#51 - The Music Room (1958, Satyajit Ray)

Nobody watches Satyajit Ray movies anymore. Only the Apu trilogy has been released on DVD in America and those are out of print (supposedly really bad quality too... we'll see, I just rented Pather Panchali today). No news about anything on the horizon, nor any touring retrospectives so I guess we're just stuck with VHS for now.

The Music Room I actually saw on a bootleg DVD that my local library stocked for some reason. It was VHS-quality but with badly-synched subtitles that were always at least one line off. Honestly, I'd have been better off watching a VHS with burnt-in subs. Anywho, thankfully it's not a film I needed subtitles to enjoy as much of the appeal is through the performances of Indian classical music and the magnificent cinematography, reminiscent of Kenji Mizoguchi.

The Music Room is about a feudal lord whose land has eroded from a flood and with it left his wealth and prestige. The new generation is taking over, more westernized, but Roy will have none of it. He basks in past glories and then throws the grandest performance his friends have ever seen with the last rupees he has left. A wonderful film that I would love to see in a decent print with decent subtitles. Dammit Criterion, get your ass in gear!

new #100: October