AGANTUK
A film review by Sri Rajeev
Copyright 1992 Sri Rajeev
AGANTUK (THE STRANGER or THE VISITOR), Bengali with English subtitles, Satyajit Ray, 1991. Shown at the San Francisco International Film Festival (which was dedicated to Mr. Ray's memory) and to appear at Seattle and other festivals.
As Satyajit Ray's last film, AGANTUK would be a sentimental favorite anyway with admirers of the Indian master's work. However, unlike much of Ray's somewhat uneven work in the last few years, this is indeed a good film, able to stand on its own merits. It is not a masterpiece, but it is an exceedingly good film, except for being perhaps a little preachy.
The plot is rather simple: a wealthy Calcutta couple's life is thrown into some turmoil by the unexpected appearance of a man who claims to be the wife's long-lost uncle. She has no recollection of the uncle, who had left home when she was two; and there are few older people who remember him. The mysterious man, played by veteran Utpal Dutt, engages in a game of cat-and-mouse with the couple; he appears erudite and well-travelled--and claims to be an anthropologist who has spent many years among tribal/native peoples in many parts of the world--but is he really a clever imposter eyeing a very substantial inheritance left to the uncle?
Some of the plot similarities to THE RETURN OF MARTIN GUERRE (the French film about the return of a medieval soldier to his home village where the locals think he's an fraud) are clear: how can the man prove himself? But I was also reminded strongly of Ray's own ARANYER DIN RAAT (DAYS AND NIGHTS IN THE FOREST) both for the tribal motif and for the verbal pyrotechnics and sense of menace; as well as Kurosawa's recent work, especially RHAPSODY IN AUGUST and DREAMS, for its concern for the environment and man's relation to nature. Ray and Kurosawa were apparently good friends and perhaps they influenced each other.
AGANTUK fits in with a sequence of Ray films that is relatively little-known. In addition to his brilliant neo-realistic works on rural and poor Bengali life, including the Apu trilogy and ending with the 1973 ASHANI SANKET (DISTANT THUNDER), he also made a number of films about urban angst; including his (in my opinion) underrated "Calcutta Trilogy" consisting of JANA ARANYA (URBAN JUNGLE), SEEMABADDHA (LIMITED CORPORATION) and PRATIDWANDI (THE ADVERSARY). These films trace the rise, in the city that Ray loved, of a commercial middle class without moral or ethical moorings. It is likely that Ray, in his last years, became cynical about the decline of Bengali culture; hence his world-weary SHAKHA PROSHAKHA (BRANCHES OF THE TREE) (1990) and GANASHATRU (ENEMY OF THE PEOPLE, adapted from Ibsen) (1989).
Unlike these, AGANTUK is a light-hearted film, although it touches upon heavy questions about what civilization is and what modern man can learn from primitive cultures. Ray seems to use techniques from his best-selling detective fiction in Bengali to build up tension about the identity and motivations of the enigmatic visitor. Arrayed against his bullying intellect are the somewhat bemused hosts, bound by tradition to offer their hospitality. There is an electrifying debate between Utpal Dutt and a friend of the family, well played by angry young man Dhritiman Chatterjee. "Science" and "rationalism" and Mr. Chatterjee come off somewhat the worse for wear against Mr. Dutt's "primitives" and "superstition." In the end, however, the audience is not necessarily captivated by the stern and pedantic Mr. Dutt, who blames his peripatetic life on wanderlust.
Personally for me, there were some great moments in the film--the scene where Mr. Dutt is first seen, on board a train that's pulling into Howrah station in Calcutta--reminded me of how much Ray loved trains, and how significant they were in the Apu trilogy. Some of indoor shots, where the camera seemed to have a mind of its own, gently caressing priceless antiques, were interesting. The music, scored by Ray himself, and the simple but touching folk song, were very appealing. Even the somewhat cliched dance by the Santhal tribals was not bad. All in all, AGANTUK is a fitting end to the career to one of the greatest geniuses of the cinema. In his humanistic tradition, Ray has created a humorous, entertaining and insightful film.
-- Sri Rajeev, Marketing Manager, Display Products MTV 15-46, Sun Microsystems, 2550 Garcia Ave, Mt. View, CA 94043 (415)-336-1101 rajeev@travancore.eng.sun.com
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