Film Festival: Agantuk (1991)
Agantuk (‘The Stranger’) is a 1991 Bengali-language drama film written and directed by Satyajit Ray. Notable for being Ray’s last film, it was based on one of his own short stories, Atithi. The film is a joint Indo-French production.
The plot depicts a well-off family which is paid an unexpected, and rather unwanted, visit by a man claiming to be the woman’s long-lost uncle. Anila receives a letter from a long-lost uncle she last saw 35 years ago, who hopes to stay at her family home in Calcutta, India. Her husband, Subhindra, immediately suspects that this “uncle” may be an impostor. So when the stranger arrives, he’s given the third degree by husband, friends and even the family lawyer. He’s only accepted by Anila’s young son, who is in thrall to his stories of global travel.
The film was critically acclaimed upon its release. The film ranked 2nd on Cahiers du Cinéma’s Top 10 Films of the Year List in 1992. Leah Garchik of San Francisco Chronicle wrote the film “is a fitting ending to Ray’s 30-film career — it was Film of the Year in India in 1992 — a strong and underlined summing- up statement about capital-M Man and capital-C Civilization.”
What to watch out for:
It is said that after the final shot of Agantuk, Satyajit Ray announced – ‘That’s it. I don’t have anything more to say.’ A few months later, he passed away in a nursing home in Kolkata.
Agantuk raises more questions than answers, and each of those questions makes us wonder about ourselves. In trying to reveal the stranger’s true identity, when Sudhindra’s barrister friend grills him about his whereabouts over the last three and a half decades, what comes out is truly astonishing.
The film is currently not available for viewing.
17 comments
A really wonderful plot. Kept entertaining throughout!
Excellent film with many sociological meanings and fabulous moral. It throws light on a very detailed image of civilization and enlightens us with so many new things. Truly a wonderful film to watch.
How uncanny is the fact, that after the final shot of Agantuk, Ray threw his hands in the air & announced, “That’s it! I have nothing more to say to the world”; a few months later the legendary filmmaker passed away.
Agantuk is most certainly a beffiting closure to a prolific career that spaned through almost four decades. At its very core, Agantuk is a philosophical film that raises more questions than it answers, and with each question the viewer is left to wonder even further into onself. Much like most of Ray’s filmography, Agantuk is a satire of sorts and provides bitting social commentary.
“Civilization is an illusion; and religion is a by-product of civilization-all it does is divide people. At the end we are all ‘Mr. Nemo’ (Mr. Nobody).”~ These lines, perhaps, capture the very essence of the film at its finest! ❤❤
I don’t think the title of your article matches the content lol. Just kidding, mainly because I had some doubts after reading the article.
Can you be more specific about the content of your article? After reading it, I still have some doubts. Hope you can help me.
It is really a nice and helpful piece of information. I’m happy that you simply shared
this useful info with us. Please keep us up to date like this.
Thank you for sharing.
Also visit my web blog; nordvpn coupons inspiresensation; http://tinyurl.com/,
Fine way of explaining, and nice article to get facts about my presentation subject matter,
which i am going to present in institution of higher education.
Here is my webpage … nordvpn coupons inspiresensation
nordvpn coupon 350fairfax
You ought to be a part of a contest for one of the finest sites online.
I will highly recommend this web site!
Hello! I’ve been following your site for a while now and finally got the courage to go ahead and give you a shout out
from Huffman Texas! Just wanted to mention keep up the excellent
work!
Review my webpage; vpn
I do consider all the concepts you have introduced for your post.
They are really convincing and can certainly work.
Nonetheless, the posts are very quick for newbies. May just you please extend them a little from next time?
Thanks for the post. gamefly free trial https://tinyurl.com/27xe7che
I don’t think the title of your article matches the content lol. Just kidding, mainly because I had some doubts after reading the article.
These are in fact wonderful ideas in about blogging.
You have touched some good things here. Any way
keep up wrinting. https://tinyurl.com/2c2rno87 what is a vpn connection
Yes! Finally someone writes about what is a vpn.
Hello it’s me, I am also visiting this site regularly, this site
is in fact pleasant and the users are in fact sharing nice
thoughts. Eharmony special coupon code 2025 https://tinyurl.com/2xd9hovp
This is my first time go to see at here and i
am genuinely happy to read all at single place.
Also visit my webpage :: https://tinyurl.com/mtu92az5
Right now it seems like Drupal is the preferred blogging platform available right now.
(from what I’ve read) Is that what you are using on your blog?
https://www.highlandguides.com/ vpn
Clean sheet tracker, goalkeepers and defenses with shutout statistics