Satyajit Ray

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Four for the Seesaw

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Last Updated August 6, 2024.

Neglect is benign for some artists. An American novelist named William March was thought by some to be a neglected fine writer until a large anthology of his work was published; that finished March. The Indian director, Satyajit Ray, is a first-class artist, until you see his films. As long as he isn't imported, one can talk about injustice and neglect. But then along comes a Ray film, and, allowing for such exceptions as Aparajito and Charulata, it is usually a mild and fairly dull item.

[Days and Nights in the Forest] is one of the milder and duller; wretchedly photographed, archaically edited, sentimental and superficial in style and theme. (p. 22)

Stanley Kauffmann, "Four for the Seesaw" (reprinted by permission of Brandt & Brandt Literary Agents, Inc.; copyright © 1973 by Stanley Kauffmann), in The New Republic, Vol. 168, No. 16, April 21, 1973, pp. 22, 33.∗

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