Amazing news for Satyajit Ray films

[ravenus]

Originally Posted by Dragun

I'm not counting on Criterion to release any Ghatak films, though their release of MDT on DVD could indicate a possible Blu-Ray release.

You mean BFI

I'd also love to see some of John Abraham's films. Not the Bollywood actor, but this one. I have a torrent of his lone Tamil film, Agraharathil Kazhuthai (Donkey in the Brahmin Village), but AFAIK no DVDs have been released of his films.

This! I have not seen the film, but have heard a lot about it from a cinephile cousin.

I have great memories of watching Ray's films as a kid. My dad was a huge Ray fan, and he special ordered a beat-up VHS of Pather Panchali from an Indian store, which he watched over and over. I was more drawn to Charulata and Jalsaghar, but I think Pather Panchali reminded my dad of his childhood. Eventually he got all the Sony VHS releases (except for Jana Aranya) of his films.

I still have his moth-eaten copy of Marie Seton's Ray biography that he got in the 70s.

Reminiscences like this are what make it really worthwhile to be on a forum . I remember watching a good number of Ray's more prominent films when DD had a retrospective following his demise (In '92, I think, I do believe it was in the midst of some college exams ). I was really stunned by some of the films and became a fan of the man's work.
If you're interested in reading on Ray's films I highly recommend The Inner Eye by Andrew Robinson. I was initially skeptical about a firangi writing on Satyajit Ray's films but the book is an extremely well-researched, interesting and insightful read.

Oh, here is a post detailing the work done by the Academy in conjunction with the Satyakit Ray Society for the restoration of the Ray filmography LINK - there are 19 films in that catalog and I suspect that Criterion will essentially use these restorations as a basis for their releases.

The Academy has so far restored 19 Ray titles which include such early classics like Pather Panchali (Song of the Little Road), Aparajito (The Unvanquished), Parash Pathar (The Philosopher’s Stone), Jalsaghar (The Music Room), Apur Sansar (The World of Apu), Devi (The Goddess), Teen Kanya (Three Daughters), Abhijan (The Expedition), Mahangar (The Big City) and Charulata (The Lonely Wife) as also his mid-career works like Kaprush-o-Mahapurus (The Coward and the Holy Man), Nayak (The Hero) Goopi Gyne Bagha Byne (The Adventures of Goopi and Bagha), Seemabaddha (Company Limited), Jana Aranya (The Middleman) Shatranj Ke Khilari (The Chess Players) and Joi Baba Felunath (The Elephant God). Besides, Two, a wordless, 15-minute short Ray made in 1964, and Sikkim are the lone short and documentary, respectively, that have mounted the restoration anvil till now.