Athens International Film Festival

Pather Panchali

In his directorial debut, Satyajit Ray revives a 20th Century Bengali village focusing on a poor family that’s fighting for survival. He documents their traditions, the ancestral habits and the old belief systems that still survive, as if frozen in time, but it’s plain to see that a crucial change is taking place.

In his directorial debut, Satyajit Ray revives a 20th Century Bengali village focusing on a poor family that’s fighting for survival. He documents their traditions, the ancestral habits and the old belief systems that still survive, as if frozen in time, but it’s plain to see that a crucial change is taking place. The film follows the beginning of little Apu’s apprenticeship and ends with a journey.

Ray merges Neorealism with his own brand of poignant realism. His perspective may resemble non-fiction, but the director refuses to abide by western narrative structures – he would much rather observe events, capture the atmosphere and assimilate experiences in a quiet, natural succession. With an open-ended format that combines heavy drama with light-hearted moments and the discovery of the world through the eyes of a child, he makes a film where the sense of wonder at life’s small miracles is much stronger than the heartrending misery of death. Υ.B.

Free screening