Charulata

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jerry t Characters in Ray's movies go for a journey from a movie to another one. We meet again in this majestic one, an appasionate woman full of the desire of a better sentimental life, an arty young man in which any one would recognise the director himself, and a more tragic figure in the character of the press editor. The India of Satyajit Ray is evolving, going through a rural traditional one to an urban and developped one. This movie tell us about the life and mind of the people living this period. Rated 5/5 Stars •  Rated 5 out of 5 stars 03/31/23 Full Review isla s I liked the discussions about writing and story telling. Its quite a laid back sort of a film, a somewhat thought provoking one. I liked reading the subtitles to learn the lyrics to the songs being hummed by characters around the house its set in. It has the feel of a Sunday evening TV period drama show perhaps, although it is in black and white (dating from the 1960s) but that shouldn't entirely put you off. Its interesting to watch an Indian film in which characters talk about the English/British, imaginging being in Britain. I noticed that while there is some interesting dialogue, this is also the kind of film where more may be inferred about what characters think etc. during dialogue free scenes, of which there are many. I'd particularly recommend this film if your a fan of Indian music. Rated 3.5/5 Stars •  Rated 3.5 out of 5 stars 03/31/23 Full Review Audience Member Based on a Short Story by Nobel Laureate Robindronath Thakur , One of all time best filmmaker in the world from Bengal , Satyajit Ray depicted a subtle story of emotion and confusions in human relations through his film " Charulata " Rated 5/5 Stars •  Rated 5 out of 5 stars 02/13/23 Full Review Audience Member This is a rare film which not only lives up to the short story it took inspiration from (Nashtanirh, Rabindranath Tagore) but also, it is better than the writing of the short story itself. The perfectly contemporary film comes with a strong performance deliverd by Madhabi Mukherjee. Indeed Charulata is one of the strongest, most layered female characters in the history of Hindi cinema. The film is brilliant fun and soars majestically. It is Ray's deepest study of a female character, and for that, it deserves being watched. Rated 5/5 Stars •  Rated 5 out of 5 stars 02/25/23 Full Review Audience Member This beautiful film from Director Satyajit Ray has a lot of things going for it, the story of repressed passion, of course, but also elements of philosophy and politics, as well as some absolutely sumptuous sets. Based on Tagore's novella 'Nastanirh', which itself was based on Tagore's own attraction to his brother's wife, 'Charulata' tells the tale of the growing attraction between a cousin (Amal, played by Soumitra Chatterjee) who visits a newspaper publisher (Shailen Mukherjee), and the publisher's wife, Charulata (Madhabi Mukherjee). The pair are encouraged to spend time together by the publisher, who loves his wife but is too busy with his job to spend time with her, and the feelings they begin to have are subtle and begin with discussions of writing. There are some nice moments with Amal singing to Charulata, as well as a fantastic scene with her swinging while he lays in the grass beside her. This is a subtle, deft, perfectly told story; the betrayal is contained to emotions, not physical acts, and is more powerful as a result. All of the actors turn in excellent performances, and Ray's direction is brilliant. The philosophical moments elevate the film ala Bergman, and here are a couple of quotes: "I was thinking all of life is like a rhythm. Birth...death. Day...night. Happiness...sorrow. Meeting...parting. Like the waves on the ocean, now rising...now falling. One complements the other." "Even as Prince Abhimanyu, while still in the womb, learned only how to penetrate enemy formations, but not how to withdraw. So a river, emerging from the mountain's rocky womb, can only advance and knows not how to turn back. O river! O youth! O time! O world! You too can only march onward. You never turn back along the path strewn with memory's gilded pebbles. Only the mind of man looks back. The rest of creation never does." Rated 4.5/5 Stars •  Rated 4.5 out of 5 stars 01/13/23 Full Review Audience Member I'm a big fan of the exquisite camerawork and the performances; not so much of the glacial pace and sometimes-pointless musical numbers. But probably I'm missing something in translation... Rated 3/5 Stars •  Rated 3 out of 5 stars 02/10/23 Full Review Read all reviews

Charulata

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