Small, short, gripping film about a man who meets by accident the woman he loved but allowed circumstance to dissuade him from marrying. She now has a boorish older husband, and refuses to engage with him in the old way. The best moments are the shots of the woman's turned, scarfed head - she is unavailable now - "it will not be revealed" - and her headscarf becomes an eloquent example of all the veils the coward has to face, one he has not had the gumption to walk into love's temple. The performances are excellent, with frequent close-ups delineating the suffering of the protagonist and, in the flashbacks, the woman. The revelation of the husband's acquiescence to social conservatism, the caste system and subsistence on alcohol as a way of getting through life is slyly shocking. Many meanings of the word coward are explored, and each of the three characters might be said to show some cowardice.
The feel is pretty gritty and realistic, and reminiscent of a 1960s BBC Wednesday Play.
Plot summary
Calcutta based screenwriter Amitabha Roy is traveling to Hashimara in north Bengal partly to visit his brother-in-law and partly to do research for what will be his third film. En route from Siliguri to Hashimara via taxi, Ami becomes stranded when the taxi breaks down in a small, remote town, the local mechanic who does not have the necessary part to fix it, meaning that the taxi will not be repaired for a couple of days seeing that it is the weekend. Although he does need to get to Hashimara soon, the plan to take the next train the following day the rest of the way, Ami is more concerned about where he will stay overnight. Although there is a small local hotel, he is offered a place to stay by and at the home of simpleminded Bimal Gupta, a local tea plantation owner who would like the company for the night seeing as to the isolation of the plantation and thus not seeing many people beyond his staff with who he does and cannot socialize. It isn't until Ami arrives with Bimal at his bungalow that he learns that Bimal's wife of three years is Karuna, his long lost love who he has not seen in several years, their previous relationship about which Bimal knows nothing. Ami and Karuna broke up largely because Ami would not make the commitment to marry especially as he knew her family did not approve of him being a poor student at the time. Ami has always been and is still in love with her - something he makes clear to her when they have a moment alone - and has been unable to move on romantically to any other woman since. Events of the evening and the next day until Ami needs to catch the train evoke memories for Ami of his previous time with Karuna. Ultimately, Ami would like them to reconcile as a couple. What happens is not only dependent upon if Karuna is in love with her husband, but also if she is still in love with Ami.
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Movie Reviews
a Coward faces the veil of the temple of love
The most fascinating quality about Kapurush is its brevity...
The most fascinating quality about Kapurush is its brevity – the brevity of the film runtime (74 mins),its terseness in dialogues and the concision in expressions delivered by the protagonists of this film. It is a remarkable craft.
It's hard to imagine for any film maker of international repute to deal with a subject like Kapurush and tackle in-depth human emotions and consciousness, so succinctly and precisely, in just about 74 minutes. Some filmmakers would take alteast the normal 120-140 minutes length to be able to deal with a subject like Kapurush in order to give a wholesome cinematic form. Satyajit Ray took just 74 times to tell a story revolving around 3 main characters, depicting their psyche and intense mental turmoil – all unspoken but using subtle eye movements and small body gestures. The film is the finest example of optimal usage of speech, gesture, expression and length. The film highlights Ray's prowess in the economy of speech and cinematic resources. Kapurush inevitably epitomizes Ray's mastery and control over every aspects of film-making.
The ending of the film is undoubtedly the most exciting part - as with many of Ray's films, it leaves the audience to draw several conclusions, and as a result makes you think. And that's what makes Ray's films so unique – they are all subtle, calm and composed films – but after you have seen them, they bore a deep imprint on your mind and makes you think. Kapurush is one of them.
Unfortunately, Kapurush is a highly underrated film, perhaps because Ray is impeccable and had consistently produced masterpieces. As a result of this, a film like Kapurush got overshadowed. For any other world-class film-maker of today, it would have been a jewel in his or her oeuvre. Well, as I always say – Satyajit Ray is the God of Cinemas....period.
Ashes
This melancholy little chamber piece from the director of 'Pather Panchali' also ends beside a railway line; once again holding out the possibility of a new departure.
It has much of the mood of the epilogues of 'Une Partie du Champagne' and 'Les Paraplues de Cherbourg', but this time comprises the entire movie, with the sadly recalled happier times just brief flashbacks.