The Filmoteca dedicates the Mostra de Cinema Espiritual to Satyajit Ray
This year marks the 100th anniversary of the Bengali filmmaker's birth, director of movies such as Pather Panchali, The Music Room or The Chess Players.
The programme the Raval's Filmoteca de Catalunya is dedicating to Satyajit Ray within the framework of the 18th Mostra de Cine Espiritual de Catalunya is headed under the following statement of Japanese filmmaker Akira Kurosawa: "Not having seen Satyajit Ray's films is like being in the world without having seen the sun or the moon." If you're looking to follow Kirosava's advice, know that the Filmoteca schedule includes the best of the Bengali filmmaker's career, whose birth centenary is being commemorated this year. There will be screenings between November 4 and 30, starting with his debut film, Pather Panchali (Song of the Little Road), which premiered in 1995 and through which he introduced a new transcendent, poetic and simple film style. Pather Panchali will be screened on November 4 and 12.
You'll be able to enjoy his early filmography as well as his latest works, as the cycle will include titles such as Ghare-Baire (The House and the World), from 1984, Ganashatru (An Enemy of the People), from 1989, and Shakha Proshakha (The Branches of the Tree), from 1990. Ray died on Saint George's day in 1992. In The House and the World, he creates a film through the novel with the same name by Rabindranath Tagore, with intimacy and politics merging through the story of three characters set in occupied India in the early 20th century. An Enemy of the People is a part of the well-known theatrical text by Henrik Ibsen, but Ray added an exposé of Hindu superstition and fanaticism as well as the corruption of the political class. The Branches of the Tree is Ray's most pessimistic film, as, in his words, "it shows that the people who succeed are usually crooks". In this film, the director focuses on the crisis of values of the Bengali bourgeoisie.
Other films in the programme include Apur Sansar (Apu's World), Apajarito (The Undefeated), Jalsaghar (The Music Hall), or Devi (The Goddess). You can find more information through this link.