Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #6272 in DVD
• Released on: 2003-02-10
• Rating: Universal, suitable for all
• Aspect ratio: 1.33:1
• Formats: Box set, Black & White, Full Screen, PAL
• Original language: Bengali
• Subtitled in: English
• Number of discs: 3
• Running time: 333 minutes

Special Features
1.33 Full Screen
Bengali
Region 0
Dolby Digital Bengali
Dolby Digital
Extracts From BBC Omnibus The Cinema Of Satyajit Ray
Production Notes By Ray Biographer Andrew Robinson
Pather Panchali Storyboards
Stills And Poster Gallery
The World Of Apu Movie Masterclass Documentary
English

Synopsis
This set brings together all three films in Satyajit Ray's trilogy about the boy Apu. PATHER PANCHALI (1954): A boy named Apu is born to a poor but proud Brahmin family. His loving older sister, Durga, is a sweet girl, but has formed the bad habit of stealing fruit from an aunt's orchard, much to her mother's dismay. Their father Harihar, a poet and lay priest, finds a treasury job that will bring the family steady income for the first time in a while. For a brief period afterwards, their mother Sarbajaya manages to make ends meet, and the children are left to their own devices and run freely. But when Harihar loses his position, he leaves his family with depleted resources to search elsewhere for work. In his absence, their condition deteriorates. Months later, Harihar returns to face the tragedy that forces them to leave their ancestral home. This acclaimed debut by Satyajit Ray is the first part of a trilogy of poetic, lyrical works. APARAJITO (1957): Devastated by a family tragedy, 10-year-old Apu and his parents move to the sacred city of Benares, hoping to build a new life. In Benares, Apu's father Harihar ekes out a subsistence living as a priest reciting religious scripture. Though his family is poor and his mother burdened with worries, Apu runs freely, ignorant of his parents' concerns. One day, Harihar returns from work faint and feverish and shortly thereafter, dies. Widowed, Sarbajaya realizes she has no recourse but to find work. Although she makes a decent living for herself and a growing Apu as a cook for a wealthy Bengali family, she leaves her position to live with her uncle in his village of Bengal. There, Apu excels in school and wins a scholarship to study at a college in Calcutta. Though pleased with her son's academic success, Sarbajaya's health is now failing and she needs him at home. Thus begins the clash between a proud woman and her headstrong son. THE WORLD OF APU (1959): Living alone in a tenement above the railway, a grown Apu passes his days reading poetry, playing his wooden flute and looking for work. Though poor and without family, he remains hopeful about his future. An unexpected reunion with childhood friend Pulu provides a respite from his lonely routine. Pulu invites Apu to attend his cousin Aparna's wedding. Moments before the ceremony, they discover the bridegroom is mentally ill and the marriage cannot proceed as planned. So Pulu--desperate to marry his cousin, lest she be cursed for life--asks Apu to take the groom's place. Feeling betrayed and outraged, Apu refuses but later changes his mind out of friendship. Apu and his delicate bride Aparna slowly fall in love, spending almost every moment together. But marital bliss is short lived, as a terrible tragedy awaits the newfound lovers.

Customer Reviews

The greatest thing I have ever purchased
I have watched each of these films probably 4 times since I bought the trilogy only 3-4 weeks ago. I have never been so affected or moved by any film or any art form. There are literally dozens of images that have stayed with me every day since seeing them, passing through my head be it on a bus, at work, or wherever. The masterclass feature on the World of Apu, further highlights the genius of Ray & his crew. An absolutely fantastic piece of work that makes you want to go out & share your experience with everyone.

Don't miss this!
I have rarely been so enchanted by films as I have with these three masterpieces by Satyajit Ray.

To those with short attention spans and desire for non stop action and brainless entertainment, these films will probably bore, but for anyone who is fascinated by realism in cinema, by atmospheres and emotions and strong sensual stories and characters, then this is for you.

With beautiful music by Ravi Shankar, the three films tell the tragic yet also cathartic tales of the life of Apu, from his childhood onward. They are a fascinating insight into Indian life that one doesn;t get to see in the fntasy world of Bollywood.

Don't delay, buy this now and you will find yourself drawn back to watch them again and again...

Life....
Ravi Shankar's sitar quivers in a brilliant Raga, as the tabla player brings us into a trance of rhythmic grace.

We enter a world. That is what cinema should be about of course, bringing us a world, another world, but above all a world.

In this world, a young girl scurries in a neigbours orchard stealing fruit, bringing some back for her old great aunt.

From this moment of humanity and mischief, of family and fragiligy, of love and pain, we are taken on the most heart rendering journey in cinematic history.

A film that may seem slow compared to most modern films has in fact a pace of life, a real pace in which feelings grow, in which enmeties are formed and friendships made, a pace in which life and death are meaningful and real.

There is so much special in this trilogy that it is impossible to do it justice except with multiple superlatives. But to name a few, the portrayal of age and aging, of motherhood, of hope, of loss, and above all of life are spell binding.

What is true is that it will bring you tears of joy and pain, cinema that will break your heart.