Asani Sanket (Distant Thunder; 1973; Bengali)
The sight of flying planes seem to fascinate the simple-minded villagers, but a neighbouring villager warns of the imminent rise of the price of rice because of a looming war. Feeding the fighting Army seems to be the priority of the Government of the day. Slowly we see that as the price of rice increases and the supplies becoming scarce, the mild-mannered nature of villagers gradually changes. Somehow, Ananga still gets a little respect due to his caste.
Ganga has to start working to supplement income. Her friend, a married woman, Chutki, succumbs to scarface's sexual advances for exchange for food.
Director: Satyajit Ray
In 1971, George Harrison and friends including Ravi Shankar, did a mammoth concert to garner support to feed people affected by a civil war as well as a cyclone in 1970.
In 1943, 5 million people from the Bengali subcontinent died due to its most significant man-made famine. This story essentially is about this. It is not a docu-drama about the devastating effects of or the hopelessness of the calamity but rather a saga about human emotions and reactions to adversity.
Gangacharan Chakravarthy (Soumitra Chatterjee, a regular star in many of Ray's films) is a poor Brahmin who stays in the shack by the edge of a village. He gets on with life with his loving young wife, Ananga, teaching in a village school, treating villagers' ailments and performing religious rituals in return for villagers' respect and food supply. Ganga is respected for his intellect and his high caste.
Life becomes more difficult. Even at a time when hunger is still not satisfied, somehow man's flame for carnal pleasure remains not fizzled. The scariest looking bloke in the village who has a partially burnt face, working in a kiln and shunned by everyone has bargaining power as he has managed to smuggle a large pile of rice stock.
All her long-held believes about monogamy and chastity go down the drain as hunger builds up.
Even though people from lower caste are dying, the general public shun them. Ganga, the healing touch in him, decides to give a proper cremation for her. The movie ends with the shadow of a group of famine-stricken neighbouring villagers walks towards the Ganga household. Ganga laments that he has another 10 mouths to feed. His wife corrects him by saying '11' whilst rubbing her belly!
The more you watch Ray's movie, the more you appreciate Kurosawa's words - One who has seen the films of Satyajit Ray has lived on earth and has not seen the moon and the stars! How true... sheer pleasure!
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