John W. Hood. Beyond the World of Apu: The Films of Satyajit Ray. New Delhi: Orient Longman, 2008. xi + 476 pp. $36.95, paper, ISBN 978-81-250-3510-7.
Reviewed by Sakti Sengupta
Published on H-Asia (March, 2009)
Commissioned by Sumit Guha (The University of Texas at Austin)
Satyajit Ray, one of the three Indian cultural Hitchcock (both cinematic giants) or in Andre icons besides the great sitar player Pandit Ravis‐ Bazin's and Trufaut's bio-critical homage to Or‐ hankar and the Nobel laureate Rabindra Nath son Welles. Tagore, is the father of the neorealist movement In Beyond the World of Apu, John W. Hood, a in Indian cinema. Much has already been written scholar of Indian art cinema and a translator of about him and his flms. In the West, he is per‐ Bengali literature, has done an eloquent and ar‐ haps better known than the literary genius dent study of twenty-nine flms by Ray. In the Tagore. The University of California at Santa Cruz preface, Hood mocks the "Bengali Bhadrolok" and the American Film Institute have published ("Bhadrolok" means "gentleman" in the Bengali (available on their Web sites) a list of books about language and Ray himself was a Bengali) who him. Popular ones include Portrait of a Director: "consider themselves pillars of culture and Satyajit Ray (1971) by Marie Seton and Satyajit thinkers of India," and who, in spite of being a Ray, the Inner Eye (1989) by Andrew Robinson. A Bengali, "would know far more Bombay commer‐ majority of such writings (with the exception of cial flms than flms of Satyajit Ray, and yet be the one by Chidananda Dasgupta who was not quick to defend him as one of their cultural gi‐ only a flm critic but also an occasional flmmak‐ ants" (p. 2). He goes on to write, "there is a small er) are characterized by unequivocal adulation minority of intelligent, sensitive and well-read af‐ without much critical exploration of his oeuvre cionados of cinema (in India) whose knowledge of and have been written by journalists or scholars Ray" is "often profound and acutely perceptive," of literature or flm. What is missing from this and who "appreciate sound criticism and readily long list is a true appreciation of his works with admit that not every flm is a masterpiece" (p. 3). great insights into cinematic questions like we fnd in Francois Trufaut's homage to Alfred H-Net Reviews
Such a high-handed approach makes one wonder grees of success (p. 2). In the beginning of the which readership Hood is targeting for his book. book, Hood hypothesizes by saying that Ray's He groups Ray's flms not chronologically but "masterpieces are few," and thereafter, through‐ into thematic chapters, each chapter covering out the remainder of the book, he perseveres to more than one flm. He explores each flm in prove it by identifying the masterpieces, and the terms of its story, plotting, characterization, cam‐ mediocre and less-than-masterpiece flms (p. 2). era shots, aesthetics, and sociopolitical signif‐ Hood writes lucidly without cinematic jargon, yet cance, arguing and illuminating its merits and de‐ his writing is formalistic like a PhD dissertation. merits and also sometimes comparing the flms He maintains an interesting precision in his with each other. Although the majority of the arguments: for example, in discussing the flm flms discussed are not based on original story- Sadgati (1981), he states that "Ray ofers some ten ideas by Ray, Hood's zealous annotated narration shots to describe the removal of the corpse of of them with frequent reference to visuals ad‐ Dukhi" (p. 316). He is copious in his praises, but heres to their rendition on celluloid by the master subdued in his criticisms of lesser works like flmmaker without any allusion to their sources. Parash Pathar (1958), Abhijan (1962), Kapurush O From the title of the book, the reader would Mahapurush (1962), and Chidiakhana (1967) (all anticipate discussions of Ray’s other flms, but included with one other flm Jalsaghar [1958] in a Hood begins his discussion with a chapter titled chapter titled "An Early Pastiche"). His grouping of "Apu Trilogy," and goes to great length in proving flms into chapters is well conceived and will be once again, like his many predecessors, that these helpful for the uninitiated readers to plan out a three flms (Pather Panchali [1955], Aparajita viewing schedule of Ray's oeuvre. [1956], and Apur Samsar [1959]) "might well be Hood's diligent approach is sometimes regarded as the single greatest achievement of the marred by his overwriting his discussions of a Indian cinema" (p. 4). Unfortunately, in the end, few particular flms. The chapter "The Calcutta he ofers us few new cinematic insights into them. Triptych" covers Pratidwandi (1970), Seemabad‐ He is at his best in discussing Ray's masterpiece dha (1971), and Jana Aranya (1975)--three flms Charulata (1964) in the chapter titled "Tribute to set in the turbulent, ailing, and moribund Calcutta Tagore" (which includes two other flms: Tin of the seventies with its morally bankrupt Kanya [1961] and Ghare Baire [1984]). He demon‐ wealthy upper class and teeming middle-class strates a deep understanding of flmmaking here denizens. Pratidwandi, being the most elliptical of and makes the framing of the camera shots sub‐ the three, is the most prominently featured flm in limely meaningful while introducing the story this chapter. Hood, at the cost of slighting the mer‐ and its characters. its of the other two flms, devotes an inordinate Hood has taken up the daunting task of writ‐ amount of space in interpreting the flm's leading ing a kind of a study guide for the great director's character's dreams and thoughts." flms and judiciously avoids being indiferent to "Devi" (1969), a critique of superstition and any of them. We see equal earnestness in his ex‐ idolatry in Hindu religion, and "Sadgati (1981), ploration of flms in each chapter. In a span of dealing with untouchability (both flms included over four hundred pages, he canonizes a prolifc in the chapter "The Cry against Tradition" and artist full of many virtues with big accomplish‐ based on two powerful stories by two famous ments and few failings, a flmmaker who is an writers), are minor masterpieces. Ray's real ge‐ epitome of the "cinema of rigor" and has ventured nius lies in transporting those stories into a visual in diferent directions with arguably varying de‐ media with masterly strokes. Hood goes even fur‐
2 H-Net Reviews ther to unearth signs of overfowing humanism in the composition of camera shots and tends to por‐ tray Ray as the one who endowed these stories with such quality, thereby diminishing their pro‐ genitors. "An Eye on the Past" is a chapter dedicated to two flms--Shatranj Ke Khilari (1977) and Ashani Sanket (1973)--Ray's not-so-successful foray into flms based on historical events. At the time of their theatrical releases, the frst one earned very limited critical acclaim while the second was panned by the critics for its incongruous treat‐ ment of a calamity like famine. Hood argues co‐ gently in defense of both flms ("two works that must be assessed as cinema, not history”) in an ef‐ fort to rescue them (p. 9). Constrained by failing health, Ray shot his last three flms (Ganashatru [1989], S hakha Prashakha” [1990], and Agantuk [1991]) mostly indoors, and they were loquacious and inferior works. Hood does not hesitate to be critical of them, but ,his critique is more like the disappoint‐ ment of a devotee and lacks the discursiveness with which he praises the master's better works. Overall, in spite of being a comprehensive study, the material in Beyond the World of Apu re‐ sembles the Clifs Notes for high school and col‐ lege students. It is hard to imagine that the unini‐ tiated would be able to appreciate its usefulness or be motivated by it without frst watching the flms under discussion.
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Citation: Sakti Sengupta. Review of Hood, John W. Beyond the World of Apu: The Films of Satyajit Ray. H- Asia, H-Net Reviews. March, 2009.
URL: https://www.h-net.org/reviews/showrev.php?id=23985
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