Satyajit Ray is probably one of the greatest directors ever and his films were powerful, said eminent Australian filmmaker Bruce Beresford today. The veteran director is in the city as a part of the delegation from Australia, which is the country of special focus at the ongoing 29 Kolkata International Film Festival.
A bouquet of handpicked movies, including films of social and political issues like racism, inequality, real-life events of Anglo-Boer War (1899-1902) from the country are being screened at the 29 KIFF venues. Talking about works of Ray, Bruce pointed out how films like Pather Panchali and Apu’s Trilogy, depicted the maestro’s style of direction.
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“Satyajit Ray is probably one of the greatest directors ever and all of his films are tremendously powerful,” underscored the Australian filmmaker. “I was asked to list my favourite films of all times and my number one was Pather Panchali. It is a great film, it is an amazing film and I watch it quite often,” claimed the director, who has made hugely acclaimed films like Mister Johnson,Breaker Morant and Driving Miss Daisy.
Elaborating on the aspects of Ray’s directorial ventures that he liked the most, the filmmaker said, “I would rather prefer to watch Indian films on its people than to see an Indian version of a Hollywood movie and Ray’s movies do that. I found his stories so moving and touching and the fact that they were about the country. Their emotions were so universal.
His understanding of human behaviour was so profound.” Expressing similar assertions, another acclaimed Australian director, Ralf de Heer, informed how he liked short stories of Rabindranath Tagore.
