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''The Apu Trilogy'' comprises three Indian
Bengali-language Bengali ( ), generally known by its endonym Bangla (, ), is an Indo-Aryan language native to the Bengal region of South Asia. It is the official, national, and most widely spoken language of Bangladesh and the second most widely spoken of t ...
drama film In film and television, drama is a category or genre of narrative fiction (or semi-fiction) intended to be more serious than humorous in tone. Drama of this kind is usually qualified with additional terms that specify its particular super- ...
s directed by Satyajit Ray: '' Pather Panchali'' (1955), '' Aparajito'' (1956) and '' The World of Apu'' (1959). The original music for the films was composed by
Ravi Shankar Ravi Shankar (; born Robindro Shaunkor Chowdhury, sometimes spelled as Rabindra Shankar Chowdhury; 7 April 1920 – 11 December 2012) was an Indian sitarist and composer. A sitar virtuoso, he became the world's best-known export of North In ...
. The films are based on two
Bengali novels Bengali novels occupy a major part of Bengali literature. Though the first Bengali novel was ''Karuna O Phulmonir Bibaran'' (1852), the Bengali novel actually started its journey with '' Durgeshnandini'' written by Bankim Chandra Chattopadhya ...
written by
Bibhutibhushan Bandopadhyay Bibhutibhushan Bandyopadhyay () (12 September 1894 – 1 November 1950) was an Indian writer in the Bengali language. His best known works are the autobiographical novel, '' Pather Panchali'' (''Song of the Little Road''), ''Aparajito (Undefeat ...
: '' Pather Panchali'' (1929) and ''Aparajito'' (1932). The three films went on to win many national and international awards, including three
National Film Awards The National Film Awards is the most prominent film award ceremony in India. Established in 1954, it has been administered, along with the International Film Festival of India and the Indian Panorama, by the Indian government's Directorat ...
and seven awards from the
Cannes Cannes ( , , ; oc, Canas) is a city located on the French Riviera. It is a commune located in the Alpes-Maritimes department, and host city of the annual Cannes Film Festival, Midem, and Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity. The ...
,
Berlin Berlin ( , ) is the capital and largest city of Germany by both area and population. Its 3.7 million inhabitants make it the European Union's most populous city, according to population within city limits. One of Germany's sixteen constitu ...
and
Venice Film Festival The Venice Film Festival or Venice International Film Festival ( it, Mostra Internazionale d'Arte Cinematografica della Biennale di Venezia, "International Exhibition of Cinematographic Art of the Venice Biennale") is an annual film festival h ...
s. The films were produced on a shoestring budget (''Pather Panchali'' had a budget of roughly 150,000 ($45,300—)) using an amateur cast and crew.


Plot summaries

The three films comprise a "
coming of age Coming of age is a young person's transition from being a child to being an adult. The specific age at which this transition takes place varies between societies, as does the nature of the change. It can be a simple legal convention or can ...
" narrative in the vein of a ''
bildungsroman In literary criticism, a ''Bildungsroman'' (, plural ''Bildungsromane'', ) is a literary genre that focuses on the psychological and moral growth of the protagonist from childhood to adulthood (coming of age), in which character change is import ...
''; they describe the childhood, education and early maturity of a young
Bengali Bengali or Bengalee, or Bengalese may refer to: *something of, from, or related to Bengal, a large region in South Asia * Bengalis, an ethnic and linguistic group of the region * Bengali language, the language they speak ** Bengali alphabet, the w ...
named Apu (Apurba Kumar Roy) in the early part of the 20th century. ''Pather Panchali'' (English, "Song of the Little Road")
Apu's early experiences in rural
Bengal Bengal ( ; bn, বাংলা/বঙ্গ, translit=Bānglā/Bôngô, ) is a geopolitical, cultural and historical region in South Asia, specifically in the eastern part of the Indian subcontinent at the apex of the Bay of Bengal, predom ...
as the son of a poor but high
caste Caste is a form of social stratification characterised by endogamy, hereditary transmission of a style of life which often includes an occupation, ritual status in a hierarchy, and customary social interaction and exclusion based on cultur ...
family are presented. Apu's father Harihar, a
Brahmin Brahmin (; sa, ब्राह्मण, brāhmaṇa) is a varna as well as a caste within Hindu society. The Brahmins are designated as the priestly class as they serve as priests ( purohit, pandit, or pujari) and religious teachers ( ...
, has difficulty in supporting his family. After the death of Apu's sister, Durga, the family moves to the holy city of Benares. ''Aparajito'' (English, "The Unvanquished")
The family's finances are still precarious. After his father dies there, Apu and his mother Sarbajaya come back to a village in Bengal. Despite unrelenting poverty, Apu manages to get formal schooling and turns out to be a brilliant student. He moves to Calcutta to pursue his education. He slowly distanced himself from his rural roots and his mother who was not keeping well at the time. In the process the growing Apu comes into conflict with his mother. Later he is informed that, when his mother dies too, he has to learn to live alone. ''Apur Sansar'' (English, "The World of Apu")
Attempting to become a writer, Apu unexpectedly finds himself pressured to marry a girl whose mother rejected her mentally ill bridegroom on the day of their wedding. Their blossoming marriage ends in her death in childbirth, after which the despairing Apu abandons his child, but eventually returns to accept his responsibilities.


