The Odds Against Us

8/17/2019 The Odds Against Us

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- SatyajitRay

The Odds Against Us



Satyajit RayA glimpse through the achievements of the worldfamous lm- maker



Satyajit Ray !"#$" % "##$&

Satyajit Ray is an 'ndian lm-maker who isconsidered as one of the greatest lm-maker

of the $(th century

)e was also a ction writer* pu+lisher* musiccomposer* graphic designer also a lm critic



Achivements

)is rst lm ,ather ,anchali !"#& has won

eleven international pri.es including the /0est)uman 1ocument2 at the "#3 4annes

Ray has received many major awardsthroughout his 5lorious 4areer including the

60harat Ratna7 in the year "##$



• The stamps in the memory of the legendarylm-maker



• Satyajit Ray with his Oscar



Our 8ilms* Their 8ilms

!"#33&An Anthology Of 8ilm 4riticism +y Satyajit Ray



• OUR 8'9:S* T);'R 8'9:S is a

collection ofwriting +y

Satyajit Ray• 't is mainlyaimed at the

di<erences of theindigenous lmsand the 6western

lms7

AnAnthology



The Odds Against UsAn e=tract from the Anthology / Our 8ilms* Their 8ilms2



The writer* Satyajit Ray* makes a note at the

+eginning that the jo+ of a director !or lm-maker* ashe has descri+ed& is a tough one* which is notpu+lici.ed +ut the people have a vague awareness

Then the writer takes us to the western +lock-+usters They mostly consist of 0attles or >ars* :ass 1estruct-

ions !like earth-?uakes* con@agrations* etcetera&*Orgies

Also gives us a few movies as e=ample such as 6Spartacus7 and 6>ar and ,eace7

There are also made sets of huge si.es just for sake oflms

'ntroduction



Earth-quakes

Scenes of :ass 1estruction

Confagrations



0attles and >ars



A lm whichshows the

struggle of aslave who re+els

against theempire for hisfreedom

't is famous forits huge

investments inevery manner

Spartacus(1960)



This lm depicts

the story of two

royal households

and descri+es

their relations

amidst the war

set at the early

"#th century

War an!eace(19"6)



Sets for lms



Some huge sets



Though the )ollywood has no decit of men* moneyand materialB the case is completely di<erent in thecase of the lms made here

Since we do not have these suCcient money*

market and the technical know howB we stick to theintimate lms though we have the interest in suchlms

The rst was movie that was made +y Satyajit Ray

had the tag of 6two years in the making7 +ut hehumorously reveals that it was mainly due to 6lackof funds7

;very place has its own set of pro+lems

The pro+lems that we faceD



The /Story2 is the main property of a lm andthe director has to carefully select a properone* +ased on a few considerations

!a& his aCnity to the story

!+& his +elief that the story would make agood lm

!c& consider the pu+lic view

The writer +egins as D



Story The main property of the lm



One cannot take a risk to work at the level of /Alain Resnais2* a fashion aesthete

6Avant-gardism7 cannot +e a risk to +ea<orded at a place like this

One should not +e content with a 6minoritypu+lic7

One should have a strong hold on the +udget

One has to +e very careful while dealing withthe intimate scenes

One has to +e careful and operate at a narroweld and should avoid any political con@ict

The writer descri+es therisksD



A 8rench lm-maker who isfamous for hisinventive and

innovative ideasin lm-making

)e is a recipientof many awards

Alain #esnais(19$$ % $01&)



't is the dead weight of these conventions thatlimits even the great directors to take refugein the tricks and devices

The writer says that he would discard a storyrather than diluting a few scenes which wouldspoil the am+ience

The ultra-Eictorian moralconventions

i k li i l



The writer discusses the possi+ility of makinga lm on political theme and gives us a fewmovies which have +een a huge hit +ased onthe political theme such as 6A1E'S; and4OFS;FT7* 71r Strangelove7 and 6A Gudgmentat Furem+erg7

The writer also says that any attempt to showthe injustice through a lm would mostly +etaken in a negative sense

>riterHs take on a ,oliticalthemeD



An Americanlm with the

president as itscentral role andthe work he hasdone to save his

portfolio

The dramarevolves around

the senate

A'ise anConsent(196$)



The story of aman in the midstof a war and theturn of eventscaused +y him

rStrangelo'e

(196&)



The story of a judge and his

Gudgment whichhas a great

in@uence on theongoing war and

its impact on)istory

A *uge+entat ,ure+erg

(1961)



4asting The rst step in the process of 'nterpretation



;veryone loves to play a lead role +ut whata+out the roles which are minor like those ofcommon men* women* children* farmers*shopkeepers* prostitutes and else

8ew of the roles are ,re-cast* so we need not+other a+out searching for actors of such

roles

4asting



>e can nd few actors* instantly with theagents who have them already as 6e=tras7

0ut if we want new faces* we have to do a lotof hard work

>e would even have to +e ready to do thingswe dislike

The writer provides his e=periences at the

+rothel and the parties that he has visited There arenHt suCcient num+er of professional

actors

,ro+lems in castingD



The writer nds himself very lucky to havending actors like 4huni+ala 1evi and 4hha+i0iswas

The writer has found that 4huni+ala 1evi wasa perfect person for the role of the old womanin the movie 6,ather ,anchali7

Ray has written many stories like Galsa ghar*1evi and Ianchenjunga on keeping 4hha+i0iswas in mind

>riterHs luck



She is an 'ndianactress* well

known for herrole as indira ! anold aunt in ,ather

,anchali&

She has gotpraise the worldover for her role

Chunialae'i

(1./$-19"")



)e is well knownfor his roles in

the moviesdirected +ySatyajit Ray

)e used to playthe

?uintessentialaristocraticpatriarch

Chhai isas(1900 - 196$)



The 0usiness of Shooting The hardships that the lm-making crew faces at the

time of shooting

Th +l f d hil



The studios were completely outdated whichcan +e clearly understood through thecrevices and tatters

The writer humorously adds 6family ofrodents7 which used to inha+it the very studiowhere he used to shoot for

The @oor was pitted* the camera wasn7tproper

The voltage drop when it was the dusk

The pro+lems faced whileshootingD

Th it d it iti



'n spite of all these o+stacles* the writer saysthat it is within us * whether to make a lmwell or +ad

This +areness of means is what makes us to+e economical and inventive* instead of goingfor movies which are completely +ased ontechnology and the action se?uences

And there is some e=citement in creatingthese masterpieces from nothing +ut 6shoddiness and privation7

Jes The writer is indeed happy through lm-

making

The writer ends it on a positivenote



Thank you

The Odds Against Us

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