Page 162 - The Apu Trilogy_ Satyajit Ray and the Making of an Epic

From Calcutta to Cannes 149

who must be classed under the category of Essentially Good Men
in spite of being rabid reactionaries,’ Ray wrote at the time in a
letter to his first biographer Marie Seton.) But despite Harrison’s
enthusiasm, he was unable to persuade any New York theatre to
give Pather Panchali a first run until the latter half of 1958 – and
then only, it appears, by agreeing to put up a guarantee.
We already know (from chapter 3) of the success of Pather
Panchali in Calcutta in the autumn of 1955, following its pre-
miere in New York. Not only did it fill the cinema houses for
many weeks and become the talk of the town, it also impressed
the Bengali commercial film industry. On the strength of its
box-office receipts, Ray received a proposal from a Bengali pro-
ducer, boss of one of the large Calcutta studios, that he should
direct five films for him. He was tempted to accept but was una-
ble to come to an agreement on rates for his production team
that he felt were acceptable, and so the deal fell through.
Despite sustained opposition from within both the West
Bengal Government – the producer of Pather Panchali – and the
Government of India in New Delhi, because of the film’s stark
portrayal of poverty, Pather Panchali was sent to the Cannes
Film Festival in May 1956 after important efforts on its behalf
by Marie Seton (who had seen the film in Delhi and travelled
to Calcutta in late 1955 to meet Ray in person). Although the
choice of Pather Panchali to represent India abroad had the per-
sonal approval of Nehru, nothing was done by the government
to promote the film at the festival; there was not even the usual
launch party.
By a quirk of fate, Pather Panchali’s unheralded screening at
Cannes clashed with a party given by the Japanese delegation
for a film by Kurosawa, and so there was a poor turnout. But
some critics who did see it – including Lindsay Anderson (from
Britain), André Bazin and Lotte Eisner (from France), and Gene
Moskowitz (from the United States) – were thrilled by the film
and incensed that its Indian origin and lack of official support
meant that it would be overlooked for a prize.

9/16/2010 9:09:25 PM
Robinson_Ch08.indd 149 9/16/2010 9:09:25 PM
Robinson_Ch08.indd 149