Production

In 1950, Ray had decided that '' Pather Panchali'', the classic coming of age story (
bildungsroman In literary criticism, a ''Bildungsroman'' (, plural ''Bildungsromane'', ) is a literary genre that focuses on the psychological and moral growth of the protagonist from childhood to adulthood (coming of age), in which character change is import ...
) of
Bengali literature Bengali literature ( bn, বাংলা সাহিত্য, Bangla Sahityô) denotes the body of writings in the Bengali language and which covers Old Bengali, Middle- Bengali and Modern Bengali with the changes through the passage of time ...
, published in 1928 by Bibhutibhusan Bandopadhyay, would be the subject matter for his first film. This semi-autobiographical novel describes the growing up of Apu, a small boy in a Bengal village. He went ahead with the film after meeting
Jean Renoir Jean Renoir (; 15 September 1894 – 12 February 1979) was a French film director, screenwriter, actor, producer and author. As a film director and actor, he made more than forty films from the silent era to the end of the 1960s. His films '' ...
during filming of '' The River'' (1951) and after watching the Italian neorealist film '' Bicycle Thieves'' (1948) while he was in London. Besides the influence of European cinema and Bengali literature, Ray is also indebted to the Indian theatrical tradition, particularly the '' rasa'' theory of classical Sanskrit drama. The complicated doctrine of ''rasa'' centers predominantly on feelings experienced not only by the characters but also conveyed in a certain artistic way to the spectator. The duality of ''rasa'' representation shows in ''The Apu Trilogy''. Ray gathered an inexperienced crew, although both his cameraman Subrata Mitra and art director
Bansi Chandragupta Bansi Chandragupta (1924–1981) was an Indian art director and production designer, regarded among the greatest of art directors of Indian film industry. He won Filmfare Best Art Direction Award thrice, for ''Seema'' in 1972, for ''Do Jhoot ...
went on to achieve great acclaim. The cast consisted of mostly amateur artists. Shooting started in late 1952, using Ray's personal savings. He had hoped that once the initial shots had been completed, he would be able to obtain funds to support the project; however, such funding was not forthcoming. ''Pather Panchali'' was shot over the unusually long period of three years, because shooting was possible only from time to time, when Ray or production manager Anil Chowdhury could arrange further money. With a loan from the
West Bengal government The Government of West Bengal also known as the West Bengal Government, is the subnational government of the Indian state of West Bengal , created by the National Constitution as the state's legislative, executive and judicial authority. The ...
, the film was finally completed and released in 1955 to great critical and popular success, sweeping up numerous prizes and having long runs in both India and abroad. During the making of the film, Ray refused funding from sources who demanded a change in script or the supervision of the producer, and he ignored advice from the government (which finally funded the film anyway) to incorporate a happy ending in having Apu's family join a "development project". Even greater help than Renoir's encouragement occurred when Ray showed a sequence to
John Huston John Marcellus Huston ( ; August 5, 1906 – August 28, 1987) was an American film director, screenwriter, actor and visual artist. He wrote the screenplays for most of the 37 feature films he directed, many of which are today considered ...
who was in India scouting locations for '' The Man Who Would Be King''. The sequence is the remarkable vision Apu and his sister have of the train running through the countryside. It was the only sequence Ray had filmed due to his small budget. Huston praised Ray to
Monroe Wheeler Monroe Wheeler (13 February, 1899 – 14 August, 1988) was an American publisher and museum coordinator whose relationship with the novelist and poet Glenway Wescott lasted from 1919 until Wescott's death in 1987. Biography Wheeler was born in Ev ...
at the New York Museum of Modern Art, saying that a major talent was on the horizon. In India, the reaction to the film was enthusiastic; ''
The Times of India ''The Times of India'', also known by its abbreviation ''TOI'', is an Indian English-language daily newspaper and digital news media owned and managed by The Times Group. It is the third-largest newspaper in India by circulation and largest s ...
'' wrote that "It is absurd to compare it with any other Indian cinema .. ''Pather Panchali'' is pure cinema". In the United Kingdom, Lindsay Anderson wrote a glowing review of the film. However, the reaction was not uniformly positive. After watching the movie,
François Truffaut François Roland Truffaut ( , ; ; 6 February 1932 – 21 October 1984) was a French film director, screenwriter, producer, actor, and film critic. He is widely regarded as one of the founders of the French New Wave. After a career of more th ...
is reported to have said, "I don't want to see a movie of peasants eating with their hands." Bosley Crowther, then the most influential critic of ''
The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...
'', wrote a mixed review of the film that its distributor Ed Harrison thought would kill off the film when it got released in the United States; however, it enjoyed an exceptionally long run. Ray's international career started in earnest after the success of his next film, '' Aparajito'' (''The Unvanquished''). This film shows the eternal struggle between the ambitions of Apu as a young man and the mother who loves him. Some critics, notably Mrinal Sen and
Ritwik Ghatak Ritwik Kumar Ghatak (; 4 November 19256 February 1976) was a noted Indian film director, screenwriter, and playwright. Along with prominent contemporary Bengali filmmakers Satyajit Ray, Tapan Sinha and Mrinal Sen, his cinema is primarily rememb ...
, rank it even higher than the first film. Aparajito won the
Golden Lion The Golden Lion ( it, Leone d'oro) is the highest prize given to a film at the Venice Film Festival. The prize was introduced in 1949 by the organizing committee and is now regarded as one of the film industry's most prestigious and distinguis ...
at the
Venice Film Festival The Venice Film Festival or Venice International Film Festival ( it, Mostra Internazionale d'Arte Cinematografica della Biennale di Venezia, "International Exhibition of Cinematographic Art of the Venice Biennale") is an annual film festival h ...
. The film is also notable for its application of bounce lighting to recreate the effect of daylight on sets with the use of large scale diffusers, pioneered by the cinematographer Subrata Mitra. Ray had not thought about a trilogy while making ''Aparajito'', and it occurred to him only after being asked about the idea in Venice. The final installation of the series, ''
Apur Sansar ''Apur Sansar'' ( bn, অপুর সংসার), also known as ''The World of Apu'', is a 1959 Indian Bengali-language drama film produced, written and directed by Satyajit Ray. It is based on the second half of Bibhutibhushan Bandopadhyay' ...
'' (''The World of Apu''), was made in 1959. A number of critics find this to be the supreme achievement of the trilogy ( Robin Wood, Aparna Sen). Ray introduced two of his favourite actors, Soumitra Chatterjee and Sharmila Tagore, in this film. The film finds Apu living in a nondescript Kolkata house in near-poverty. He becomes involved in an unusual marriage with Aparna, the scenes of their life together forming "one of the cinema's classic affirmative depiction of married life", but tragedy ensues. After ''Apur Sansar'' was harshly criticised by a Bengali critic, Ray wrote an article defending it—a rare event in Ray's filmmaking career (the other major instance involved the film ''Charulata'', Ray's personal favourite). His success had little influence on his personal life in the years to come. Ray continued to live with his mother, uncle and other members of his extended family in a rented house.


