All eyes on ‘Aranyer Din Ratri' team as Cannes screens Ray's restored film
Kolkata: The attention of all cinephiles in India is fixed on the Cannes Classics screening of the restored version of Satyajit Ray's 'Aranyer Din Ratri', with Sharmila Tagore, Simi Garewal, and Wes Anderson in attendance on Monday.
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Cannes, they say, had an interesting and complex relationship with Ray, with only one of his films — 'Pather Panchali' — winning an award at the festival. However, Ray himself could not go to receive it then.
In 1982, to mark the festival's 35th birthday, Ray and 12 other filmmakers, including Billy Wilder, Akira Kurosawa, John Boorman, Andrei Tarkowski, and Michelangelo Antonioni, were invited to Cannes.
At the award ceremony, Ray recalled that the first international award he won was at Cannes.
He was referring to 'Pather Panchali', which won the Best Human Document in 1956. "But there was no question of my being present here personally to receive the award," he said from the stage in 1982.
According to Sandip Ray, his father's absence from the 1956 award ceremony was purely finance-driven. "Money was an issue for travelling to Cannes during 'Pather Panchali'. So no one went. That award now lies with the state govt," he said.
Thus, it took 26 years after that event for Satyajit Ray to make his first trip to Cannes. Sandip remembers that his father was elated after the 1982 visit, Satyajit's Ray only trip to Cannes.
But, in between, Ray's films competed for the Palme d'Or. Two years after 'Pather Panchali', Ray's 'Paras Pather' was in the feature film competition. But the Palme d'Or went to the Soviet war drama — 'The Cranes Are Flying' — by Mikhail Kalatozov.
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In 1962, 'Devi' competed for the Palme d'Or. But the 'Keeper of Promises' — the Brazilian drama film written and directed by Anselmo Duarte — won the top prize. The next Cannes stop for Ray was in 1984.
But this year was interesting, with both Mrinal Sen and Ray having films in competition at Cannes. Ray's 'Ghare Baire' didn't win the main competition, while Sen's 'Khandhar' was in the Un Certain Regard section, which, till 1998, did not have winners.
But why did Ray give Cannes a miss when his films were in competition at Cannes? "He went to Venice for his second film, 'Aparajito', which won the Golden Lion, Cinema Nuovo Award, and the FIPRESCI Critics Award in 1957. For 'Charulata' (1964), he went to Berlin, where the film won two awards. I think Cannes never really celebrated his films when they were in competition. The new wave directors liked Japanese filmmakers but didn't receive Ray's films with a lot of warmth.
That is why none of his films, apart from 'Pather Panchali', ever won an award there, though his films were winning at other international festivals," film scholar, Sanjoy Mukhopadhyay, explained.
However, Cannes organised two special screenings of Ray films — 'Ganashatru' (1989) and 'Pather Panchali' (1992). The Cannes Classics section, where 'Aranyer Din Ratri' was screened this year, also showcased 'Pather Panchali' in 2005, 'Charulata' in 2013, and 'Pratidwandi' in 2022.
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