#668: RAY, Satyajit: The Big City (1963)

RAY, Satyajit (India)
The Big City [1963]
Spine #668
Blu-ray


The Big City, the great Satyajit Ray's first portrayal of contemporary life in his native Kolkata, follows the personal triumphs and frustrations of Arati (Madhabi Mukherjee), who decides, despite the initial protests of her bank-clerk husband, to take a job to help support their family. With remarkable sensitivity and attention to the details of everyday working-class life, Ray builds a powerful human drama that is at once a hopeful morality tale and a commentary on the identity of the modern Indian woman.

135 minutes
Black & White
Monaural
in Bengali
1:33:1 aspect ratio
Criterion Release 2013
Director/Writers


Based on the original stories Abataranika and Akinchan by Narendranath Mitra.

Film Rating (0-60):

60

The Extras

The Booklet

Thirty-four page booklet featuring an essay by scholar Chandak Sengoopta and a 1980s interview with Ray by his biographer Andrew Robinson.

Commentary

None.

Interview

With actor Mukherjee.

Satyajit Ray and the Modern Woman

An interview with Ray scholar Suranjan Ganguly.

Satyajit Ray (1974)

A documentary short by B.D. Garga.

The Coward (Kapurush, 1965)

A short feature by Ray that also addresses modern female identity and stars Mukherjee and Chatterjee.

Extras Rating (0-40):

39

60 + 39 =

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