Cast and characters


Critical reception

This trilogy is considered by critics around the globe to rank among the greatest achievements of
Indian film The Cinema of India consists of motion pictures produced in India, which had a large effect on world cinema since the late 20th century. Major centers of film production across the country include Mumbai, Chennai, Hyderabad, Visakhapatnam, ...
, and it is established as one of the most historically important cinematic debuts. '' Pather Panchali'' won at least thirteen international prizes (including Best Human Document at the
1956 Cannes Film Festival The 9th Cannes Film Festival was held from 23 April to 10 May 1956. The Palme d'Or went to ''The Silent World'' by Jacques-Yves Cousteau and Louis Malle. The festival opened with '' Marie-Antoinette reine de France'', directed by Jean Delannoy and ...
), followed by eleven international prizes for '' Aparajito'' (including the
Golden Lion The Golden Lion ( it, Leone d'oro) is the highest prize given to a film at the Venice Film Festival. The prize was introduced in 1949 by the organizing committee and is now regarded as one of the film industry's most prestigious and distinguis ...
at the
Venice Film Festival The Venice Film Festival or Venice International Film Festival ( it, Mostra Internazionale d'Arte Cinematografica della Biennale di Venezia, "International Exhibition of Cinematographic Art of the Venice Biennale") is an annual film festival h ...
) and numerous other awards for ''
Apur Sansar ''Apur Sansar'' ( bn, অপুর সংসার), also known as ''The World of Apu'', is a 1959 Indian Bengali-language drama film produced, written and directed by Satyajit Ray. It is based on the second half of Bibhutibhushan Bandopadhyay' ...
'' (including the Sutherland Trophy at the
London Film Festival The BFI London Film Festival is an annual film festival founded in 1957 and held in the United Kingdom, running for two weeks in October with co-operation from the British Film Institute. It screens more than 300 films, documentaries and shor ...
). When Ray made ''Pather Panchali'', he worked with a cast and crew most of whom had never been previously involved in film. Ray himself at the time of directing ''Pather Panchali'' had primarily worked in the advertising industry, although he had served as assistant director on
Jean Renoir Jean Renoir (; 15 September 1894 – 12 February 1979) was a French film director, screenwriter, actor, producer and author. As a film director and actor, he made more than forty films from the silent era to the end of the 1960s. His films '' ...
's 1951 film '' The River''. From this foundation, Ray went on to create other highly acclaimed films, like '' Charulata'', '' Mahanagar'', and ''
Aranyer Din Ratri ''Aranyer Din Ratri'' (; English: Days and Nights in the Forest) is an Indian Bengali adventure drama film released in 1970, written and directed by Satyajit Ray. It is based upon the Bengali novel of the same name by Sunil Gangopadhyay. It ...
'', and his international success energised other Bengal filmmakers like Mrinal Sen and
Ritwik Ghatak Ritwik Kumar Ghatak (; 4 November 19256 February 1976) was a noted Indian film director, screenwriter, and playwright. Along with prominent contemporary Bengali filmmakers Satyajit Ray, Tapan Sinha and Mrinal Sen, his cinema is primarily rememb ...
. This extract from ''Youth'', by South African author J. M. Coetzee, talks of the music in the ''Apu trilogy'', which is based on Indian classical music: On
Rotten Tomatoes Rotten Tomatoes is an American review-aggregation website for film and television. The company was launched in August 1998 by three undergraduate students at the University of California, Berkeley: Senh Duong, Patrick Y. Lee, and Stephen Wan ...
, ''Pather Panchali'' has a 97% fresh rating based on an aggregate of 38 reviews and in 2009 was included in its list of top 100 foreign films. ''Aparajito'' has a 94% fresh rating based on an aggregate of 16 reviews, and ''Apur Sansar'' (''The World of Apu'') has a 100% fresh rating based on an aggregate of 22 reviews. This makes ''The Apu Trilogy'' one of the highest-rated film trilogies of all time (97%, 94%, 100%), along with the ''Toy Story'' trilogy (100%, 100%, 99%), ''The Lord of the Rings'' trilogy (91%, 96%, 93%), the original ''
Star Wars ''Star Wars'' is an American epic space opera multimedia franchise created by George Lucas, which began with the eponymous 1977 film and quickly became a worldwide pop-culture phenomenon. The franchise has been expanded into various film ...
'' trilogy (94%, 97%, 78%), and the ''Before'' trilogy (100%, 95%, 98%). Film critic
Roger Ebert Roger Joseph Ebert (; June 18, 1942 – April 4, 2013) was an American film critic, film historian, journalist, screenwriter, and author. He was a film critic for the ''Chicago Sun-Times'' from 1967 until his death in 2013. In 1975, Ebert beca ...
, when including the films in his
Great Movies ''The Great Movies'' is the name of several publications, both online and in print, from the film critic Roger Ebert. The object was, as Ebert put it, to "make a tour of the landmarks of the first century of cinema." ''The Great Movies'' was pu ...
list, wrote about the trilogy:


