Two

A bored young lad is wandering about his palatial home where has everything he is likely to need to eat, drink and play with. Then from his window he espies another boy outside playing on his makeshift flute. He then proceeds to get his more sophisticated instrument and out-blows him. His new pal goes and gets a drum - but the wealthier lad has a wind up monkey that can play two - at the same time. Not to be outdone, the poorer one returns wearing a menacing mask and wielding a bow and arrow. In response? Well another mask and a machine gun! Silence breaks out and the boys go their separate ways only for a kite to appear outside the barred windows of the house. It's freely darting about in the wind like a fish in a river but it's also fair game for a slingshot, or maybe even an air rifle? Now one boy's joy is another's sadness, one is smug the other despondent. Tenaciously, the flautist returns... This is quite a potent depiction of having things of value that are not really of value versus having nothing but having so much more. The effort from the young Ravi Kiran Karla as the boy who has everything is quite effective at engendering from the audience a sense that he's a spoilt and unlikeable kid whilst the expressions on the face of his poverty stricken counterpart illicit sympathy as Satyajit Ray offers us a subtle commentary on the haves and have nots. Though which has the most?

Maybe, a fable. Or only honest portrait of near reality. A film by a great director , in which each detail is significant, in which each gesture becomes fundamental. Its pure simplicity is magnificent. Its message - powerful in profound sense. Two boys. One, from a rich family, spoiled and arrogant. the other, from a poor family, image of innocence. A sort of war. Toys, arrows, a gun against a kite, a sort of symphony of toys compromised by the sound of a poor whistle. Poetic and simple. As portrait of the fundamental treats of near reality.

The storyline by 'Nick Riganas' here just hits the spot,So I would recommend everyone to read that one first.

This exactly is happening too in the Russian war with Ukraine, with russia being the absolutely spoiled brat just unable to see the street urchin having his simple unbridled fun!. Sixty-plus years have passed, but the events portrayed are even true today and will be true another 600 years after now too. The envious/destructive human nature inherent in us all portrayed by the Master himself.

And Long before Pixar started to made their shorties, here we have the Master already making them way back in 1965...wow.

In 1964, renowned filmmaker Satyajit Ray was asked to create a short film for 'ESSO World Theater', a cultural showcase presented on television and funded by the American oil company Esso. Asked to write and direct the film in English, Ray opted instead to make a film without words. The result is a poignant fable of friendship and rivalry. As he did for many of his movies, Ray composed the music for the film, including the haunting tune played on a flute. After Satyajit Ray was awarded an Honorary Academy Award in 1992, the Academy embarked on an ambitious endeavour to preserve the works of the Bengali filmmaker. "Two," also known as "Parable of Two," is part of the Academy's Satyajit Ray Collection, which includes 18 feature films directed by Ray and preserved by the Archive.

It is ironic that film without words can make one speechless. One can say so much by not speaking at all. It is partly the storyline and also the ingenuity of the director that helps to bring out the unspoken message which is left to everyone's imagination to decipher.

It is ironic that Ray made this short film for a multinational company which is involved in the global promotion of consumerism, materialism and decadence of the environment. I look at it as a slap on the face. From the get-go, one can see a well-fed home-alone well dressed young boy complete with a hat with big ear-like contraptions which will only remind one of Mickey Mouse. And he is seen gulping a beverage from a bottle which has the shape of Coca Cola - what else can it be? He is obviously feeling bored despite all the expensive toys that are lying around him.

Out down from his window, he sees a poor peasant boy having a whale of a time playing a melodious tune on his flute. Jealous that the poor boy can have such a good time, he sabotages his every plaything; banging his drums, shooting with his toy gun and even shooting down his kite.

Despite all the destructive attempts at spoiling the poor boy's play, the latter returns with more ideas to entertain himself. The rich boy remains unhappy despite his access to luxury and the toys at his disposal.

The people in power are hellbent on crushing the hopes and attempts of the less fortunate to progress. The well-heeled feel that only they deserve to be happy. After all, money can buy happiness, they think. The poor, they believe, merit what they have for all their Dionysian outlook of life.

The clip may be voiceless, but the message is loud and clear. Happiness is also a metaphor for the human spirit. The poor are representative of the human race collectively. Despite the repeated insults hurled upon them by the powers that be, the rich multinationals which rapaciously destroy the planet or even Mother Nature who regularly test them with calamities, the human race will never give up. Hitting brick walls has become second nature to them. Overcome they shall.

Out of his two short films, this one is the best. I do not remember properly, but I think this is a silent film.