Satyajit Ray

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Portrait of Satyajit Ray

Satyajit Ray ( Bengali সত্যজিত্‍ রায় ? / I Satyajit Rāẏ ; * May 2, 1921 in Kolkata ; † April 23, 1992 ibid) was an Indian director of Bengali films. He developed a humanistic personal style inspired by the neorealism of French and Italian film. In his films he took on essential tasks himself or in close cooperation with the specialists; Ray was involved in casting, directing, camera, editing, music and production. Audio file / audio sample

life and work

Ray was born into a well-off Bengali artistic family. His grandfather Upendrakishore Raychowdhury is known as a writer of children's literature, musician and scientist, especially the collection of fables Tuntunir Bai . His father Sukumar Ray was Bengal's most popular nonsense writer (Collection: Khai Khai ) and died when Ray was two and a half years old. Ray himself has written numerous books for children, including a number of detective stories starring the detective Feluda and one starring Professor Shanku, a scientist, as the main characters. His only son, Sandip Ray, is also a film director.

His debut Pather Panchali (1955) brought him worldwide recognition - and for the first time also the Indian film. The film won around a dozen film awards, including the Special Jury Award at the 1956 Cannes Film Festival . It was the first part of his Apu trilogy , which is one of the milestones in international cinema . He received the Silver Bear at the Berlin Film Festival for his films Mahanagar (1963) and Charulata (1964), while Ashani Sanket (1973) was awarded the Golden Bear . In 1978 he received a Filmfare Award for Best Director for Shatranj Ke Khilari (his only film in Urdu / Hindi and English), which also starred Richard Attenborough . After Ray had to retire from film work in the 1980s due to illness , he again achieved outstanding cinematic art with his older works Shakha Proshakha (1990) and Agantuk (1991), the latter produced by Gérard Depardieu .

Satyajit Ray filmed almost exclusively literary works, in addition to his own stories by other Bengali authors. His greatest commercial success, the children's film Goopy Gyne Bagha Byne (1968), is based on a story by his grandfather Upendrakishore Raychowdhury. Ghare Baire (1984) and Teen Kanya (1961) are film adaptations of stories by Rabindranath Thakur , whom he also paid tribute to with a documentary. With Ganashatru (1989) he created an Indian adaptation of Henrik Ibsen's Ein Volksfeind .

In 1961 Ray was a member of the Berlinale jury. In 1987 he was awarded the Officier dans l'Ordre des Arts et des Lettres by François Mitterrand , who traveled to Kolkata to see the bedridden Ray. Shortly before his death in 1992, he received the highest Indian civil order, Bharat Ratna, and was honored with an Oscar for life's work by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences . The award ceremony in Ray's absence was justified with the words: “In recognition of his rare mastery of the art of motion pictures, and of his profound humanitarian outlook, which has had an indelible influence on filmmakers and audiences throughout the world.” He received his most important trophy on the deathbed.

Along with Ritwik Ghatak and Mrinal Sen , Ray was the most renowned Bengali director in non-commercial cinema. Japanese director Akira Kurosawa is quoted as saying: "To not have seen Ray's cinema is to be in the world without seeing the sun or the moon."

Since 1996 the British Satyajit Ray Foundation has given the Satyajit Ray Award to the director who comes closest to Ray's cinematic vision with his film debut shown at the London Film Festival .

Filmography

Feature films

Documentaries

literature

Web links

personal data
SURNAME Ray, satyajit
ALTERNATIVE NAMES সত্যজিত্‍ রায়
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Indian film director
DATE OF BIRTH May 2, 1921
PLACE OF BIRTH Kolkata , India
DATE OF DEATH April 23, 1992
PLACE OF DEATH Kolkata, West Bengal