Theme

Andre Robinson, in his book ''Satyajit Ray: The Inner Eye,'' comments that the three films differ in their predominant moods, and he compares the trilogy to the development of an
Indian classical Indian classical music is the classical music of the Indian subcontinent. It has two major traditions: the North Indian classical music known as '' Hindustani'' and the South Indian expression known as '' Carnatic''. These traditions were not ...
''
raga A ''raga'' or ''raag'' (; also ''raaga'' or ''ragam''; ) is a melodic framework for improvisation in Indian classical music akin to a melodic mode. The ''rāga'' is a unique and central feature of the classical Indian music tradition, and as ...
''.


Legacy

'' Sight & Sound'', the
British Film Institute The British Film Institute (BFI) is a film and television charitable organisation which promotes and preserves film-making and television in the United Kingdom. The BFI uses funds provided by the National Lottery to encourage film production, ...
's film magazine, listed '' Pather Panchali'' several times in its Critics' Poll of all-time greatest films, in 1962 (ranked #11), 1982 (ranked #79), 1992 (ranked #6) and 2002 (ranked #22). '' The World of Apu'' appeared in 1982, ranked at #42. In the 1992 edition, both '' Aparajito'' and ''The World of Apu'' were tied at #127, while ''The Apu Trilogy'' was ranked separately at #88. In a combined list of ''Sight & Sound'' critics' and directors' poll results in 2002, ''Pather Panchali'' was ranked at No. 28, '' The World of Apu'' at No. 93 and '' Aparajito'' at #160. If the votes are combined, then ''The Apu Trilogy'' as a whole would be ranked at No. 14 in 1982, No. 4 in 1992 and No. 14 in 2002. In 1988,
John Kobal John Kobal (born Iwan Kobal; 30 May 1940 – 28 October 1991)Kobal's biography page
, John Kobal Fou ...
's poll of critics and filmmakers ranked ''The Apu Trilogy'' at No. 35 on their list of Top 100 Movies. In 1998, the Asian film magazine ''
Cinemaya ''Cinemaya'' (a blend of ''cinema'' and '' maya'' (illusion)) is a film magazine established in 1988 devoted exclusively to coverage of Asian film. It is published in New Delhi, India and distributed internationally. The present editor-in-chief ...
s critics' poll of all-time greatest films ranked ''The Apu Trilogy'' at No. 7 on the list, while ''Pather Panchali'' alone was ranked at No. 2 on the same list. If the votes are combined, then ''The Apu Trilogy'' would be ranked at #1. In 1999, ''
The Village Voice ''The Village Voice'' is an American news and culture paper, known for being the country's first alternative newsweekly. Founded in 1955 by Dan Wolf, Ed Fancher, John Wilcock, and Norman Mailer, the ''Voice'' began as a platform for the cr ...
'' ranked ''Pather Panchali'' at No. 12 (tied with ''
The Godfather ''The Godfather'' is a 1972 American crime film directed by Francis Ford Coppola, who co-wrote the screenplay with Mario Puzo, based on Puzo's best-selling 1969 novel of the same title. The film stars Marlon Brando, Al Pacino, James Caa ...
'') in its top 250 "Best Films of the Century" list, based on a poll of critics, while ''The Apu Trilogy'' was ranked separately at No. 54 in the same poll. If the votes are combined, ''The Apu Trilogy'' would be ranked at #5. In 2000, an audience poll of best
Asian films Asian may refer to: * Items from or related to the continent of Asia: ** Asian people, people in or descending from Asia ** Asian culture, the culture of the people from Asia ** Asian cuisine, food based on the style of food of the people from Asi ...
conducted by ''MovieMail'' ranked ''The Apu Trilogy'' at No. 2 on the list. In January 2002, the trilogy as a whole was voted at No. 70 on the list of the "Top 100 Essential Films of All Time" by the
National Society of Film Critics The National Society of Film Critics (NSFC) is an American film critic organization. The organization is known for its highbrow tastes, and its annual awards are one of the most prestigious film critics awards in the United States. In January 2014, ...
