Legendary Classic Of Bengali Fiction. Made Into An Award Winning Film By Satyajit Ray.

Pather Panchali placed Indian cinema on the world map in 1955: this is a simple statement of fact, no hyperbole. In the sixty years since, the movie has acquired cult status, and its sketchbook mythical proportions. Believed to have been forever lost after the film-maker donated it to the Cinematheque Francaise archives, the sketchbook is now available as a book, along with other fascinating and previously unseen material on the film: parts of the draft scenario, reviews, recollections, posters and illustrations. For film and Ray enthusiasts, this is a treasure trove, and for a whole new generation of filmgoers, including those who might not even have seen the film yet, it will reveal a process unfolding, a mind at work. As for connoisseurs of the graphic form, Ray's sketches are legend, and the novelistic qualities of this particular sketchbook have been the matter of intense discussion. As much a chronicle of the work of a genius as it is a handbook for aspiring film-makers, this collector's edition of The Pather Panchali Sketchbook is a must-have for every film lover's library.

With the Apu Trilogy - Pather Panchali, Aparajito and Apur Sansar - in the fifties, Satyajit Ray caught the attention of film enthusiasts all over the world. The trilogy is the story of growing up in India. It traces Apus growth from childhood - cruelly poor but brightened by a passion for creativity and learning - to battered maturity. This 50th Anniversary volume, containing a foreword and working sketches by Ray presents the first authorized publication of these scripts in their entirety along with extensive interviews with Ray himself. Fresh material special to this edition includes an expansive interview with Ray by Shyam Benegal, himself a leading filmmaker with several award winning films to his credit. In the interaction between the two directors, Ray talks about early influences, the experience of making the Apu Trilogy, the importance of music and the portrayal of women in his film as well as other aspects of his craft. This edition also includes a complete filmography.

This volume addresses the influence of Italian neorealist films on world cinema well beyond the post-World War II period associated with the movement. Despite its lack of organization and relatively short life span, the Italian neorealist movement deeply influenced directors and film traditions around the world. This collection examines the impact of Italian neorealism beyond the period of 1945-52, the years conventionally connected to the movement, and beyond the postwar Italian film industry where the movement originated. Providing a refreshing aesthetic and ideological contrast to mainstream Hollywood films, neorealist filmmakers demonstrated not only how an engaging narrative technique could be brought to bear upon social issues but also how cinema could shape and redefine national identity. The fourteen essays in Italian Neorealism and Global Cinema consider films from Italy, India, Brazil, Africa, the Czech Republic, postwar Germany, Hong Kong, the United States, France, Belgium, Colombia, and Great Britain. Each essay explores neorealism's complex relationship to a different national film tradition, style, or historical period, illustrating the profound impact of neorealism and the ways it continues to complicate the relationship between ideas of nation, national cinema, and national identity. Many of the essays identify similar themes or motifs adapted from neorealism, and several essays address a politicized national film tradition that developed in opposition to a monolithic Western aesthetic. In all, Italian Neorealism and Global Cinema provides a novel critical understanding of the wide-ranging international impact of a short period in Italian cultural history. Film scholars and students of film history will appreciate this insightful text.

The absorbing story of how one of the greatest directors of our time began his film-making career 'Ray's fascinating account of how he made the (Apu) trilogy and how his passion for cinema was first kindled.' -India Today 'Written in an impeccable style it brings back memories of an era when film-making was an art born out of a love for the medium and not merely a means to make money. -Sunday Mail 'My Years With Apu prompts wistful thoughts of those other books, the other Ray masterpieces that remained unwritten at the time of the director's death.' -Indian Review of Books 'A swift, detailed, precise narrative...the story and its many links still retain, as a powerful myth of artistic genesis, their freshness, and may have acquired a new significance with the passing of time.' -The Telegraph

Profiles the life of the Indian director, and discusses the making of each of his films

Aparajito Is The Sequel To Pather Panchali, Bibhutibushan Bandopadhyay'S Best Known Novel. In Pather Panchali The Story Revolves Around Harihar Roy, His Wife Sabajya, Daughter Durga And Son Apu Whose Vision Of The Future Remains Positive. Aparajito Carries Forward This Vision Through Apu'S Adolescence And Youth. The Story Takes The Reader Through Apu'S School Days At The Village. His Thirst For Knowledge And An Insatiable Desire To See The World Drive Him To The City And He Joins College For Higher Education. For The First Time In His Life He Has To Battle Not Just Poverty But Also The Complexities Of Human Relationships And Other Harsh Realities Of Life, Without Support Or Assistance From Anywhere. After His Mother'S Death, A Tragic Marriage And Years Of Carefree Living, Apu Finally Realises His Responsibilities And Returns To His Roots Accompanied By His Like-Minded Son, Kajal.

Satyajit Ray, one of the greatest auteurs of twentieth century cinema, was a Bengali motion-picture director, writer, and illustrator who set a new standard for Indian cinema with his Apu Trilogy: Pather Panchali (Song of the Little Road) (1955), Aparajito (The Unvanquished) (1956), and Apur Sansar (The World of Apu) (1959). His work was admired for its humanism, versatility, attention to detail, and skilled use of music. He was also widely praised for his critical and intellectual writings, which mirror his filmmaking in their precision and wide-ranging grasp of history, culture, and aesthetics. Spanning forty years of Ray's career, these essays, for the first time collected in one volume, present the filmmaker's reflections on the art and craft of the cinematic medium and include his thoughts on sentimentalism, mass culture, silent films, the influence of the French New Wave, and the experience of being a successful director. Ray speaks on the difficulty of adapting literary works to screen, the nature of the modern film festival, and the phenomenal contributions of Jean-Luc Godard and the Indian actor, director, producer, and singer Uttam Kumar. The collection also features an excerpt from Ray's diaries and reproduces his sketches of famous film personalities, such as Sergei Eisenstein, Charlie Chaplin, and Akira Kurosawa, in addition to film posters, photographs by and of the artist, film stills, and a filmography. Altogether, the volume relays the full extent of Ray's engagement with film and offers extensive access to the thought of one of the twentieth-century's leading Indian intellectuals.