Visual Strategies In Pather Panchali By Satayajit Ray

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In her essay on Satayajit Ray’s Pather Panchali (1955), Neepa Majumdar gives commentary on how “visual strategies” can act as a component for “indirect modes of narration” through using these visual techniques to tell stories through actions rather than speech. The significance of applying visual techniques forces the viewer to base their interpretation off what is being shown to them through mise-en-scène, allowing them to indirectly see the world from the director’s desired perspective. Majumdar then talks of “mobile framing of individual shots”, which in Pather Panchali is seen through characters speaking, but never being shown. In conclusion, the “analysis of the events” occurring is shown to viewers through a slightly skewed representation of an actual reality. Throughout Pather Panchali, Satyajit Ray employs these visual strategies and indirect modes of narration to convey his social analysis of India. In the scene where Abu and Durga first spot the train, Ray’s social analysis of India’s gender roles are best represented by his use of shot-reverse-shot of Abu and Durga. This technique presents a lack of the two characters being shown on screen together, highlighting on their own individual actions while still maintaining a relation between them. Abu is seen running out of puddles to blindly follow Durga, who is being very cautious of her surroundings; this signifying that women are seen as more analytical, while men are seen more willing to jump into situations. However, later in the film, the siblings encounter a rainstorm. Ray shows the weather effecting only nature in his initial shots of the scene to build suspense and leave the implication that while nature impacts itself immediately, the impacted on the children is e... ... middle of paper ... ...n though they are approached in different ways to make this much more of a Hollywood film, but a work of art nonetheless. This is also more of the kind of film an audience of my age is used to seeing, so approaching it in an analytical setting was very interesting and significant when it came to experiencing the film in a different way. The weaving in between dreams gave the film an essence of French New Wave with the film’s long shots within which ever dream the central group is in, but breaking continuity in order to maintain a connection between each group member stuck in a dream phase. Also, I noticed as the group progressed further into the dreams, each dream world got lighter, however, once the groups falls into to limbo, the lighting is dark and ominous, creating the mysterious vibe that makes the film linger with wonder to the viewer after the conclusion.

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