. In 2021 the trilogy was ranked at No. 65 on ''
Time Out Time-out, Time Out, or timeout may refer to: Time * Time-out (sport), in various sports, a break in play, called by a team * Television timeout, a break in sporting action so that a commercial break may be taken * Timeout (computing), an engine ...
'' magazine's list of ''The 100 best movies of all time''. ''
The Independent ''The Independent'' is a British online newspaper. It was established in 1986 as a national morning printed paper. Nicknamed the ''Indy'', it began as a broadsheet and changed to tabloid format in 2003. The last printed edition was publish ...
'' ranked ''The Apu Trilogy'' at No. 4 on its list of "10 greatest movie trilogies of all time". ''Pather Panchali'' was included in various other all-time greatest film lists, including ''Time Out'' magazine's "Centenary Top One Hundred Films" in 1995, the ''
San Francisco Chronicle The ''San Francisco Chronicle'' is a newspaper serving primarily the San Francisco Bay Area of Northern California. It was founded in 1865 as ''The Daily Dramatic Chronicle'' by teenage brothers Charles de Young and Michael H. de Young. The pa ...
''s "Hot 100 Films From the Past" in 1997, the ''
Rolling Stone ''Rolling Stone'' is an American monthly magazine that focuses on music, politics, and popular culture. It was founded in San Francisco, California, in 1967 by Jann Wenner, and the music critic Ralph J. Gleason. It was first known for its ...
'' "100 Maverick Movies of the Last 100 Years" in 1999, and the British Film Institute's Top Fifty "Must See" Children's Films in 2005. Akira Kurosawa ranked ''Pather Panchali'' at No. 37 on his ''Top 100 favourite films of all time'' list. In 1996, ''The World of Apu'' was included in Movieline Magazine's "100 Greatest Foreign Films". In 2002, ''Pather Panchali'' and ''The World of Apu'' featured in "
The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...
Guide to the Best 1,000 Movies Ever Made". ''The Apu Trilogy'' as a whole was included in film critic
Roger Ebert Roger Joseph Ebert (; June 18, 1942 – April 4, 2013) was an American film critic, film historian, journalist, screenwriter, and author. He was a film critic for the ''Chicago Sun-Times'' from 1967 until his death in 2013. In 1975, Ebert beca ...
's list of The Great Movies in 2001 and in ''Time'' magazine's All-Time 100 best movies list in 2005. It was also ranked No. 17 in ''
Empire An empire is a "political unit" made up of several territories and peoples, "usually created by conquest, and divided between a dominant center and subordinate peripheries". The center of the empire (sometimes referred to as the metropole) ex ...
'' magazine's "The 100 Best Films of World Cinema" in 2010. The original Trilogy has been reconstructed via the Harvard Film archive & Criterion and was shown in Kendall Square, Cambridge, MA the 1st week of July 2015. ''
Apur Panchali ''Apur Panchali'' is a 2013 Bengali film directed by Kaushik Ganguly and produced by Shree Venkatesh Films. It is based on the life of Subir Banerjee, the actor who played Apu in '' Pather Panchali'' (1955), the first film of Satyajit Ray's Apu ...
'' is a Bengali film based on Subir Banerjee's life, who played child ''Apu'' in the first installment of ''Apu Trilogy''. Director Kaushik Ganguly won the award of best director for ''Apur Panchali'' in the 44th
International Film Festival of India The International Film Festival of India (IFFI), founded in 1952, is one of the most significant film festivals in Asia. Held annually, currently in the state of Goa, on the western coast of the country, the festival aims at providing a common p ...
(IFFI) in November 2013. The director mentioned in an interview that he found similarities between certain parts of the life of Subir Banerjee and the iconic character Apu. In the film actor Parambrata Chatterjee portrays a younger Subir Banerjee, while Ardhendu Bannerjee plays the role of the aged Banerjee.


