Satyajit Ray : Essays 1970-2005
Contents: Acknowledgements. Introduction. I. Personal Recollections: 1. A quiet friendship with Manikda. 2. For love of Satyajit. 3. On Manikda's 1994 Birthday. II. A. Film Discussions: 4. The World of Apu, 1955-1959. 5. Jalsaghar: The Music Room, 1958 or Bishwambhar's Portrait. 6. Aranyer Din Ratri: Days and Nights in the Forest, 1969. 7. Pratidwandi: The Adversary, 1970. 8. Jana Aranya: The Human Jungle, 1975. 9. Ghare Baire: The Home and the World, 1984. B. The Heart Trilogy: 10. Gana Shatru: Public Enemy, 1989. 11. Shakha Proshakha: The Branches and the Twigs, 1990. 12. Agantuk: The Stranger, 1991. III. Teaching Film with Ray's Films: 13. Definition of a film. 14. Editing. 15. Metz' large syntagmatic category applied to three Ray Films. IV. The Cinema of Satyajit Ray: 16. And then came Satyajit. 17. The discipline of art. 18. True-to-life image-maker. 19. Humanism in Ray's cinema. 20. Satyajit Ray's Faith in Youth. V. Interview: 21. Satyajit Ray on scriptwriting. VI. Satyajit Ray and the Film Societies Movement in India: 22. What is wrong with the Indian Film Societies? 23. The Film Societies and the New Media. Conclusion: 24. A journey to the cave of the heart: 'Amar Pather Panchali' ('My Song of the Road'). References. Filmography. Index.
"The essays offered here were written between 1970 and 2005. Teaching assignments, requests for articles and the author's own evolving interests prompted them. They were not written with the view to form a book. They are now published together in the conviction that, both singly and as a whole, they can contribute to a better appreciation of Satyajit Ray's Legacy.
The essays deal with Ray as a filmmaker. The date on which each essay was written is indicated as it situates each in the cultural context in which it was conceived.
Out of the twenty-nine feature films of Ray, only eight, plus the Apu Trilogy as a whole, are discussed. Moreover, this small collection is not a selection, indicating preferences; nor is it a classification, rating the films.
The discussion of Jana Aranya is the only essay that was written for this book to illuminate the evolution that took place from the first to the last film of Satyajit Ray. In order to preserve their historical value, generally, the essays were not updated.
Given Ray's deep involvement in film education, especially in the Film Societies Movement in India, it was felt mandatory to include two articles on the subject, one discussing the situation of the film societies today and the other, inspired by Satyajit Ray, and proposing a programme of media education for a new type of film society." (jacket)
