#993: GHATAK, Ritwik: The Cloud-Capped Star (1960)

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GHATAK, Ritwik (India)
The Cloud-Capped Star [1960]
Spine #993
Blu-ray


Directed by the visionary Bengali filmmaker Ritwik Ghatak, The Cloud-Capped Star tells the story of a family who have been uprooted by the Partition of India and come to depend on their eldest daughter, the self-sacrificing Neeta (Supriya Choudhury). She watches helplessly as her own hopes and desires are pushed aside time and again by those of her siblings and parents, until all her chances for happiness evaporate, leaving her crushed and ailing. Experimenting with off-balance compositions, discontinuous editing, and a densely layered soundtrack, Ghatak devised an intellectually ambitious and emotionally devastating new shape for the melodrama, lamenting the tragedies of Indian history and the inequities of traditional gender roles while blazing a formal trail for the generations of Indian filmmakers who have followed him.

127 minutes
Black & White
Monaural
in Bengali
1:37:1 aspect ratio
Criterion Release 2019
Director/Writers


Ritwik Ghatak was 35 when he wrote and directed The Cloud-Capped Star.

Other Ghatak films in the Collection:

#687: A River Called Titas (1973)

The Film

A

Film Rating (0-60):

60

The Extras

 The Booklet

Twelve-page wraparound featuring an essay by film scholar Ira Bhaskar.

Commentary

None.

Conversation

Between filmmakers Saeed Akhtar Mirza and Kumar Shahani.

Stills gallery

Featuring rare photographs related to director Ghatak’s life and work, curated by writer and photographer Nabarupa Bhattacharjee.

Extras Rating (0-40):

39

60 + 39 =

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