Influence

According to Michael Sragow of ''
The Atlantic Monthly ''The Atlantic'' is an American magazine and multi-platform publisher. It features articles in the fields of politics, foreign affairs, business and the economy, culture and the arts, technology, and science. It was founded in 1857 in Boston, ...
'' in 1994: Across the world, filmmakers such as
Martin Scorsese Martin Charles Scorsese ( , ; born November 17, 1942) is an American film director, producer, screenwriter and actor. Scorsese emerged as one of the major figures of the New Hollywood era. He is the recipient of many major accolades, incl ...
,
James Ivory James Francis Ivory (born June 7, 1928) is an American film director, producer, and screenwriter. For many years, he worked extensively with Indian-born film producer Ismail Merchant, his domestic as well as professional partner, and with scree ...
,
Abbas Kiarostami Abbas Kiarostami ( fa, عباس کیارستمی ; 22 June 1940 – 4 July 2016) was an Iranian film director, screenwriter, poet, photographer, and film producer. An active filmmaker from 1970, Kiarostami had been involved in the production of ...
,
Elia Kazan Elia Kazan (; born Elias Kazantzoglou ( el, Ηλίας Καζαντζόγλου); September 7, 1909 – September 28, 2003) was an American film and theatre director, producer, screenwriter and actor, described by ''The New York Times'' as "one o ...
, Carlos Saura, Isao Takahata,
Barry Jenkins Barry Jenkins (born November 19, 1979) is an American filmmaker. After making his filmmaking debut with the short film ''My Josephine'' (2003), he directed his first feature film '' Medicine for Melancholy'' (2008) for which he received an Ind ...
, Philip Kaufman, Wes Anderson and Danny Boyle have been influenced by ''The Apu Trilogy'', with many others such as Akira Kurosawa praising the work. Filmmaker
Martin Scorsese Martin Charles Scorsese ( , ; born November 17, 1942) is an American film director, producer, screenwriter and actor. Scorsese emerged as one of the major figures of the New Hollywood era. He is the recipient of many major accolades, incl ...
when talking about ''The Apu Trilogy'' remarked "Without a doubt, in his(Ray's) films the line between poetry and cinema, dissolved." In Gregory Nava's 1995 film '' My Family'', the final scene is duplicated from the final scene of ''Apur Sansar''. Similar influences and references to the trilogy can be found, for example, in recent works such as '' Sacred Evil'',
Paul Auster Paul Benjamin Auster (born February 3, 1947) is an American writer and film director. His notable works include ''The New York Trilogy'' (1987), '' Moon Palace'' (1989), ''The Music of Chance'' (1990), '' The Book of Illusions'' (2002), '' The B ...
's 2008 novel ''
Man in the Dark ''Man in the Dark'' is a 1953 film noir drama 3-D film directed by Lew Landers and starring Edmond O'Brien, Audrey Totter and Ted de Corsia. It is a remake of the 1936 Ralph Bellamy film ''The Man Who Lived Twice''. It was the first Columbia Pi ...
'', the '' Elements trilogy'' of Deepa Mehta and even in films of
Jean-Luc Godard Jean-Luc Godard ( , ; ; 3 December 193013 September 2022) was a French-Swiss film director, screenwriter, and film critic. He rose to prominence as a pioneer of the French New Wave film movement of the 1960s, alongside such filmmakers as Fran ...
. The technique of bounce lighting pioneered by Subrata Mitra, to recreate the effect of daylight on sets, has also had a profound influence on the development of
cinematography Cinematography (from ancient Greek κίνημα, ''kìnema'' "movement" and γράφειν, ''gràphein'' "to write") is the art of motion picture (and more recently, electronic video camera) photography. Cinematographers use a lens to focu ...
.
Ravi Shankar Ravi Shankar (; born Robindro Shaunkor Chowdhury, sometimes spelled as Rabindra Shankar Chowdhury; 7 April 1920 – 11 December 2012) was an Indian sitarist and composer. A sitar virtuoso, he became the world's best-known export of North In ...
's soundtracks to the films were also a major influence on
The Beatles The Beatles were an English Rock music, rock band, formed in Liverpool in 1960, that comprised John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison and Ringo Starr. They are regarded as the Cultural impact of the Beatles, most influential band of al ...
, specifically
George Harrison George Harrison (25 February 1943 – 29 November 2001) was an English musician and singer-songwriter who achieved international fame as the lead guitarist of the Beatles. Sometimes called "the quiet Beatle", Harrison embraced Indian c ...
.


