The subsequent films in the Apu Trilogy, Aparajito (The Unvanquished) and Apur Sansar (Apu's World) take up the story of Apu after the death of his father, and his subsequent migration to the big city of Calcutta. Later films of Ray were well-received and a cakewalk compared to the difficulties in making this, his first film. Almost everyone in the film was a novice to film-making, from Ray himself to Chunibala, the wizened aunt, an 80-year old retired theatre actress who was rediscovered by Ray lying in the alcove of a Calcutta brothel. Even the cinematographer of the film, 21-year-old Subrata Mitra, was a still photographer.

Satyajit Ray met Mitra on the sets of Jean Renoir's The River, filmed on location in India in 1951, and Renoir's first color film. The River describes a different culture, the English colonial culture - one originally alien to the land, yet one that took root in the fertile soil of Bengal, roots that have not been destroyed even today in modern Calcutta, with it's Royal Calcutta Golf Club and much more.

Renoir's economy of expression can be seen as a direct influence on Ray's early work, devoid of the later sentimentalism. The River is set in the 1940s, a time of much ebb and flow - the waning empire, the tensions post-war, the social upheaval engendered by centuries of suppressed national and communal identity. Harriet looks back on her adolescent life in a house by the banks of the Ganges, India's immense, mythical river, with it's ceaseless rhythm. She is one of the romantic contenders for a young American captain who is visiting his cousin after losing a leg in the war. The other contenders, Valerie and the confused Melanie are friends, yet their childhood friendship is transformed by the arrival of the outsider into their cloistered world. Each of them is an outsider in some way. Melanie was born in India and educated in a British boarding school. Her stoicism constrants with the exuberant Valerie and the awkward Harriet. The representation of the women might seem dated and stereotypical, but Renoir's technique and cinematographic talent cannot be denied, and his ability to capture the essence of the social conundrum of a temps perdu.

Pather Panchali and The River are related in many ways. Satyajit Ray, then working in an advertising agency, served as a guide to Renoir on his visit to India to scout locations for the River. When Ray went to England in 1950, and steeped himself in the great films and filmmakers, he told Renoir the story of Pather Panchali, and was much encouraged to make the film. He re-used the art director of The River, Bansi Chandragupta, in his film. (An interview with Satyajit Ray on the making of his films, and Renoir, is at the BFI)

Q: What other filmmakers do you admire?

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