Kapurush - Der Feigling

(1965) The Coward/ Kapurush (In Bengali with English subtitles) DRAMA

Adapted from the short story ""Janaiko Kapurusher Kahini" by Premendra Mitra music, co-written and directed by Satyajit Ray that tells about an inspiring screenwriter, Soumitra Chattopadhyay as Amitabha Roy (also known as the Coward) by chance meeting an ex-former flame, Karuna (Madhabi Mukhopadhyay), and he continues to pursue for her affections despite her already married with an already successful owner Bimal Gupta (Haradhan Bandyopadhyay). Throughout the entire movie, viewers get to witness flashbacks how the two first met and what drove them apart.

It is not just a movie about a young man vying affections for a former flame, for it is also about class, culture and principle. I love the civil discussions that does not involve murder. This is the sixth of fourteen films actor Soumitra Chatterjee collaborated with writer/ director Satyajit Ray.

This can be categorized as another Ray short-of-a-full-length venture! The title could not be more apt, as COWARD is written all over the young writer(Soumitra Chatterjee)- especially after we are told of the past sequence. Some years ago, Amitabh had refused to marry lover Karuna in haste. He needed 'time' to think it over, the city was big, he was starting to work, he wasn't even established properly- how could he marry Karuna suddenly?

Many years later, his car breaks down and he is given shelter for the evening in Bimal Gupta's house- a successful tea planter somewhere in Darjeeling. The tea-planter is lonely in that part of the world with no neighbors nearby, hence he talks garrulously about his takes on life. Amitabha is now an established screen-writer who talks less but is astounded to meet Bimal's wife- Karuna.

A breakthrough performance by Madhabi Mukherjee, this is a wonderful movie which will not fail to appeal anyone.

The most fascinating quality about Kapurush is its brevity – the brevity of the film runtime (74 mins), its terseness in dialogues and the concision in expressions delivered by the protagonists of this film. It is a remarkable craft.

It's hard to imagine for any film maker of international repute to deal with a subject like Kapurush and tackle in-depth human emotions and consciousness, so succinctly and precisely, in just about 74 minutes. Some filmmakers would take alteast the normal 120-140 minutes length to be able to deal with a subject like Kapurush in order to give a wholesome cinematic form. Satyajit Ray took just 74 times to tell a story revolving around 3 main characters, depicting their psyche and intense mental turmoil – all unspoken but using subtle eye movements and small body gestures. The film is the finest example of optimal usage of speech, gesture, expression and length. The film highlights Ray's prowess in the economy of speech and cinematic resources. Kapurush inevitably epitomizes Ray's mastery and control over every aspects of film-making.

The ending of the film is undoubtedly the most exciting part - as with many of Ray's films, it leaves the audience to draw several conclusions, and as a result makes you think. And that's what makes Ray's films so unique – they are all subtle, calm and composed films – but after you have seen them, they bore a deep imprint on your mind and makes you think. Kapurush is one of them.

Unfortunately, Kapurush is a highly underrated film, perhaps because Ray is impeccable and had consistently produced masterpieces. As a result of this, a film like Kapurush got overshadowed. For any other world-class film-maker of today, it would have been a jewel in his or her oeuvre. Well, as I always say – Satyajit Ray is the God of Cinemas....period.

This Satyajit Ray movie, made in 1965, is virtually unknown here and while it's not one of his great masterpieces it is very fine and well worth seeing. "The Coward" is very much a chamber piece with really only three main speaking parts. The great Soumitra Chatterjee is Amitabha Roy, the screenwriter who finds himself stranded in a remote backwater after his car breaks down. He is 'rescued' by a friendly plantation owner, (Haradhan Bannerjee),, who invites him home for the evening but when he gets there he discovers the plantation owner's wife, (the equally great Madhavi Mukherjee), is his old love he let go years before. He still carries a torch for her but she seems indifferent to him.

Is Chatterjee the coward of the title for not committing himself to Mukherjee when he had the chance or is she the coward, unable or unwilling to face up to her feelings in the present? In just seventy minutes Ray presents us with a devastating character study as he peels away layers from each of the three protagonists revealing the feelings and the frustrations beneath. (He's also not afraid to tackle issues like colonialism and the caste system). In the grand scheme of things this may be 'minor' Ray and yet it is a film that will stay in your memory long after it's over.

After watching two rather lengthy, rambling Ray films, "Big City" and "Charulata", it was nice to see this concise, 70 minute parable about the folly of turning one's back on love because one is scared to commit. Felt like a combination of DeMaupassant, with the twist of the knife at the end, and Maugham, with the tawdry, tea plantation setting. Add a dash of James M Cain (the lonely, alcoholic husband) and you've got a most satisfying movie. Give it an A.