Awards and nominations


National awards

;President's Medals * Winner – 1955 – President's Gold & Silver Medals (New Delhi) – '' Pather Panchali'' (''Song of the Little Road'') * Winner – 1959 – President's Gold Medal (New Delhi) – ''
Apur Sansar ''Apur Sansar'' ( bn, অপুর সংসার), also known as ''The World of Apu'', is a 1959 Indian Bengali-language drama film produced, written and directed by Satyajit Ray. It is based on the second half of Bibhutibhushan Bandopadhyay' ...
'' (''The World of Apu'') ;
National Film Awards The National Film Awards is the most prominent film award ceremony in India. Established in 1954, it has been administered, along with the International Film Festival of India and the Indian Panorama, by the Indian government's Directorat ...
* Winner – 1956 –
Best Film This is a list of categories of awards commonly awarded through organizations that bestow film awards, including those presented by various film, festivals, and people's awards. Best Actor/Best Actress *See Best Actor#Film awards, Best Actress#F ...
– '' Pather Panchali'' (''Song of the Little Road'') * Winner – 1956 – Best Feature Film in Bengali – '' Pather Panchali'' (''Song of the Little Road'') * Winner – 1960 –
Best Film This is a list of categories of awards commonly awarded through organizations that bestow film awards, including those presented by various film, festivals, and people's awards. Best Actor/Best Actress *See Best Actor#Film awards, Best Actress#F ...
– ''
Apur Sansar ''Apur Sansar'' ( bn, অপুর সংসার), also known as ''The World of Apu'', is a 1959 Indian Bengali-language drama film produced, written and directed by Satyajit Ray. It is based on the second half of Bibhutibhushan Bandopadhyay' ...
'' (''The World of Apu'')


International film festivals

;
Cannes Film Festival The Cannes Festival (; french: link=no, Festival de Cannes), until 2003 called the International Film Festival (') and known in English as the Cannes Film Festival, is an annual film festival held in Cannes, France, which previews new films ...
* Winner –
1956 Events January * January 1 – The Anglo-Egyptian Condominium ends in Sudan. * January 8 – Operation Auca: Five U.S. evangelical Christian missionaries, Nate Saint, Roger Youderian, Ed McCully, Jim Elliot and Pete Fleming, are kille ...
– Best Human Document – '' Pather Panchali'' (''Song of the Little Road'') * Winner –
1956 Events January * January 1 – The Anglo-Egyptian Condominium ends in Sudan. * January 8 – Operation Auca: Five U.S. evangelical Christian missionaries, Nate Saint, Roger Youderian, Ed McCully, Jim Elliot and Pete Fleming, are kille ...
OCIC Award (Special Mention) – '' Pather Panchali'' (''Song of the Little Road'') *Nominated –
1956 Events January * January 1 – The Anglo-Egyptian Condominium ends in Sudan. * January 8 – Operation Auca: Five U.S. evangelical Christian missionaries, Nate Saint, Roger Youderian, Ed McCully, Jim Elliot and Pete Fleming, are kille ...
Golden Palm for Best Film – '' Pather Panchali'' (''Song of the Little Road'') ;
Venice Film Festival The Venice Film Festival or Venice International Film Festival ( it, Mostra Internazionale d'Arte Cinematografica della Biennale di Venezia, "International Exhibition of Cinematographic Art of the Venice Biennale") is an annual film festival h ...
*Winner – 1957 – Golden Lion of St. Mark for Best Film – '' Aparajito'' (''The Unvanquished'') *Winner – 1957 – Cinema Nuovo Award – '' Aparajito'' (''The Unvanquished'') *Winner – 1957 – Critics Award – '' Aparajito'' (''The Unvanquished'') ; Berlin International Film Festival *Winner – 1957 – Selznick Golden Laurel for Best Film – '' Pather Panchali'' (''Song of the Little Road'') *Winner – 1960 – Selznick Golden Laurel for Best Film – '' Aparajito'' (''The Unvanquished'') ; British Film Institute Awards,
London Film Festival The BFI London Film Festival is an annual film festival founded in 1957 and held in the United Kingdom, running for two weeks in October with co-operation from the British Film Institute. It screens more than 300 films, documentaries and shor ...
*Winner – 1957 – FIPRESCI Award – '' Aparajito'' (''The Unvanquished'') *Winner – 1960 – Sutherland Trophy for Best Original And Imaginative Film – ''
Apur Sansar ''Apur Sansar'' ( bn, অপুর সংসার), also known as ''The World of Apu'', is a 1959 Indian Bengali-language drama film produced, written and directed by Satyajit Ray. It is based on the second half of Bibhutibhushan Bandopadhyay' ...
'' (''The World of Apu'') *Winner – 1980 – Wington Award – Apu Trilogy (for each film) ; Edinburgh International Film Festival *Winner – 1956 – Diploma of Merit – '' Pather Panchali'' (''Song of the Little Road'') *Winner – 1960 – Diploma of Merit – ''
Apur Sansar ''Apur Sansar'' ( bn, অপুর সংসার), also known as ''The World of Apu'', is a 1959 Indian Bengali-language drama film produced, written and directed by Satyajit Ray. It is based on the second half of Bibhutibhushan Bandopadhyay' ...
'' (''The World of Apu'') ; San Francisco International Film Festival *Winner – 1957 – Golden Gate for Best Picture – '' Pather Panchali'' (''Song of the Little Road'') *Winner – 1957 – Golden Gate for Best Director – '' Pather Panchali'' (''Song of the Little Road'') – Satyajit Ray *Winner – 1958 – Golden Gate for Best Picture – '' Aparajito'' (''The Unvanquished'') *Winner – 1958 – Golden Gate for Best Director – '' Aparajito'' (''The Unvanquished'') – Satyajit Ray *Winner – 1958 – International Critics' Award – '' Aparajito'' (''The Unvanquished'') ; Vancouver International Film Festival *Winner – 1958 – Best Film – '' Pather Panchali'' (''Song of the Little Road'') ; New York Film Festival *Winner – 1959 – Best Foreign Film – '' Pather Panchali'' (''Song of the Little Road'') ; Stratford Film Festival *Winner – 1958 – Critics' Award for Best Film – '' Pather Panchali'' (''Song of the Little Road'')


