"The Stranger" *** (out of ****) I've said before as I approach my 300th review for this blog I've been trying to review as many films by the great masters as I can. That has long been my ambition for this blog. To write about all the great filmmakers and classic films. "The Stranger" (1991) continues in this tradition.
The director of "The Stranger" is Satyajit Ray. One of the most prominent filmmakers to come from India. The great Akira Kurosawa had this to say about him, "Not to have seen the cinema of Ray means existing in a world without seeing the sun or the moon."
Until seeing this film recently I had never seen a film be this very distinguished filmmaker. What took me so long? Who can say. I've known about him for years. He is probably best known for directing the "Apu Trilogy", a set of films based on novels first published in 1928. The films include "Panther Panchali" (1955), "Aparajito" (1956) and "Apur Sansar" (1959). One of them, "Panther Panchali" was even nominated for the palme d'or at the Cannes Film Festival, as was three other films he directed, "Parash Pathar" (1958), "Devi" (1960) and "Ghare-Baire".
But "The Stranger" was the final film directed by the great master. Not having seen any of his other films obviously I can't tell you how this film ranks with the others. But if this film is any indication of themes Mr. Ray normally deals with it appears he is most interested in dealing with stories of family, tradition vs new world and the direction of India.
The film starts off with Anila Bose (Mamata Shankar) receiving a letter that her long lost great uncle is coming to India to pay her a visit. Anila has not seen her uncle in the past 35 years. Her husband, Sudhindra (Depankar De) is very suspicious. How do they know this man is really her uncle? What if he is an impostor trying to steal their valuables? Sudhindra's first reaction is Anila should write to "this man", Manomohan Mitra (Utpal Dutt) and tell him they are going on vacation. But Anila does not want to lie. Something about the situation intrigues her.
So against her husband's better judgement it is agreed Mitra can stay with them. They learn during those 35 years Mitra has travelled all over the West. And now as the years go by he wanted to return to his homeland and get to know his only known living relative.
But suspicious hits the air again when it is suspected Mitra is only after an inheritance left to him and his brother and sister by their father. Since Mitra travels so much has he run out of money?
You might not believe this but all of this material is played for light comedy. "The Stranger" is a very warm and human movie about generation gaps and the honor of family.
The characters in the film get into very long and serious discussions about what course India is now. Are they a true civil society? They discuss religion, politics and the arts. It is the kind of conversations you might expect to find in an Eric Rohmer film. Is this typical of Ray's films?
I was also surprise that the family is presented as wealthy. When we think of this part of the world we usually associate it with poverty, "Slumdog Millionaire" (2008) anyone? Here however Ray is showing us the way the middle-class lives. These people are very educated. They understand different cultures and the world around them.
Now the material with the uncle is not played for suspense, so don't expect Hitchcock here. The situation I think leads itself to a larger discussion of what makes family in the first place?If it turns out the man is not really her uncle did they not learn something from his visit? And if he is, she has now gained something special in her life.
Naturally I won't answer these questions but I do like the way Ray goes about it. He has a slow deliberate style. The films are more about people rather than situations. The viewer comes to learn much about this culture by the end of the film. And the ending suggest a gentleness in mankind. I wonder if that is something Ray often attempts for.
Satyajit Ray directed 37 films. Supposedly on this film his health was so bad he was connected to an oxygen tank for most of the shooting. A year after this film Ray was given an honorary Oscar in 1992, the year he passed away. The Academy, in their grand stupidity, never gave Ray an award before that. At least they had the decency to honor him before his death. But for all the Ray accomplished in cinema it was not his first calling. I've noticed this more and more. These great filmmakers never started off wanting to be directors. Ray was a poet. He studied the history of Bengali literature. At Calcutta University he took classes on science and economics. He says "The Bicycle Thief" (1947) was one of the first films which made him want to enter films.
After watching "The Stranger" I'm very eager to see more by Satyajit Ray. As I go through the process of learning more about him I'll be sure to come back and write more about him.
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