Pather Panchali

            A movie becomes a piece of art when it makes us think about our lives. Pather Panchali is the movie which helped me re-consider my relations with other family members. I have come to conclusion that social status of a family seriously impacts human relations within that family. Sarbojaya, Harihar, Durga and Apu, all together create a bright life history of a usual Indian family. Their life is the constant struggle against the social conditions, poverty, other family members, and themselves. Harihar is a poor poet who cannot find his creative self-realization, and has to look for odd jobs in order to make family’s ends meet. His wife Sarbojaya is fully responsible for everything about the house. When watching the movie, I was extremely surprised how this family was able to keep its integrity in such difficult social situation. On the one hand, Harihar could not find a job which would provide his living and which would bring him pleasure. On the other hand, Sarbojaya had to carry the burden of household chores. In addition, their son Apu was often involved into petty theft which caused serious conflicts with their neighbors. It seems that such families cannot be stable, but Pather Panchali refutes this idea. They are stable in their daily desire to overcome social and economic difficulties. They do not look far into the future, but rather take the life as a combination of separate days. Each day is connected with numerous obstacles, difficulties, and realities.

            It is interesting, that the movie depicts usual humans as extraordinary social beings. There are no stereotypes. Even when Sarbojaya disapproves her daughter’s way of thinking, she does not do this in a usual way: she rather combines this with enormous love to Durga, which fills each corner of her mother’s heart. The movie moves slowly to its end, leaving numerous intrigues behind the scene. Numerous secondary characters create a full picture of the poor life in India. I understand that we meet hundreds of Harihars and Sarbojaya’s every day, but Pather Panchali makes the reality striking. We understand that sometimes we can be too weak in our fight against the life around us.