Other international awards

; National Board of Review Awards (United States) *Winner –
1958 Events January * January 1 – The European Economic Community (EEC) comes into being. * January 3 – The West Indies Federation is formed. * January 4 ** Edmund Hillary's Commonwealth Trans-Antarctic Expedition completes the third ...
Best Foreign Film – '' Pather Panchali'' (''Song of the Little Road'') *Winner –
1960 It is also known as the "Year of Africa" because of major events—particularly the independence of seventeen African nations—that focused global attention on the continent and intensified feelings of Pan-Africanism. Events January * Ja ...
Best Foreign Film – ''
Apur Sansar ''Apur Sansar'' ( bn, অপুর সংসার), also known as ''The World of Apu'', is a 1959 Indian Bengali-language drama film produced, written and directed by Satyajit Ray. It is based on the second half of Bibhutibhushan Bandopadhyay' ...
'' (''The World of Apu'') ; Kinema Junpo Awards (Tokyo) *Winner – 1967 – Best Foreign Film – '' Pather Panchali'' (''Song of the Little Road'') ; Bodil Awards (Denmark) *Winner – 1967 – Best Non-European Film – '' Aparajito'' (''The Unvanquished'') *Winner – 1969 – Best Non-European Film – '' Pather Panchali'' (''Song of the Little Road'') ; British Academy Film Awards (United Kingdom) *Nominated –
1958 Events January * January 1 – The European Economic Community (EEC) comes into being. * January 3 – The West Indies Federation is formed. * January 4 ** Edmund Hillary's Commonwealth Trans-Antarctic Expedition completes the third ...
BAFTA Award for Best Film – '' Pather Panchali'' (''Song of the Little Road'') *Nominated – 1959BAFTA Award for Best Film – '' Aparajito'' (''The Unvanquished'') *Nominated – 1959BAFTA Award for Best Foreign Actress – '' Aparajito'' (''The Unvanquished'') – Karuna Banerjee *Nominated – 1962BAFTA Award for Best Film – ''
Apur Sansar ''Apur Sansar'' ( bn, অপুর সংসার), also known as ''The World of Apu'', is a 1959 Indian Bengali-language drama film produced, written and directed by Satyajit Ray. It is based on the second half of Bibhutibhushan Bandopadhyay' ...
'' (''The World of Apu'') ;Other awards *Winner – 1956 Golden Carbao (
Manila Manila ( , ; fil, Maynila, ), officially the City of Manila ( fil, Lungsod ng Maynila, ), is the capital of the Philippines, and its second-most populous city. It is highly urbanized and, as of 2019, was the world's most densely populated ...
) – '' Pather Panchali'' (''Song of the Little Road'') *Winner – 1956 Vatican Award (Rome) – '' Pather Panchali'' (''Song of the Little Road'') *Winner – 1958–1959 Golden Laurel for Best Foreign Film (United States) – '' Aparajito'' (''The Unvanquished'')


See also

* ''
Avijatrik ''Avijatrik'' is a 2021 Bengali-language drama film, written and directed by Subhrajit Mitra and produced by Gaurang Jalan, co-produced by Madhur Bhandarkar. The screenplay is based on the novel ''Aparajito'' by Bibhutibhushan Bandyopadhyay. ...
'' * Bengali cinema ** Cinema of West Bengal *
Cinema of India The Cinema of India consists of motion pictures produced in India, which had a large effect on world cinema since the late 20th century. Major centers of film production across the country include Mumbai, Chennai, Hyderabad, Visakhapatnam, Ko ...
** Parallel Cinema


References


Citations


General bibliography

* . * * . * . * .


Further reading

* Nyce, Ben. ''Satyajit Ray: A Study of His Films'', Praeger, 1988.


External links

* * *
The Apu trilogy
at SatyajitRay.org
The Apu Trilogy
at Janus Films
The Apu Trilogy (1955, 1956, 1959)
in ''
Time Time is the continued sequence of existence and event (philosophy), events that occurs in an apparently irreversible process, irreversible succession from the past, through the present, into the future. It is a component quantity of various me ...
''
Voted #17 on The Arts and Faith Top 100 Films (2010)''The Apu Trilogy: Behind the Universal''
an essay by
Girish Shambu Girish Shambu is an American film blogger, cinephile, film critic and educator. Besides maintaining an eponymous blog, which has become a popular center for the film blogging community, Shambu has contributed writing to including ''Senses of Cinem ...
at the
Criterion Collection The Criterion Collection, Inc. (or simply Criterion) is an American home-video distribution company that focuses on licensing, restoring and distributing "important classic and contemporary films." Criterion serves film and media scholars, cine ...
{{DEFAULTSORT:Apu Trilogy, The Film series introduced in 1955 Cinema of West Bengal Films directed by Satyajit Ray Indian film series Trilogies