Der Unbesiegte (1956)
14KDer Unbesiegte: Directed by Satyajit Ray. With Kamala Adhikari, Lalchand Banerjee, Kali Bannerjee, Kanu Bannerjee. Following his father’s death, a boy leaves home to study in Calcutta, while his mother must face a life alone.
“Each of the three films of the Apu Trilogy exhibit the extraordinary quality of a documentary film on the conditions of life in India at the time they are set. I think this is what I like best in them through numerous viewings. The films are shot in locations that appear untouched by any art department – remote countryside in Bengal, the great cities – Benares and Calcutta. The characters eke out an adequate life in their sufficient poverty – a life sustained by their faith and simple devotion to one another. At the same time there are moments that are pure cinema. There is an exquisite swish pan cut from Kurana (the mother) leaning against a tree, full of emptiness as Apu has just left for Calcutta, to the swift dynamo of the train crossing a bridge with the trestles a blur. At the moment Kanu (the father) gives up his soul a flock of birds alights over the Ganges. Later as Kurana is gradually sinking into the depths of loneliness – a sickness unto death – she has a vision of fireflies swirling around in the falling darkness.u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003enThese films traverse the drama of life and death touching gently on all of the salient points along the path. They put us face to face with the challenge of living in a world, which constantly gives us disappointment. At the same time there is a celebration of that ineffable quality which gives life meaning.”
