Jalsaghar

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sreehari k A brilliant plot executed within the technology of the time. It keeps us in a question about the perfection it would have been made with current technology. Amazing direction, performance and the authenticity of music is commendable. A must watch for cinema lovers and artists. Rated 5/5 Stars •  Rated 5 out of 5 stars 09/08/24 Full Review Christopher B A look at the end of an era and of one man's fading away from this world and all that he knew and loved. What a universal and real, albeit super sad and depressing, film that captures time gone by. It's a intimate look at a man named Huzur Biswambhar Roy as he has survived through the years (Both his wife and son have died) and with each passing one, he is left behind from the consistently evolving modern world around him. He decides that he will throw one last grand event in order to relive the more happy past. This is my first film review of a Satajit Ray film and a nice and beautiful introduction to the profound Director's works, most of which I will one day view! Jalsaghar (The Music Room) gives a beautiful perspective of a culture gone by and the traditions involved. Recommended! Rated 4.5/5 Stars •  Rated 4.5 out of 5 stars 10/23/22 Full Review s r 1001 movies to see before you die. This was a touching nostalgic drama about days gone by and loss of identity, all based around Indian culture. It was well made for its day and certainly a different genre for the director. It was on Facebook. Rated 3/5 Stars •  Rated 3 out of 5 stars 03/31/23 Full Review Audience Member I love Satyajit Ray's Apu Trilogy, but did not like this film that much. It is moving far too slowly, making well-worn points about aristocratic decline. The music and dance in the film are its most interesting aspects. Rated 3/5 Stars •  Rated 3 out of 5 stars 02/14/23 Full Review joe m Started watching "Jalsaghar (The Music Room") and got about 1/3 of the way through and then just fast forwarded through the rest. The film has that auteur sense that comes more with age than with what was likely the director's actual intent back in the late 1950's. Basically "Jalsaghar" offers us the current and retrospective story of Huzur Biswambhar Roy (Chhabi Biswas), an aging and dissolute Indian aristocrat who's life and villa have been overtaken by the passing of an era, the dissipation of a patrimony and the regrets of age. Probably worthy of a higher rating, yet it just wasn't particularly engaging for me to fully watch. In some way, shades of "The Magnificent Ambersons". Rated 3/5 Stars •  Rated 3 out of 5 stars 03/30/23 Full Review William L I gotta watch more Ray; after the Apu Trilogy (which is considered must-watch as a piece of world cinema), I wasn't sure if I was going to dive into any more of the work of the acclaimed director, but I'm certainly glad that The Music Room came along. As with other content created by Ray, he opts to blend distinctive elements of Indian/Bengali culture with universal themes and a crisp, highly capable visual style to produce a fine end result; in The Music Room, Roy, a landlord who has obtained his wealth through hereditary right drowns himself in a particular pleasure - music - rather than focus his efforts on sustaining his family or fortune, even as major social changes wrack the environment around him, best characterized through a nouveau riche neighbor who has built a fortune in business rather than pedigree. Roy continues to ignore any sincere opportunity to actually rectify his condition, instead focusing on the custom and respect that his musical performances represent. Melancholic and slow, the film feels unusually dark for the director, who usually incorporates some sort of redemptive or uplifting element even in the midst of great tragedy, but here even momentary successes must be considered in the context of a larger downward spiral (it brings to mind Damien Chazelle's Whiplash). The film incorporates music in ways that hadn't been explored before, as an integral element of the narrative rather than as atmospheric enhancement; when Roy reenters the decaying music room and strikes the chandelier with his cane, producing an ominous tone in parallel to the film's more refined performances, it can give you chills. The film is almost a character study of Roy, who is portrayed with great care and intensity by Biswas. Initially, I was not much of a fan of parts of the narrative (such as the death of Roy's family to pure chance rather than as an even indirect result of his obsession), but seeing his devolution as a result of multiple factors (personal shortcomings, environmental changes, and randomness) give the film a greater significance. (4.5/5) Rated 4.5/5 Stars •  Rated 4.5 out of 5 stars 02/27/21 Full Review Read all reviews

Jalsaghar

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