The first film of Satyajit Ray's Apu Trilogy, Pather Panchali, was such a great film that, naturally, the second film in the series was bound to suffer a bit of a let down. Thus, Aparajito (The Unvanquished)- based on the novel Aparajita, by Bibhutibhushan Banerjee, is not the unadulterated great piece of art that Pather Panchali is. Like many middle films of a series, it suffers from the infamous middle filmitis; when films that are not first in a series rely too heavily upon an audience's memories of earlier films to inform them of the traits of characters, the chronology of prior events, and a general knowledge of the world the film series is set in.
Aparajito falls into this trap, however, in a way different from your average Hollywood blockbuster film. Whereas most middle films feel a need to fall back on what already passed in a first film, Aparajito spends too much time ignoring the traits and actions that occurred in Pather Panchali; almost as if Ray wanted to sever connections between the two films. He achieves this by having the film's lead character, Apu, not being played by the child who portrayed him in the first film- Subir Banerjee. In this film, Apu is first played by Pinaki Sen Gupta, when ten; and later by Smaran Ghosal, when in hi slate teens. Two of the actors from the first film were retained: Kanu Banerjee as Harihar- Apu's father, and his wife Sarbajaya- still played by Karuna Banerjee. However, there has been a major personality shift in Sarbajaya- likely the only evidence of the death of Durga- Apu's older sister, from the first film. Whereas Sarbajaya was bossy and condescending in the first film- while also being loving, in this film she's timid and let's life play her; whereas in the first film she was restive, and dissatisfied with what life brought....The abrupt and disappointing ending is merely the most manifest sign of this tendency to rely on the fact that the viewer will have seen Pather Panchali. If coming to Aparajito on its own, most viewers will be a) lost, or b) more likely simply not as prone to care for either Sarbajaya nor Apu.
That stated, this is an excellent film which, asides from the death scenes, contains excellent poesy and metaphors- such as a scene where Apu enters Calcutta on a train, holding a small globe, given to him as a gift by the headmaster at the school in his mother's employer's village. The film also makes good use of humor, such as scenes where the young Apu plays around with monkeys and bells, and later, as a student, in an English class, where he falls asleep (due to working a job and his studiousness) during a lecture on synecdoche and metonymy. It also has moments of universality, such as when the mother and son reacquaint after a long stay at school, and the first thing Sarbajaya says is that Apu has grown taller and doesn't appear to be eating well, despite the fact that neither is true. But, the film's greatest strength is its depiction of fortuity. Despite its flaws, Aparajito is a great what if? movie- had his sister and father not died early, would Apu have ended up in college? Had his mother not been emotionally devastated by both losses, would she have domineered her son into submission when he wanted to go abroad? All of his family's losses, and deaths- his auntie, his sister, his father, his mother, all serve Apu's benefit. In short, death has been very, very good for Apu- both in allowing him to grow and removing obstacles to his own self-fulfillment, which may be the most damning (and tangential) criticism of religion (and its fetishizing by religion) that Ray makes in this whole film (as well as in the first film).
Like the domestic troubles and idiocies that abound in a typical Yasujiro Ozu film, which almost always transcends to the universal, Satyajit Ray's films seem to likewise contain personal and comic moments that all viewers, from any background, can relate to. The problem with Aparajito- especially in relation to Pather Panchali, is that- as far as domestic troubles go, the first film's were more existential and deeper in nature, making those suffered in Aparajito seem trivial by comparison. But, that is the trouble with comparing excellent art to great art- it always suffers by the comparison. On its own, Aparajito is an outstanding film, and, hopefully, provides merely a relatively weak link to a final film that is the equal of Pather Panchali, and one that shows Apu finally taking center stage in his titular trilogy's plight.
Aparajito falls into this trap, however, in a way different from your average Hollywood blockbuster film. Whereas most middle films feel a need to fall back on what already passed in a first film, Aparajito spends too much time ignoring the traits and actions that occurred in Pather Panchali; almost as if Ray wanted to sever connections between the two films. He achieves this by having the film's lead character, Apu, not being played by the child who portrayed him in the first film- Subir Banerjee. In this film, Apu is first played by Pinaki Sen Gupta, when ten; and later by Smaran Ghosal, when in hi slate teens. Two of the actors from the first film were retained: Kanu Banerjee as Harihar- Apu's father, and his wife Sarbajaya- still played by Karuna Banerjee. However, there has been a major personality shift in Sarbajaya- likely the only evidence of the death of Durga- Apu's older sister, from the first film. Whereas Sarbajaya was bossy and condescending in the first film- while also being loving, in this film she's timid and let's life play her; whereas in the first film she was restive, and dissatisfied with what life brought....The abrupt and disappointing ending is merely the most manifest sign of this tendency to rely on the fact that the viewer will have seen Pather Panchali. If coming to Aparajito on its own, most viewers will be a) lost, or b) more likely simply not as prone to care for either Sarbajaya nor Apu.
That stated, this is an excellent film which, asides from the death scenes, contains excellent poesy and metaphors- such as a scene where Apu enters Calcutta on a train, holding a small globe, given to him as a gift by the headmaster at the school in his mother's employer's village. The film also makes good use of humor, such as scenes where the young Apu plays around with monkeys and bells, and later, as a student, in an English class, where he falls asleep (due to working a job and his studiousness) during a lecture on synecdoche and metonymy. It also has moments of universality, such as when the mother and son reacquaint after a long stay at school, and the first thing Sarbajaya says is that Apu has grown taller and doesn't appear to be eating well, despite the fact that neither is true. But, the film's greatest strength is its depiction of fortuity. Despite its flaws, Aparajito is a great what if? movie- had his sister and father not died early, would Apu have ended up in college? Had his mother not been emotionally devastated by both losses, would she have domineered her son into submission when he wanted to go abroad? All of his family's losses, and deaths- his auntie, his sister, his father, his mother, all serve Apu's benefit. In short, death has been very, very good for Apu- both in allowing him to grow and removing obstacles to his own self-fulfillment, which may be the most damning (and tangential) criticism of religion (and its fetishizing by religion) that Ray makes in this whole film (as well as in the first film).
Like the domestic troubles and idiocies that abound in a typical Yasujiro Ozu film, which almost always transcends to the universal, Satyajit Ray's films seem to likewise contain personal and comic moments that all viewers, from any background, can relate to. The problem with Aparajito- especially in relation to Pather Panchali, is that- as far as domestic troubles go, the first film's were more existential and deeper in nature, making those suffered in Aparajito seem trivial by comparison. But, that is the trouble with comparing excellent art to great art- it always suffers by the comparison. On its own, Aparajito is an outstanding film, and, hopefully, provides merely a relatively weak link to a final film that is the equal of Pather Panchali, and one that shows Apu finally taking center stage in his titular trilogy's plight.