Jana Aranya

Quite probably the greatest Calcutta movie ever made, this is an astonishing work, especially to someone who has lived in that city before the current period of television and "modernism". How it will appeal to a non-Calcuttan is difficult to judge, and I am not bothered about it anyway, but I thank the master for this masterpiece.

I have often felt irked by uninformed interpretations of certain works of art and the feeling was similar when I chanced upon a review here that announced Ray's "Jana Aranya", also known as "The Middleman", as a "dud from a master". The movie is most certainly wordy and full of urban dark humor that only a Calcuttan would be able to appreciate naturally. For the very same reason, a Western viewer would only be left to grapple with a bare minimum structure of the plot and would be at a loss to understand why people had to talk so much when the story simply said this: "A young man fares badly in his exams for no fault of his own, is unable to find himself a decent job, becomes a middleman and ultimately sets out to clinch the big deal." People talked so much because a lot of pet Bengali sentiments that mean nothing at other corners of the world are at play here. Terribly parochial and fragile concepts of morality, dignity and forthrightness are bludgeoned with Satyajit Ray's acid humor, albeit compassion and sensitivity worthy of Ray alone weave through the fabric of the story simultaneously. Somnath is hungry for success, but are his Victorian values strong enough to keep him from paying the terrible price for it? Ray bares his fangs and slashes the dark underbelly of Calcutta to spill its guts out. He shows us what his take on morality, immorality and integrity is. It's certainly one of his starkest films and one of his most important.

This is a Bengali film by Satyajit Ray.

The film is about how the promising youth in the country go stumbling for lack of opportunity. In a country where thus references and under-the-hand options rule the roost than merit.

Here the film progresses well with the protagonist meeting, giving up on the lack of jobs, meets up with an old acquaintance and starts a business. However to land a big project, he has to compromise on his morals..

But the thought-provoking part is how while his business itself is of a middleman, he loaths those middlemen who don't think twice of pimping if needed to get the job done.

It shows in the end that those who work, no matter what the work, will always get to hold their head higher.

I rated it 8/10 on IMDB.

Before I get to the movie, there are a few things I should mention about the DVD for "The Middleman" ("Jana Aranya"). Like many other Satyajit Ray films I have seen from the 60s and 70s, it's in black & white. Apparently color films were very, very late coming to the Indian film industry--just like the Japanese and Chinese were still making silent films up until WWII. The print is also pretty fuzzy and has an annoying 'Shradha' (the distributing company) pasted across it. It's a pretty ugly looking film, that's for sure.

The film is about a young man named Somnath has taken a college exam. By a weird chance occurrence he's cheated out of the grade he's learned. This element of chance is something that will come into play a bit later in the film. In the meantime, he's graduated but finds the job marked glutted. Considering he didn't graduate with top honors, he's unable to stand out from the crowd and he spends a year looking for work. By chance, later he slips on a banana peel--and this ushers in an unusual opportunity. Now the non-Indian viewer might not understand the significance, but Somnath is from a Brahman family (from the top of the caste system) and the job he takes is NOT one a Brahman would normally do--it would be beneath him and dishonor his family. But he needs work and goes into business becoming a 'middleman'--a schemer who buys and sells practically anything to make a buck. The work isn't really bad at first, but later when he needs to give kickbacks and twist the truth, Somnath's father is heartbroken. But Somnath can live with this--after all, it's business. But, when he learns what he needs to do with one big client, it tests his mettle--what is he willing to do and not willing to do to make it in business?

There were some very positive things about the film. I agree with another reviewer who felt the father was an excellent and well-acted character. I also loved the big moral dilemma--this made the film end exceptionally well. However, I also should point out that this is a Ray film that is NOT for those unfamiliar with the man's work. That's because it's far from his best work--mostly because the pacing is like lead through the first half of the film. Slow and, I must add, it's hard to really like the main character, as he just seems to exist--and there's little with which to connect. Worth seeing and close to a 7, but it's not quite there.

As bleak a film as Ray ever made and as brutally honest and disturbing as a film can be, Jana Aranya aka The Middleman, the final chapter in the master Indian filmmaker's highly acclaimed Calcutta Trilogy, jabs us in the small of our backs, rudely reminding us of the moral corruption that surrounds our society at large.

And, like most Satyajit Ray films, it is as relevant today as it was back then. Jana Aranya is not an easy film to watch and is certainly not meant for the faint-hearted.

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