Pather Panchali is Ray's debut film, and the first film of his 'The Apu trilogy'. The remaining two films of the trilogy, Aparajito and Apur Sansar, follow Apu as the son, the man and finally the father. Pather Panchali has a universal humanist appeal. Though the film deals with the grim struggle for survival by a poor family, it has no trace melodrama. Some critics found the film to be too slow. Satyajit Ray wrote about the slow pace -
"The cinematic material dictated a style to me, a very slow rhythm determined by nature, the landscape, the country. The script had to retain some of the rambling quality of the novel because that in itself contained a clue to the authenticity: life in a poor Bengali village does ramble."
What is projected in stead is the respect for human dignity.
One of the most stunning first films in movie history. Ray is a welcome jolt of flesh, blood and spirit."
- Jack Kroll, Newsweek
" As deeply beautiful and plainly poetic as any movie ever made. Rare and exquisite."
- Hazel-Dawn Dumpert, L.A. Weekly
- President's Gold & Silver Medals, New Delhi, 1955
- Best Human Document, Cannes 1956
- Diploma Of Merit, Edinbugh, 1956
- Vatican Award, Rome, 1956
- Golden Carbao, Manila, 1956
- Best Film and Direction, San Francisco, 1957
- Selznik Golden Laurel, Berlin, 1957
- Best Film, Vancouver, 1958
- Critics' Award - Best Film, Stratford, (Canada), 1958
- Best Foreign Film, New York, 1959
- Kinema Jumpo Award: Best Foreign Film, Tokyo 1966
- Bodil Award: Best Non-European Film of the Year, Denmark, 1966
- Aparajito (The Unvanquished, 1956)
- Apur Sansar (The World of Apu, 1959)
taken from :
http://www.satyajitray.org/films/pather.htm
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