#3 - Pather Panchali (1955, Satyajit Ray)

Charulata and Jalsaghar whet my appetite for this, the main course in Satyajit Ray's filmography, the Apu trilogy. Pather Panchali is the first, and Ray's first film overall. This may be one of the most accomplished debuts in all of film and certainly one that elevated an entire national cinema.

Ray was inspired by Vittorio de Sica and the other Italian neorealists. One senses that influence in the realistic portrayals of poverty and the use of non-actors, but Ray adds a calm, contemplative pace reminiscent of contemporaneous Japanese cinema, which suits the serene forest atmosphere well.

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