Apur Sansar (1959)
Review of Apur Sansar / অপুর সংসার (1959), directed by Satyajit Ray
Ever since the end of my Bengali class, I’ve been missing the daily cultural immersion that I had on the CLS program, and so I’ve been seeking out Bengali films and music much more lately.
I haven’t evolved into reading the work of Tagore yet, but I’m working on getting my paws on one of his collections so I can pick apart his brain until there’s nothing left. Until then, immersing myself in the world of Bangladeshi and Bengali Indian cinema has been higher up on my priority list.
This the second film in the Apu Trilogy that I’ve seen so far. Surprisingly, I have now seen Aparajito and Apur Samsar but not Pather Panchali. This is also the very first film I watched after acquiring my first Criterion subscription, which is a monumental achievement for me because as much as I love movies, it’s a surprise I haven’t gotten a Criterion subscription until now.
Anyways, I’ve rambled a bit already, so let’s delve into this review.
Content
If you’re watching any of the films in the Apu Trilogy, I recommend actually watching them in order because then it’s going to make a lot more sense to you because we’re following the same kid throughout his life. This is the final installment in this series, as he becomes an adult.
His name is Apu, and he has now graduated from college. He has no job, is living in Kolkata, and can no longer afford to go and get a higher degree and find a job with that because he literally has no money to do so. During this time, he has decided he wants to become a writer and get the novel he is writing about his life to be published. He meets an old friend named Pulu, who manages to convince him to come back to the village, where Apu meets a woman, Aparna, who is to become his bride.
Apu really lives a tough life, because after they marry and return to Kolkata, she gives birth to a child and dies in the process. And so begins the process that Apu once created with his mother; he leaves his son as he travels all of India in his grief. And, like a mirror to how he left his poor, grieving mother behind, when he returns, his child no longer considers him his father.
I find this film particularly interesting because of how it reflects the lives of many moving to major cities in order to create a better life for themself. Like Apu’s father, who moved the family to the city of Varanasi in the first two films of the trilogy, Apu pays the price of searching for a better life in the city.
Apu’s father died, but the series of events that ensued are full of death and despair. Apu’s mother never recovers, while when he moves to the city, he becomes poor and destitute. When he moves his wife to the city, she dies. It truly seems that in this young man’s life, only death follows him around. And perhaps that’s why he chooses to leave his son and travel—because he thinks that he is next.
Chatterjee and Tagore made their acting debuts in this film, and oh my god were they insanely good.
They had to work around the limitations of the times—in Indian cinema at the time, you were not allowed to show any form of intimacy. But still they managed to capture this young, youthful relationship of two budding lovers, which was absolutely stunning to see on-screen, even if Tagore was literally only fourteen years old at the time.
Combined with the final strums of Ravi Shankar’s sitar, this quickly became my favorite of the two films I’ve seen in this trilogy. We’ll see if Pather Panchali can top this one, but for now this comfortable lies in the number one spot.
One thing I really want to point out, however, is the visual storytelling that goes on in all of Ray’s movies. The way the camera is set up to capture light, as well as how we don’t even need dialogue to see the heartbreak on our character’s faces—it’s all the master work of a man destined to be a top filmmaker. Absolutely stunning and beautiful. We might not see another Ray for a long time.
Overall Thoughts
Watch the Apu Trilogy if you have a spare weekend. Savor it. Think about it. Watch it slowly, with love and devotion. Trust me, you’re not going to regret if it you love cinema as an art form.
The story was adapted from novels, and you can tell that from the way how much care and love was put into the story of these movies.
After spending all this time with Apu and his heartbreak, we only want the best things in the world for him and his son, hoping that they can live a life separate from the sadness they’ve experienced.
