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still The Big City (Mahanagar) (Satyajit Ray, IN 1963)

The Big City (Mahanagar)

Satyajit Ray / IN, 1963 / 136 min.

One of the Satyajit Ray finest films – a multi-layered, subtly political and hugely enjoyable cinematic tapestry tracking one woman’s quiet fight against a society that would rather she remained seen but not heard. Digital restoration.

poster The Big City (Mahanagar) (Satyajit Ray, IN 1963)
Subrata (Anil Chatterjee), a young bank clerk, might be struggling to support his extended family on a meagre salary – but he’s horrified when his wife Arati (Madhabi Mukherjee, Ray’s longtime muse) dares to challenge his cherished belief that ‘a woman’s place is with her cooking pots’.

Arati takes a job just as her husband appears at risk of losing his, upsetting the family dynamics at a moment of tremendous change in what was then a newly independent country. A hugely absorbing feature from a true master and the first Satyajit Ray feature to be fully set in his native Kolkata.

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Special screenings

Details

Not (yet) rated

Director

Satyajit Ray

Production year

1963

Country

IN

Original title

Mahanagar

Length

136 min.

Language

Bengali, Bangla

Subtitles

ENG

Format

DCP

Part of

Eye Classics

Eye’s collection includes a wealth of classics. With the Eye Classics series, Eye brings film history even closer. Every week, we screen at least three classics from the collection under one recognisable name: Eye Classics.

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still The Big City (Mahanagar) (Satyajit Ray, IN 1963)
still The Big City (Mahanagar) (Satyajit Ray, IN 1963)
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