In 1860's Bengal, wealthy, powerful, yet mentally fragile landowner Kalikinkar (Chhabi Biswas) dreams that his daughter-in-law Doyamoyee (Sharmila Tagore) is the avatar of the Goddess of destruction, Kali. He falls to his knees in front of her, claiming that she embodies the living spirit of the much-feared deity. When his son Umaprasad (Soumitra Chatterjee) returns from Calcutta after his school exams, he is horrified to see that his wife is being worshipped by floods of people that have travelled to pray. He is unable to convince his father of his folly, and Kalikinkar's influence eventually manages to convince Doya herself.

Bengali director Satyajit Ray's sterling film shows the danger of idol worship, and how easy this influence can spread to people in need of escapism. When a dying child is brought to her, the small boy miraculously awakens apparently healed, convincing everyone apart from her husband and the women of the household of Doya's power. The women remain unconvinced, but as Kalikinkar is head of the household, they have no choice but to worship, exposing Indian's heavily matriarchal society, and women's role as the 'Mother'. Kalikinkar refers to Doya as 'mother' before his dream, and a beautiful song is heard from outside, singing of adoration for the mother.

The standout scene of Devi (meaning 'The Goddess') captures Umaprasad's utter horror at the sight of Doya, fitted out like a deity and confused at the new role flung upon her. There is little to no dialogue in the scene, but Ray understands the power of silence in film. As Doya, Tagore is so beautiful that you could almost mistake her for a goddess, and she carries her performance (at aged just 14 at time of filming) with remarkable maturity. As Umaprasad enters the room and sees her for the first time, they converse with their eyes, and Doya gives a simple and subtle shake of the head. With fundamentalism so commonplace amongst most religions these days, Devi is perhaps more relevant than ever, and with that heartbreaking and memorable final shot, still as powerful as it ever was.

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"Devi" is one of Satyajit Ray's most compact films. At 93 minutes, it is his shortest feature, and the story is one of his simplest to describe. In the 1830's young woman, Doya, lives in a mansion with her father and extended family. Her husband works far away, but plans to have Doya move with him soon. On day Doya's father drops to her feet and proclaims that she is the reincarnation of the Goddess Kali. At first Doya is skeptical, but when a sick boy seems to be cured in her presence, she too comes to believe that she is the Goddess. Despite her husbands attempt to take her away from the house, she stays. When she is not able to cure a second sick boy, her nephew, she cannot handle the pressure, and despite her husband's pleas, runs away into the mist.

Yet despite the seeming simplicity of the story line, "Devi" is a complex work. Aesthetically, Ray is able to use the space in an incredibly evocative manner. In the beginning of the film the interiors of the mansion are shot in a relatively open manner, and there seems to be a lot of space to move around. As the film progresses, the shots get tighter and there seems to be less space. This contrasts with all the exterior sequences, which are shot using a greater degree of long shots. Yet, this is not a simplistic visual statement by Ray that suggests that the indoor are confining while the outdoors represents freedom. In fact the outdoors too is confining, for along with the open space come oppressive mists and clouds, as well as the tendency to have the characters draped in shadow. It's as if Ray is saying there is nowhere for these characters to go, no escape from their fate.

At the end of the film, when Doya runs away, she is enshrouded in mist, leaving it ambiguous as to what will happen to her, and certainly suggesting that she has not found escape. Although in most plot summaries it is stated that Doya dies in the end, that did not seem to be case with the print that I saw. Perhaps the other writers were thinking of the original story. In any case, by having Doya run away into the mists, Ray makes a more powerful statement than if he were to have her simply die. By dying, we know that although this was the tragic result of her father pressuring her into believing she was the Goddess, she has found some release. By having Doya running away into the mist, Ray creates a much more chilling conclusion, for we know that Doya might never be able to undo the damage that has been done.

A film that explores the line between the good aspects of faith (e.g. humility) and the bad (e.g. ignorance) when an elderly man has a dream that his daughter-in-law is the incarnation of the goddess Kali, and immediately begins venerating her. In Hinduism the idea of one of the deities from its pantheon incarnating as a mortal is fairly common and has some interesting and profound philosophical implications, but here we feel a deep sense of falseness and unease. When the young woman's husband returns to find her on a dais surrounded by chanting worshippers he eventually tries to get her out of there, but she begins to wonder whether she might indeed be Kali, and if leaving may cause the gods to inflict their wrath upon him. It all seems a little crazy - a single fleeting moment in an old man's dream, and suddenly streams of people are coming to a trapped young woman, some bearing sick children and expecting her to heal them.

Before the dream, the old man has a somewhat creepy relationship with her - for example, calling her 'mother' and praising her while she waits on him and tenderly washes his feet. Later we find out she's just 17 years old, and has been married for 3 years, causing some uncomfortable internal math even if it is based on the reality of 19th century India (and apparently a true story). Sharmila Tagore plays the conflicted aspects of the part well, and she was only 16 years old. I found that the film was an interesting look into the culture - and director Satyajit Ray's criticism of blind faith - but the pace of the film was a little too slow for what is a pretty simple story. It finishes strong though, and with some powerful images of Tagore.