APARAJITO--The Unvanquished

In Aparajito,Satyajith Ray tells about dogged persistance.Its about the determination demanded by traditional Indian situations to survive.

The film is adapted from' Aparajta',a novel written by Bibhutibhushan Banerjee. 'Aparajito' is the second in Satyajith Ray's 'Apu trilogy'--Pather Panchali,Aparajito and Apur Sansar
Each shot and the fim as a whole creates a feeling of serenity in viewers.

Aparajito deals with the chain of events that happens in a traditional Indian family which tries to rise up from abject poverty.The small family comprising Harihar,Sabojaya and their son Apu comes to Benaras with dreams of a simple life with financial security.

Harihar performs religious rituals at Ganges to earn their living.Their life goes on peacefully until Harihar dies .Since then the mother and son strives to continue their life.They donot give up confidence anywhere in their life.

After the death of husband,Sarbojaya works as a housemaid and earns money to live.Later the mother and son goes back to their remote village with Apu's grand uncle.The boy starts working as a priest and also attends the afternoon classes in a nearby school.

Apu gets a scolarship for higher studies in Calcutta.Though Sarbojaya refuses at first ,she allows his son to continue his studies.She gives him money that she saved while working at Benaras.

When Apu goes to Calcutta,Sarbojaya feels desperately lonely.She tries to hide the aches of both her body and mind from her son.

Through Sarbojaya,Ray gives a flash of a 'strong' Indian mother with all tender feelings.She worries about her husbands health,smiles at good comments on her cooking,dreams about the success of son and sighs in loneliness.But she strengthens herself and smiles at all adversities.She doesn't give up hope in terrible poverty or in the death of her husband or daughter.

Apu cries like a baby when he comes to know about the death of his mother.But he remains persistant in that terrible reality also.He returns to Calcutta to continue his studies in the last part of the film.

Aparajito is presented by Sony Pictures Classics in association with The Merchant And Ivory Foundation Ltd.Pinaki Sen Gupte,Samaran Ghosal and Karana Banerji play the lead roles.

SHAWSHANK REDEMPTION.

'Somethings are best left unsaid'.But in Swashank Redemption, Frank Darabont says such things with a matchless perfection.The film is an adaptation of a Stephen King novella.

The film finely carves the life of institutionalized prisoners in the minds of viewers.

Andy Dufresne,the main character is an innocent banker convicted for murdering his wife and her lover.
Red,an Irish prisoner narrates the life in Shawashank State Prison.Red is known in Shwashank as a man who knows to get things.

In the film Red tells about Andy Dufresne,his icy character and his prison life in Shawshank.."He looked as if a sniff breeze would blow him over.That was my first impression of that man",Red recollects.

Red gives a clear picture of the terrible experiences that a prisoner goes through."The first night is the toughest.No doubt about it.They march you naked as the day you were born,skin burning and half blind from that delousing shit",he says.Shawshank also gives a thumb-nail sketch of homosexuality in prison life.

Andy welcomed his misfortune with a meaningful silence.Red and others were sure that Andy would open his mouth to somebody within two weeks.Red became surprised when that somebody turned out to be him.In the first conversation Andy told Red that he needed a rock hammer.

In 1949 Andy asked Red to smuggle Rita Hayworth into the prison.Since then he hanged girlies on the wall.
Later Andy became an unusual pet for the prison authorities.He used his comprehensive knowledge in banking to channel the river of dirty money for the jail authorities,especially for the warden Samuel Norton.

Red recollects Andy's words about the 'silent' silent partner whom he made up to save Norton's money.. One Randall Stevens from the air with an ID card,driving liscense and security card.
"The funny thing is that outside I was an honest man,straight as an arrow.I had came to the prison to be a crook",Andy told Red.

Through the film Darabont tells about institutionalization in a touching way.He does this through Haywood's character.Authorities released Haywood after a 50 year jail-life in Shawshank.Unable to adjust with the outside world,he commits suicide.

"These walls are funny.First you hate them.Then you get used to them.Enough time passes.So you depend on them",Red says.

Andy discussed his dream about a free life in Zihuataneijo,an island in the Pacific which is free from memories.Red warned his friend that hope is a dangerous thing which will make man insane.

In 1966 the day after the discussion with Red,Andy escaped from Swashank.Rita was hiding Andy's secret.The jail autorities got confused at the disappearence of the man from the cell.With a rock hammer that would need 600 years for a man to make a tunnel to the outside world,Andy made a tunnel and crawled to freedom with less than 20 years.

Red says that in prison a man will do almost anything to keep his mind occupied.Andy built a good library in the jail,carved stones using rock hammer,hang girlies on the wall,trained Tommy Williams for the exams,did free bank work for jail authorities..But his favourite pass time was digging his tunnel of freedom.

Later Red is released from the jail.Then he goes through the real torture that an institutionalized prisoner faces in the outside world.It was even difficult for him to piss without permission.Sleepless nights and a deep haunting fear waited for him.Red also decides to die at the same place where Heywood committed suicide.

