Page 195 - The Apu Trilogy_ Satyajit Ray and the Making of an Epic

182 The Apu Trilogy

Throughout the rainy season we had no money. It meant
going to the location every day with the entire crew and
cast and just waiting. There were days and days of wait-

ing and doing nothing when we just sat there ... It was a
kind of picnic, but not a very pleasant picnic. We would
keep looking at the sky and little patches of cloud, which
wouldn’t produce any rain. So that became a habit.
AR: Do you think your habit of editing rushes while you are
still shooting comes from this time?
SR: Yes, it’s become a habit. I think I made it a method of
work. Later, at the time of Charulata, which was pre-
dominantly studio shooting, we would have a set, a fairly

elaborate set. The rushes would come, and for the next
set we would need at least a fortnight before shooting
again. While we waited we had nothing to do, so why
not edit? But I would re-edit Pather Panchali now. It

would improve. The pace sometimes falters, not in the

second half though. We shot the film in sequence, and
we learnt as we went long and so the second half hangs
together much better. But it would defi nitely improve
with cutting. And there are certain things we couldn’t
do anything about, like camera placements. I don’t think
the relationship of the three little cottages is very clear in

the film. Because you see, in a fi lm, you have to choose
a master angle which you have to keep repeating so that
people get their bearings. If you keep changing the cam-
era angle, it becomes very confusing. In your mind the
plan is very clear but to make it clear on the screen you
have to use certain devices which we didn’t know at that
time.
AR: You learnt that through experience?
SR: Oh yes, Aparajito has no such mistakes. There, the editing

was rushed. But there are some fine passages of cutting:

the death of the father and the pigeons and everything,
and Sarbajaya’s decision to leave the job with the cut to

9/16/2010 9:07:14 PM
Robinson_Appendix.indd 182
Robinson_Appendix.indd 182 9/16/2010 9:07:14 PM