Charulata (1964) by Satyajit Ray — Movie Discussion
Details
Satyajit Ray’s exquisite story of a woman’s artistic and romantic yearning takes place in late nineteenth-century, pre-independence India, in the gracious home of a liberal-minded, workaholic newspaper editor and his lonely wife, Charulata (Madhabi Mukherjee). When her husband’s poet cousin (Soumitra Chatterjee) comes to stay with them, Charulata finds herself both creatively inspired and dangerously drawn to him. Based on a novella by the great Bengali writer Rabindranath Tagore, Charulata is a work of subtle textures, a delicate tale of a marriage in jeopardy and a woman taking the first steps toward establishing her own voice.
"My admiration for Satyajit Ray is absolute. Through his films, I have known India in a deeper way." (Michelangelo Antonioni)
"An artistic masterpiece, impeccably performed." (New York Times)
"Ray's masterful sense of visual composition comes to the forefront in Charulata, a film where the visible — the framings, the careful dolly movements, even the wallpaper — somehow communicates invisible undercurrents and subtexts." (MUBI)
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Let's circle back to the world's most populous country and discuss the 1964 movie Charulata (Bengali: চারুলতা) directed, written, and scored by the acclaimed Indian filmmaker Satyajit Ray. The film was recently voted the 169th greatest movie of all time in Sight & Sound's international survey of film critics and experts, and it's considered the 3rd greatest Indian movie of all time according to a meta-analysis by TheyShootPictures. The film won the Best Director prize at the Berlin Film Festival of 1965.
Satyajit Ray has said Charulata is his favourite of his own films and “the one film I would make the same way if I had to do it again”. We had previously discussed the 3 films in Ray's acclaimed "Apu Trilogy" — Pather Panchali (1955), Aparajito (1956), and The World of Apu (1959).
Please watch the movie in advance and bring your thoughts, reactions, and queries to share with us at the meeting.
You can stream it here (check the player settings for English subtitles and to adjust quality) or rent it on Criterion or other platforms online.
Check out other movie discussions in the group every Friday and occasionally other days.