About twenty attended. One, who had seen it before, found the film engaged her in the same way as when she’d first seen it. Comments, as main themes, were:
Much more than a story: the forest, nature, land, water/the well, the animals; the monsoon, how it was portrayed by water lilies; all entwined; life as a whole. The ineptness of humanity; the role of religion; the train that could be seen but could not be boarded. The pylon, a sign of modern life, symbol of the future. Apart from that, all materials are biodegradable, no plastic.
Importance of family: the affect of poverty on people’s lives, how the family could not leave the village, how ancestry and family history affected current relationshipswithin the familyand within the village.
Aunt Indir’s relationship with her niece Durga is touching-Durga enjoys giving Indirfruit “stolen” from the garden that would have been theirs but wasn’t because Durga’s father Harri believed a villager’s claim that Harri’s brother died leaving debts. Indir’s sister-in-law Sarbojaya struggles to feed the family because Harri, a holy man, is an impractical dreamer who believes everything will work out somehow. She hardly tolerates Indir, Harri’s sister. We see Indir’s full role within the family when her nephew Apu was born andyears laterwhen she tells the children a story about an ogre. Her silhouette on the wall looks scary but we see her independent spirit at work, feeding herself and moving out when Sarbojaya makes her feel unwelcome. Despite her bony appearance and no teeth, Indir’s personality shines through.
Long after Durga dies, Apu discovers the beads Durga was accused of stealing from her childhood play-mates. He throws them into the pond straight away, such is his loyalty to his sister’s memory.
These are relationships that we can relate to, regardless of great differences in circumstances, country, culture and time. The film was set in circa 1947.
One commented that it reminded her of Hansel and Gretel who also lived an impoverished life, making brooms in the woods, who spill precious milk the family can’t afford to lose, while playing. The setting in both stories appears romantic but in both stories there is a “no good” husband and a depressed wife. Someone else said it was like ‘Angela’s Ashes’ (I didn’t catch how, possibly the father’s alcoholism.)
The music: particular melodies used to portray various moods. Fear when the storm tore at the flimsy fabric of the house, raw grief when Harri returns after 5 months absence with presents, including a sari for Durga, whose fragile health failed the fight for life, contrary to the doctor’s prognosis.
Many noticed symbolic details: the dead frog, belly-up; Indir’s water-bowl which rolls away when she dies in the woods; Apu setting off with umbrella and shawl, the “man of the house;” the cow passively chewing and the snake that slithers into the family’s derelict house, at the end of the film, as nature reclaims the land.
Androulla Kyriacou
