Satyajit Ray’s films screened by Criterion Channel
Pather Panchali (Song of the Little Road), Aparajito (The Unvanquished) and Apur Sansar (The World of Apu) are among sixteen Satyajit Ray films which are available on the Criterion Channel.
These three films, known as the Apu Trilogy, trace the character’s path from childhood to adulthood. Pather Panchali, Ray’s first film which he self-financed, won an award at the Cannes Film Festival in 1956.
Ray’s Hindi classic Shatranj Ke Khilari (The Chess Players) is also available on Criterion. The other 15 films are in Ray’s native Bengali language.
The Criterion Channel, a New York based subscription online service, is showcasing “Satyajit Ray at 100,” to mark the film maker’s 100th birth anniversary. The film maker’s work will also be celebrated by the South Asian film festival in Toronto, Canada, August 12 to 22.
Ray, who started out as a commercial artist, was inspired to become a film maker after seeing “Bicycle Thieves”. Directed by the Italian Vittorio de Sica, and released in 1948, it is one of the greatest films.
In addition to directing 36 feature films, documentaries and shorts, Ray wrote short stories and novels for children. He won numerous awards as well as received an honorary degree from Oxford University.
Ray, who was born in 1921, passed away in 1992.
The Criterion Channel offers more than 1,600 films from around the world, in digital video, laser disc, DVD and Blue Ray formats. The films, some of which have been restored, include interviews with the directors and other special features.
A Criterion subscription costs $100 a year or $11 a month, with a fifteen-day free trial. Its Apu Trilogy is also available as a DVD on Amazon in the U.S. for $73.
Akira Kurosawa, who directed Rashomon (Attributive) and other classic Japanese films, said “Not having seen the cinema of Satyajit Ray means existing in the world without seeing the sun and the moon.”
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