship between the two makes Aparna’s death even harder for Apu to take, and he is nearly driven to despair, even, it seems, considering suicide at one point. Because she had died in childbirth, Apu bitterly keeps himself from connecting with Kajal, but the hints of a possible connection have already been made. Earlier in the film, Apu had seen something in his wife’s eye, and she replied that it was just kohl, the mascara traditionally worn by Indian women (and men as well sometimes). But in Bengali, the word she uses for “kohl” is “kajal.” The boy is Aparna’s legacy, but he has lacked the presence of a father despite having a rather strict grandfather look after him.
When we first see Kajal, he is wearing a mask that looks like a shark’s head, suggesting his wild nature. When one of the grandfather’s workers warns the boy that he will tell his grandfather about Kajal’s misdeeds, the boy claims that his father will come to avenge him. When Apu finally does show up, though, Kajal rejects him at first. But, just as Apu and Aparna learned to become husband and wife by becoming friends first, Apu and Kajal learn their roles through friendship as well.
The final shot of the film has Apu and Kajal on the road together, while the grandfather and Pulu see them off. The road in this case is nothing less than the road of life, a metaphor that has run throughout the entire trilogy. At the end, we do not know the final outcome of these two people’s lives. It seems likely that Apu will become the writer that he wanted to be and that he and his son will have better lives together, but nothing in life is certain. That uncertainty is a strong point of traditional Indian culture, which has been made even more uncertain by modernity, but it is the journey of life that is its own reason for being.