Oh I'm enjoying Satyajit Ray's work. The second film in the Apu Trilogy, Aparajito (1959) makes your heart ache.
This film captures the metamorphosis of its two protagonists - Sarbajaya and Apu. The mother changes from being just a homemaker to the man of the family. Having earlier lost her daughter, she now has to face the loss of her husband. Left alone to raise Apu, she does everything in her grasp to give him a decent life, and of course, education. But what gets her in the end, is living without her only lifeline - Apu. She can bear everything, but not separation from Apu.
Apu has a coming of age transformation. From being trained as a priest to excelling in academics, he finds his true calling in Calcutta. He is ambitious and hard working, but also pained that he has to leave his ailing mother back home. Her loss fuels his ambition and instead of choosing his family profession, he chooses to return to Calcutta. His fate awaits.
Aparajito makes you feel the mother's anguish and the boy's ambition. The visuals are simple, but hard hitting.
