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Aparajito

The Unvanquished | Der Unbesiegbare
Retrospective 2023
© Aurora Film Corporation Private Limited
In the 1920s, Apu moves with his family from rural Bengal to Varanasi, where his father finds work as a priest. When the father dies, mother and son move back to their village. The young man resists pressure to become a priest like his father and instead persuades his mother to let him go to school. After graduating, he wins a scholarship to study in Kolkata. Apu works at a printing press at night to pay his expenses and begins to make friends. Meanwhile, left behind back home, his mother grows lonelier and lonelier … Satyajit Ray’s Apu trilogy was influenced by Italian neo-realism. In this, the second film, he puts his youthful protagonist in direct confrontation with modern-day commodities – automobiles, wristwatches, and printing presses – as well as the bustling street life of a contemporary metropolis and, particularly convincingly, his first encounter with electricity in the form of a lightbulb. It all challenges the young “unvanquished” on a functional level. At the same time, Apu’s individual coming of age and his adaptation to Western culture foreshadow the process of modernisation in Indian society that would culminate in the country’s independence.
by Satyajit Ray
with Pinaki Sen Gupta, Smaran Ghosal, Kanu Bannerjee, Karuna Bannerjee, Ramani Sen Gupta, Santi Gupta, Ranibala, Sudipta Roy, Ajay Mitra, Charuprakash Ghosh India 1956 Bengali 109’ Black/White

For the 2023 Retrospective, internationally renowned directors, actors, and screenwriters were asked to select their personal coming-of-age favourites.
Aparna Sen on her selection

With

  • Pinaki Sen Gupta
  • Smaran Ghosal
  • Kanu Bannerjee
  • Karuna Bannerjee
  • Ramani Sen Gupta
  • Santi Gupta
  • Ranibala
  • Sudipta Roy
  • Ajay Mitra
  • Charuprakash Ghosh

Crew

Director Satyajit Ray
Screenplay Satyajit Ray based on the novel by Bibhutibhushan Bandyopadhyay
Cinematography Subrata Mitra
Editing Dulal Dutta
Music Ravi Shankar
Sound Durgadas Mitra
Art Director Bansi Chandragupta
Producer Satyajit Ray

Produced by

Epic Productions

Additional information

DCP: Janus Films, New York

In Focus