DAYS AND NIGHTS IN THE FOREST
Days and Nights in the Forest: A Marivaux-style romantic comedy by Satyajit Ray
In 1970, the great Indian filmmaker Satyajit Ray directed Aranyer Din Ratri (Days and Nights in the Forest), the story of a playful encounter between four young men and three young women. Cannes Classics pays homage to a free-spirited, radiant film with a 4K restoration. Screening with Wes Anderson in attendance. He participated in the film’s restoration, and lead actress Sharmila Tagore is also present.
Satyajit Ray is a key figure in Indian arthouse cinema, and has directed nearly forty films. Days and Nights in the Forest is his eleventh film to be presented at Cannes. Pather Panchali, the first instalment of his Apu trilogy, won the Best Human Document Award at the 1956 Festival de Cannes.
Days and Nights in the Forest recounts the story of four men vacationing in the forests of Palamau: the arrogant Ashim, the reserved Sanjoy, Hari, a talented cricket player with a broken heart, and Shekar, the life and soul of the party. There, they meet three women and begin spending time with them every day.
The filmmaker uses this portrait of a certain bourgeois Indian youth of the 1960s to capture a charming game of seduction. The film features some of Satyajit Ray’s favorite actors: actress Sharmila Tagore, who was a jury member at the Festival de Cannes in 2009, and actor Soumitra Chatterjee, who also plays Apu in the famous trilogy. Aside from its romantic quality, the film reflects the caste differences that characterize traditional Indian society, as well as the power relations between men and women. These themes are expressed particularly vividly through the film’s dialogue which is often delivered with great finesse, often in the form of mischievous verbal sparring.
A presentation and restoration by The Film Foundation’s World Cinema Project at L’Immagine Ritrovata, together with the Film Heritage Foundation, Janus Films and Criterion Collection. Financed by the Golden Globe Foundation. With special thanks to Wes Anderson. 4K restoration made from the original camera negative and sound preserved by Purnima Dutta, and the magnetic track stored in the BFI National Archive. With thanks to Sandip Ray.
In attendance: Wes Anderson, director and member of the Board of Directors of the Film Foundation; leading actress Sharmila Tagore; producer Purnima Dutta; Margaret Bodde, Executive Director of the Film Foundation; and Shivendra Singh Dungarpur, Director of the Film Heritage Foundation.
