Trois femmes

Two daughters by Satyajit Ray was my first introduction to Indian cinema. Satyajit Ray has produced a gem of a movie that differs from almost any other Indian films I have seen. Two daughters actually consists of two separate stories based on stories written by Rabindranath Tagore.

The Postman is the better of the two stories. Not giving away the plot, this movie had one of the most heart-wrenching scenes in cinema. The simple, but powerful way Ray pulls his quiet films together at their end makes these quiet films very memorable. Sampati drags out somewhat longer, but has a powerful climax of its own. After years, these two movies have stuck in my memory. I would recommend them to anyone.

Like most anthology films this one from Satyajit Ray, which has as its common theme womans' travails in early 20th century India and based on stories by Rabindranath Tagore, has entries of varying quality. The first, dealing with a stray waif who keeps body and soul together by acting as a servant to the postmaster of a poor village and becomes attached to him as a father figure only to be abandoned when the postmaster returns to Calcutta, is affecting mostly due to the wonderful performance given by the child actor; heart tugging without being cloying. Not easy to do, even with an accomplished adult actor, so credit Ray along with the kid. Problem with it is that it's not long enough (certainly not a flaw often seen in this director's work!). Just when you're starting to see a relationship build between the child and the adult the plug is pulled. Consequently, what should be a heart rending denouement is, at best, bittersweet.

Second entry about an upper middle class woman's marital problems is so dull I wish it were half the length of the first.

Third entry is the best, by far. A triangle between a too controlling mother, her spoiled son, and the "headstrong, crazy" girl (read a woman with a mind of her own) with whom the son is infatuated, the story is well told by Ray with a beguiling combination of comedy and tragedy. And the ending, where both the son and the girl learn to grow up, in their various ways, if they wish to salvage their marriage, is most satisfying.

First film: B Second Film: C Third Film: A

Ergo, let's give it a B.

Originally, this movie comprised _three_ separate stories by the legendary Rabindranath Thakur (Tagore); hence the title "Teen Kanya" ("Three Daughters"). However, the subtitling could not be finished in time for a Tagore anniversary, so the middle story, a ghost story, is not included in the videocassette, retitled "Two Daughters." In the two remaining stories, we explore the lives of two girls living in a world not of their making, facing their fates with limited options. The first story, "The Postman," is about a lower-middle-class bourgeois city boy who goes deep into the Bengali countryside to take a job as a village postman. The "daughter" in this story is Ratna (nicknamed "Ratan"), his servant, a little slip of a girl. In the west, this girl, an orphan, not even at the age of adolescence, is a child. How can she cope? What can she look forward to? The second story, "Samapti," is about another girl in rural Bengal, this one a little older. She's what we would call a "tomboy." The life of an adult woman in this society -- a housewife -- wouldn't seem to be much in her taste. She is active, vivacious, lively, brazen, playful. She is known as "Pagli" ("crazy") by the disapproving villagers. But it is these very qualities that attract the attention of Amulya, a young college graduate who has returned home to his widowed mother to be nagged by her to settle down and take a wife -- a traditional, shy, modest, and, in Amulya's view, boring wife. Despite the serious subject of these two stories, they are actually quite funny. The second story is even hilarious, with a couple of near-slapstick sequences. (In the scene in which Amulya breaks the news to his mother as to which girl he really likes, pay close attention to what's happening in the background.)

A collection of three stories originally written by Rabindranath Tagore, and adapted here by Satyajit Ray. I don't know if there was meant to be a common theme, but each portrays a girl's relationship to a young man and their primary desire in life. (I say 'girl' but in the middle story, the main character is a woman). One wants to learn from a father figure, another has a burning desire for riches, and the last has a fierce need for independence. Tension results when those desires are threatened. The stories are simply told which suits them well, and while the quality of the print that I saw wasn't the highest, the quality of the filmmaking is solid, blending solid cinematography and great music into stories that touch various emotions.

