Before I discuss the merits of this film, I must make a comment about the captioning on the English language version DVD. It's pretty bad. Occasionally conversations are entirely omitted from the captions. Other times, the grammar is atrocious. And, some of the English language conversation (in India, it's not usual to mix English and Hindi or Bengali) was tough to follow due to the accents. I would REALLY love to see this film re-captioned--and since it's considered a classic, it's way overdue.
Satyajit Ray wrote and directed "Mahanagar" ("The Big City")--a story about how a changing social structure is affecting one particular family. It seems that the husband just isn't making enough money at his bank job to take care of all the bills. Plus, like most Indian households, his parents also live with them. So, his wife offers to go to work--even though traditionally women stay home and keep house. And, as expected, this causes problems--though the family really has no choice. Despite the reality of the situation, her in-laws make it tough for her and she has some difficulty balancing her home life with her job. But, on the positive side, her job is going great--she is a great employee and she loves her job. But, because of the pressure the husband's parents put on him, the husband then pressures his wife to quit her job. That is, until he loses his job. At this point he cannot ask her to quit--though it kills his sense of manhood having her working to support the family. Can all this be worked out or will the family be headed for a major crisis?
Looking at this film as an American, I really am not sure of the exact pressures on this family. I can only guess, as a woman working out of the home in the mid-1960s in the US was unusual and surely would have created some tension. But I liked that it seemed to give a window into their world working-class world--something you rarely see in movies. The only ones I can think of like this off the top of my head are the films of Majid Majidi (such as "Children of Heaven" and "The Color of Paradise") and the Neo-realist films of Vittorio De Sica (such as "The Children Are Watching Us" and "Umberto D")--films where the lives of ordinary people are explored and even celebrated. I personally love these sort of films, as I like the non-polished and non-Hollywood look to the acting and stories themselves. And, as a result of such a good quality film, I am sure to try other films by Ray, though they are indeed hard to find here in the States. Particularly good aspects of "The Big City" are the personal interactions--particularly in the final scene with the husband and wife--this is great cinema.
By the way, one of the side stories I found particularly interesting. The attitudes of the boss towards his Anglo-Indian employee was a bit surprising to me--a form of reverse-racism following the British abandoning rule over India. I'd like to know more about this--was this common and does it continue today?
UPDATE: I had a very nice email from PrinceBansal1982 explaining that the boss' actions towards the Anglo-Indian lady was for reasons I hadn't even realized. It was less about race but more about the lady's revealing clothing and aggressive manners that created this conflict between her and her traditional boss. Interesting....
Satyajit Ray wrote and directed "Mahanagar" ("The Big City")--a story about how a changing social structure is affecting one particular family. It seems that the husband just isn't making enough money at his bank job to take care of all the bills. Plus, like most Indian households, his parents also live with them. So, his wife offers to go to work--even though traditionally women stay home and keep house. And, as expected, this causes problems--though the family really has no choice. Despite the reality of the situation, her in-laws make it tough for her and she has some difficulty balancing her home life with her job. But, on the positive side, her job is going great--she is a great employee and she loves her job. But, because of the pressure the husband's parents put on him, the husband then pressures his wife to quit her job. That is, until he loses his job. At this point he cannot ask her to quit--though it kills his sense of manhood having her working to support the family. Can all this be worked out or will the family be headed for a major crisis?
Looking at this film as an American, I really am not sure of the exact pressures on this family. I can only guess, as a woman working out of the home in the mid-1960s in the US was unusual and surely would have created some tension. But I liked that it seemed to give a window into their world working-class world--something you rarely see in movies. The only ones I can think of like this off the top of my head are the films of Majid Majidi (such as "Children of Heaven" and "The Color of Paradise") and the Neo-realist films of Vittorio De Sica (such as "The Children Are Watching Us" and "Umberto D")--films where the lives of ordinary people are explored and even celebrated. I personally love these sort of films, as I like the non-polished and non-Hollywood look to the acting and stories themselves. And, as a result of such a good quality film, I am sure to try other films by Ray, though they are indeed hard to find here in the States. Particularly good aspects of "The Big City" are the personal interactions--particularly in the final scene with the husband and wife--this is great cinema.
By the way, one of the side stories I found particularly interesting. The attitudes of the boss towards his Anglo-Indian employee was a bit surprising to me--a form of reverse-racism following the British abandoning rule over India. I'd like to know more about this--was this common and does it continue today?
UPDATE: I had a very nice email from PrinceBansal1982 explaining that the boss' actions towards the Anglo-Indian lady was for reasons I hadn't even realized. It was less about race but more about the lady's revealing clothing and aggressive manners that created this conflict between her and her traditional boss. Interesting....