The Apu Trilogy - Criterion Collection (Blu-ray)

The Apu Trilogy - Criterion Collection (Blu-ray)A breathtaking milestone that brought India into the golden age of international art house film, Satyajit Rays The Apu Trilogy follows one indelible character, a free spirited child in rural Bengal who matures into an adolescent urban student and, finally, a sensitive man of the world. Rays delicate masterworksPather Panchali (Song of the Little Road), Aparajito (The Unvanquished), and Apur Sansar (The World of Apu)based on two books by Bibhutibhusan

A breathtaking milestone that brought India into the golden age of international art-house film, Satyajit Ray’s The Apu Trilogy follows one indelible character, a free-spirited child in rural Bengal who matures into an adolescent urban student and, finally, a sensitive man of the world.

Ray’s delicate masterworks—Pather Panchali (Song of the Little Road), Aparajito (The Unvanquished), and Apur Sansar (The World of Apu)—based on two books by Bibhutibhusan Banerjee, were shot over the course of five years, and each stands on its own as a tender, visually radiant journey. These films—which have risen from the ashes in meticulously reconstructed restorations, after the original negatives were burned in a fire—are among the most achingly beautiful, richly humane movies ever made.

SPECIAL FEATURES

• 4K digital restorations of all three films, undertaken in collaboration with the Academy Film Archive at the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences and L’Immagine Ritrovata, with uncompressed monaural soundtracks on the 4K UHD and Blu-ray editions
• In the 4K UHD edition: Three 4K UHD discs of the films and three Blu-rays with the films and special features
• Audio recordings from 1958 of director Satyajit Ray reading his essay “A Long Time on the Little Road” and in conversation with film historian Gideon Bachmann
• Interviews with actors Soumitra Chatterjee, Shampa Srivastava, and Sharmila Tagore; camera assistant Soumendu Roy; and film writer Ujjal Chakraborty
• Making “The Apu Trilogy”: Satyajit Ray’s Epic Debut, a video essay by Ray biographer Andrew Robinson
• “The Apu Trilogy”: A Closer Look, a program featuring filmmaker, producer, and teacher Mamoun Hassan
• Excerpts from the 2003 documentary The Song of the Little Road, featuring composer Ravi Shankar
• The Creative Person: “Satyajit Ray,” a 1967 documentary short by James Beveridge, featuring interviews with Ray, several of his actors, members of his creative team, and film critic Chidananda Das Gupta
• Footage of Ray receiving an honorary Oscar in 1992
• Programs on the restorations by filmmaker Kogonada
• PLUS: Essays by critics Terrence Rafferty and Girish Shambu, as well as a selection of Ray’s storyboards for Pather Panchali