In some ways Satyajit Ray’s Pather Panchali – the first of his celebrated Apu Trilogy – is a film easier to respect than to enjoy, as its deliberately paced narrative (based on the semi-autobiographical book by Bibhutibhushan Bandopadhyay) can be a little difficult to appreciate over the first hour, compounded by the obvious low budget. However, building on this slow movement – inspired by the Italian neorealism films of the late 40s/early 50s – Ray finds astounding beauty far away from the colorful romances usually represented in Indian cinema. The film details the trials of an impoverished Bengali family in the 1920s as they struggle against
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