Movie Discussion: The Music Room (1958) by Satyajit Ray
Details
With The Music Room (জলসাঘর), Satyajit Ray brilliantly evokes the crumbling opulence of the world of a fallen aristocrat (played by the beloved actor Chhabi Biswas) desperately clinging to a fading way of life. Obsessed by his love of music, his greatest joy is the room in which he has hosted lavish concerts over the years — now a shadow of its former vivid self. In an effort to upstage his upstart neighbours, he squanders the remnants of his wealth to host one last lavish musical party. Exquisitely photographed and showcasing some of India’s foremost musical artists of the day, this elegiac film is a defining work by the great Bengali filmmaker.
“Wonderfully evocative … There is something of Welles here, something, too, of Chekhov … Slow, rapt, and hypnotic, it is a remarkable experience.” (Time Out)
"It is the kind of cinema that flows with the serenity and nobility of a big river." (Akira Kurosawa)
"My admiration for Satyajit Ray is absolute. Through his films, I have known India in a deeper way." (Michelangelo Antonioni)
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Let's circle back to the cinema of the world's most populous country and discuss the 1958 movie The Music Room (alternately titled Jalsaghar or জলসাঘর in Bengali), written and directed by the great Indian filmmaker Satyajit Ray. The film, based on a popular short story by Tarasankar Bandyopadhyay, was recently ranked the 309th greatest movie of all time and the 3rd greatest Indian movie of all time in a meta-analysis by TheyShootPictures. We've previously discussed four other films by Ray: Charulata (1964), Pather Panchali (1955), Aparajito (1956), and The World of Apu (1959).
Please watch the movie in advance (95 minutes) 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 through Criterion or other streaming platforms (for best quality).
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Check out other movie discussions in the group, currently happening about 2 or 3 times a month.
This link here is a spreadsheet of the 150+ movies we've watched in this group and my ratings for each. You're invited to share your ratings too if you've watched a bunch of these movies with us. (I can add your list here if you send me a link. You can make your own list on sites like Letterboxd or by copying my spreadsheet and filling in your own values. Note that my list doesn't include every movie that Yorgo hosted on cause I didn't watch all of them.)