Pather Panchali (Song of the Road)
Direction: Satyajit Ray
Direction: Satyajit Ray
Screenplay: Satyajit Ray, based on the eponymous novel by Bibhutibhushan Banerjee
Cinematography: Subrata Mitra
Editing: Dulal Dutta
Principal Cast: Kanu Banerjee, Karuna Banerjee, Subir Banerjee, Uma Das Gupta, Runki Banerjee, Chunibala Devi, Haren BanerjeeProduction: Government of West Bengal
Year: 1955
35 mm
Format: Black and White
Length: 115 mins
Satyajit Ray's debut film, Pather Panchali, is the first film of The Apu Trilogy. Its lyrical visual and narrative style with which Ray became identified brought Indian cinema into the international limelight. The time is early 20th century. In a remote village in Bengal, a Brahmin family - a priest, Harihar, his wife Sarbajaya, daughter Durga, son Apu and his aged cousin Indir Thakrun - struggle to make ends meet.
Though the film deals with a poor family’s grim battle for survival, it has no trace of melodrama. What is projected instead is the respect for human dignity. This fresh and personal film full of poetic tension has been created by Ray’s intimate contact with the material, physical and emotional worlds.
Without any experience in filmmaking, Ray started shooting the film in 1952 but was forced to stop for more than a year because of financial constraints. Dr B. C. Roy, the then Chief Minister of West Bengal, was shown the portion of film which had been shot till then. He agreed to give the money but misunderstood the film’s nature, seeing it as a documentary promoting rural uplift.
Awards:
President`s Gold & Silver Medals, New Delhi, 1955
Best Human Document, Cannes 1956
Diploma of Merit, Edinbugh, 1956
Vatican Award, Rome, 1956
Golden Carbao, Manila, 1956
Best Film and Direction, San Francisco, 1957
Selznik Golden Laurel, Berlin, 1957
Best Film, Vancouver, 1958
Critics' Award - Best Film, Stratford, (Canada), 1958
Best Foreign Film, New York, 1959
Kinema Jumpo Award: Best Foreign Film, Tokyo 1966
Bodil Award - Best Non-European Film of the Year, Denmark, 1966