Product: Devi
Rating: 5.0
beautiful and chillingly cautionary film.....
This film continues to permeate my mind, eleven years afer the first time I had the honor to see it, in its full glory, in the movie theater. This very important story is a character study of the role of the young wife in the culture of Satyajit Ray's Bengali-speaking society. (I wish I could say what region of India this film was specific to. There is such a diversity of cultures in India, it would be unfair to generalize this role, in saying that this is the image that the entire nation has of Indian wives, and their responsiblity to their husband, as well as to the hearth.)Doyamoyee (Sharmila Tagore) is the beautiful, seventeen year old bride of Umaprasad (Soumitra Chatterjee). When Umaprasad must go away for an extended period of time, Doyamoyee is left to stay with his family--that includes his father, Kalikinkar (Chhabi Biswas). A prophetic vision comes to Kalikinkar, while he is dreaming. He sees Doyamoyee as the healing goddess, Kali. Once that imagery lingers in his mind, he is convinced that she has been annointed as the second coming of the goddess, and has the power to heal the sick in their community. That said, she is made to sit on an alter, day in and day out, and perform healing rituals for the afflicted. Umaprasad arrives home, to discover, this, and is more than skeptical.This is a cautionary tale at how far visions will drive people, to realize--quite literally, in this case--their dreams. Ray poses this important point, through beautiful storytelling (through his use of cinematography, direction and wonderful acting). They really need to re-release in the theaters. Satyajit Ray is one of the most important directors of all time, in my opinion. The newer generation needs to see his films, to fully appreciate his artistic genius, as a storyteller and filmmaker. This is a great introduction......Also reccomended: "Two Daughters" and "The Stranger."