But Red couldnot leave his life without going to the Hayfield near Buxon.It was a promise to Andy at their last meeting.There he finds a letter from his friend and some money."Remember Red,hope is a good thing and may be the best of things.and no good thing ever dies",Andy wrote .He informed Red that he was waiting at his dreamland for a man who knows to get things.

Andy passes 'hope' to Red also.Red decides to 'get a busy living or a busy dying'.His decision to lick the juice of freedom to the lees instills a passion for life in the minds of viewers .

'Shawshank Redemption' is presented by Castle Rock Entertainment.Tim Robbins and Morgan Freeman play the lead roles brilliantly.

The Passion of Anna...

'You spoke about truth.Think about truth.You are in such a gastly deception .When you talk about happiness a love you leave a trail of lies behind..All are lies'



In Ingmar Bergman's 'Passion of Anna' we can feel the touch of a creative genious once again.As in other Bergman magics, a novelty in narration is waiting for the viewers.



'The Passion of Anna' revolves around Anna,who reiterates about truth but goes on with the 'trail of lies' and violence.The other characters in the film are Andreas,Elis ,Eva and Anderson.



The film goes on piercing deeper and deeper into the heart of each character.In the interludes sprinkled throughout the film,the actors explain their opinion about the inner self of their characters.


Novelty lies in the narrative style of presentation.In the first part of the film,Andreas Winkelman repairing the roof of the house is introduced with a narration."His name is Andreas Winkelman and he is 48.He lives alone in an island out at the sea.The roof is in despair and is leaking in earnest after the autumn rains."

Anna always recollects love and passion in the married life with Andreas,who died in an accident.Later she marries Andreas Winkelman accepting the suggestion of Elis,the husband of Anna's best friend Eva.

The married life of Anna and Andreas is also narrated with originality."Andreas and Anna lived happily.There were a few violent quarrels also..''.........

Even after the marriage with the second Andreas,Anna continues with her hypocrisy.According to Andreas Anna's life is a 'God-damn acting'.Whenever Anna refers to the love and truthfulness of her both married lives ,the lines from the letter of Anna's late husband flashes through the mind of Andreas... ........ 'I will not give in as it will only lead to new complications,which in heir turn will bring terrible mental disturbances..physical and psychological acts of violence..'

Andreas lives humiliated at heart without self respect."Can we be sick with humiliation.We talk much about freedom.Is that a drug a humiliated uses to endure?",he asks.

Eva is a tender lady who can be influenced by anyone.She loves her husband from the depth of her heart but regrets that she is a burden to her husband.Elis also loves his wife but he tries to remain dispassionate to all his relations.He likes to be indifferent to his own and other's life.

John Anderson's character wets the eyes of the viewers.He is accused as the brutal animal killer of the island.People attack him and piss on his face.As in other Bergman films,Passion of Anna also gives a silent message of nonviolence through Anderson's character.

Anna's passion throws Andreas' life also in ruins.At the end Anna and Andreas part.The film ends with a thought provoking narration."This time he was called Andreas Winkelman"

Three Colour :BLUE

She left her house,relations and all possessions.She took only a chandelier..a chandelier of blue beads.But she failed to free herself from the golden chains of attachments...

Krzysztof Kieslowskie's 'BLUE' tells about liberty,emotional liberty if pointed precisely.The film is first among Kieslowskie's trilogy-BLUE WHITE and RED based on French revolutionary ideas.

The director warms to the theme throughJulie,the widow of a famous composer Patrice de Courcy.Julie loses her husband and daughter in an accident.When she realizes that she doesnot have the courage to commmit suicide,Julie wishes to be free from all emotions ."I dont want friends ,money or love anymore.They are all traps",she hugs detachment to save herself from the trauma.

She also gets rid of Olivier who loves her.She does this in a strange way.After inviting Olivier to her house one night,Julie bids farewell to him next morning saying,"Now you understood that Iam like others and you will not miss me"

She destroys her husbands composition for the concert for 'the unification of Europe' before leaving.She starts a new life as a stranger in a new place.

Julie tries to be reticent about her feelings and thoughts,though that was not her real character

In the new place also Julie fails to resist new attachments.The discovery of the love affair of Patrice leads to a recoil in Julie's decision and provokes her to go back to normal life.Relations pull her back with the string of love

At the last part of the film the composition for the 'Unity of Europe 'is played and the faces of the people who beckoned Julie back to the awesome world of attachments appear in the screen.

'If I can talk like an angel
And I have no love
I will be a copper ringing
If I can prophesy
And I have no love
I will be nothing
Love is patient
Love is kind
It bears all things
And knows everything
If never ends
Prophecy gone
If languages silent,
Knowledge nothing
Languages silent
And only stays
Faith hope and love.
But the biggest one
from the three
Is LOVE'

The film ends leaving reverberations of the theme and Kieslowskie's visual feast in the minds of viewers...