Le visiteur

This is only the second Satyajit Ray film I have seen (the first being Two Daughters). I must say that I regret having not seen his movies till now. Agantuk is a very beautiful and simple movie. What is complex is the characters, and the way the story unfolds.

I am mostly impressed by Satyajit Ray's vast knowledge about various topics on history, science, religion and society, which is clearly evident from the movie. Satyajit Ray is a master film-maker, and gets out the best performance from his actors.

I am surely looking forward to seeing more of his work.

What a beautiful film, full of subtleties and ironies. It requires one to contemplate the nature of identity and what one really wants in life. How well do we know our relatives; and, more importantly, how well do we know ourselves? The film beautifully portrays a wide range of emotions with sensitivity as well as hummer. It also includes a mesmerizing indigenous dance performance which contrasts the middle-class world of the protagonists, awakening them to another world. The "stranger" or the long-lost uncle is a marvel, evoking laughter and tears. All in all, delightful throughout. For some reason foreign cinema continues to go unrecognized, while American studios continue to invest inaction movies that only insult intelligence to an already overly ridiculed nation. Watch it you will enjoy it immensely.

This remarkable film is in many ways a self portrait of Satyajit Ray because he was none other than an anthropologist and philosopher in the true sense of playful, childlike wonder. This is the the story of how how a life of curiousity and wonder have to survive in this cruel and foolish world which judges everything in materialistic terms. The philosopher is always and everywhere a stranger,though full of joy, simplicity and wonder at Being which is fervently demonstrated in the 'cosmic magician' sequence. Only those with the child in them alive will understand!

One of the greatest films I have ever seen, it is directly comparable with his second movie (pather Panchali) as his finest till date. The movie is all about family relationships and the idea of money. He knows how to direct the regular 'life', pitched in reality and his movies give enough reason for us to understand his brilliance. Utpal Duttas performance is mesmerizing and together , with Ray's sublime direction and Utpal's sensitive,sensational acting this movie is a masterpiece for 'teachers' and 'students'. Just Brilliant. Stop watching mindless movies of Spielberg and direct your valuable time towards Ray, Kurosawa, Chang wook park, Truffaut, Eisenstein, Ritwik Ghatak, Pudovkin, Kieslowski, Almadovar, Antonino, Godard, Wong kar Wai, Fellini, Bertolucci, Makmalbaf, Kiarostami, Bergman, Wajda, Jeunet, Szabo etc

A well-off family is paid an unexpected, and rather unwanted, visit by a man claiming to be the woman's long-lost uncle. The initial suspicion with which they greet the man slowly dissolves as he regales them with stories of his travels, tales that are at odds with their conventional middle-class perspective on the world.

This film is notable for being Satyajit Ray's final project. He may be best known for the s-called "Apu Trilogy" much earlier in his career. But, to be honest, I enjoyed "Stranger" far more. It was more polished, had a more intelligent script and dialogue. It is something of a masterful movie.

As I often say in reviews, I am not typically a fan of Indian / Bengali films. I rarely see one -- even those considered the best -- that I enjoy. But I would wholeheartedly endorse "The Stranger".