Blu-Ray Review: Charulata

If Criterion's recent releases sometimes feel a bit too safe (the forthcoming gargantuan Zatoichi box set and Bergman/Rossellini collabos not withstanding), their acquisition and planned release of a massive portion of Satyajit Ray's filmography represents a major coup and an essential service for American cinephiles. Charulata tops even The Music Room in both the quality of the film and the breathtaking perfection of a restored transfer that forever obliterates memories of horrid DVDs that looked worse than bootlegs sourced from VHS. And thank God for the revitalized image: this Ophülsian melodrama is told so beautifully through its frames that surely the film's power would be sapped by awful AV quality. Some nice extras round out the disc, one of Criterion's best and most important releases in years.

Read my full thoughts at Slant.

The Music Room (Satyajit Ray, 1959)

My review for Satyajit Ray's breathtaking The Music Room is up now at Cinelogue. A story of tradition and modernity clashing in egotistical microcosm, The Music Room never forces its point but always makes clear that the battle in question is really only a matter of shifting supremacy in the types of haves who have power over have-nots. But this, despite its dour ending and constant sense of foreboding, is not an altogether pessimistic film, for Ray at all times finds the humanity within his imploding landlord and even in the arrogant capitalism represented by the moneylender's heir. Filled with non-intricate but nevertheless stunning shots (which look all the more gorgeous in Criterion's incredible restoration, one of the most remarkable restorations they've ever done), The Music Room made for a great and utterly enticing introduction to a filmmaker I've long meant to sample. Highly recommended.