The Postmaster has a young man coming to a small village from Calcutta to take the job of a postmaster, and there befriending his servant, an orphan girl. In addition to all her chores she helps him deal with a local madman, as well as nurses him back to health when he contracts malaria. Meanwhile, he begins teaching her how to read and write Bengali. It's a story about the pain of separating from someone you've been touched by, echoed in the lyrics of the traditional music some of the old men play one night. Ray gives us a very nice scene when the young girl comes to the postmaster at night during his sickness, and he doesn't recognize her; the way it's shot, she almost seems otherworldly. It's the feeling of this one that delivers the biggest impact though, so touching, and so true to how things often go in life.

Monihara (Lost Jewels) is about a wife who covets jewelry above all else, and continually gets her husband to buy her a piece here or there. When his business suffers from a fire, she worries that he will need to take some of it back, and flees with the help of a cousin. The framing to the story has an author talking to a robed man who faces away from him and speaks as if he's disembodied, setting a ghostly tone, and throughout the film we get the feeling that there is something supernatural going on. For example, when the man approaches his wife from behind as she stares out the window of the mansion they've inherited, Ray moves the camera slowly to the sound of eerie music, a fantastic scene. I absolutely loved the soundtrack which Ray also scored. It's spooky and foreboding, and reflects the sickness of greed and this couple's broken relationship perfectly.

The wife (Kanika Majumdar) gets a chance to sing of longing and melancholy; she's a beautiful woman with a wonderful voice, and it's too bad her character is such a shallow person. We get the idea from the author that if her husband was more forceful, she would love and respect him more. "He didn't realize that in matters of the heart, it's brute force, not meek reticence which really works. A woman prefers the harsher things, like sour green mango and hot chilies," he tells us. While that's pretty direct, I liked how the narrative didn't explicitly inform us exactly what happens to her after she leaves, allowing the viewer to fill in the blanks. It's just a lovely, haunting little story.

The last story, Samapti (The Conclusion) has a young man returning home after his exams, only to have his mother begin pushing him to get married. She arranges things with the daughter of friends of the family, but the trouble is, he doesn't feel anything for her. Instead, he finds himself drawn to a young girl who runs around the village and gets up to various mischief, an independent free spirit who is so counter to the social convention that she's referred to as "Crazy Girl." Against his mother's wishes (and the girl's too) he arranges to marry her, not realizing that the thing that draws him to her is the very thing that will make having her settle down into the role of a wife so difficult. It's like putting a bird in a cage. I love the defiance of the girl (Aparna Sen) and the tension with her husband (Soumitra Chatterjee), though this one did seem to lag a bit, and the ending seemed a bit too cheery, perhaps to compensate for the other stories.

Overall, a good collection, and worth seeing.

Teen Kanya / Three Daughters (1961) : Brief Review -

A Classic Poetic and Artistic Woman oriented Anthology by Satyajit Ray. I never knew that Indian Cinema has seen Anthology during 60s decade (please spare me if I'm wrong) before modern filmmaking got recognition in India. So, this idea of making Anthology in early 60s had already left stunned and additionally it has 3 wonderful stories to tell and every single one has got a powerful storyline. Based on popular Indian stories of the great writer Rabindranath Tagore, these short films reveal definitive moments in the lives of three young girls. First is The Postmaster, a story of a pre-adolescent orphan girl who shares a warm bond with the new postmaster who teaches her to write and read. This story ends on such a heart-wrenching note that will definitely leave you dazed. The second one is kind of psychological drama of a married woman who is obsessed with Jewels and her husband who is desperate to get loved by her. This one is titled Monihara and it's very gripping and thrilling ride. The final one is Samapti. Mrinmoyee, a funky teenage girl is married against her choice to a good fella Amu. After marriage she disown this relationship but when husband goes away, she realises the real meaning of Husband-Wife's relationship. If i have to rank these 3 quality wise, then The Postmaster will top the list. Sampati and Monihara to be be followed. Acting, writing, execution and cinematography everything is absolutely Classy. Hats off to Satyajit Ray for giving that much needed experimental Cinematic Classic to Indian Cinema even before Indian Cinema was ready to accept it. This is Indian Cinema's answer to Hollywood filmmaking that how to create a Magical Classic Film out of simple short stories. Overall, a Cult that started another new wave in Indian Cinema.

RATING - 8/10*

By - #samthebestest.