RAY SATYAJIT: (1921-1992)
RAY SATYAJIT: (1921-1992) Indian film director, the recipient of an Honorary Academy Award in 1992. A rare A.L.S., Satyajit, two pages (separate leaves), 8vo, n.p., 24th September 1979, to Pamela Cullen, on attractive stationery featuring a large printed illustration of a Mahratta Horseman to the first page. Ray apologises for his delay in replying (´I´ve been hopelessly tied up with the new film & away on far-flung locations much of the time´) and adds that Cullen already knows his views on earphone translation, remarking ´Even the most professional job (like Saeed´s last year) is no substitute for subtitles. There were quite a few tepid press notices after the LFF screening of Chess [Shatranj Ke Khilari; The Chess Players, 1977] last year. The critics sat up only after the film was shown with subtitles at the Academy. JBF [Joi Baba Felunath; The Elephant God, 1978] cries out for subtitles, & the best way to put over the film at its first screening in London is not with simultaneous translation´. In concluding Ray informs Cullen ´Bangalore threatens to hold a special exhibition to celebrate 25 years of S. Ray. I do hope there´ll be a large British contingent´. A letter of interesting content and with good references to two of Ray´s films, as well as a third in the making. Two very slightly irregularly trimmed edges and with some minor traces of former mounting to the versos, otherwise VG
Pamela Cullen (1923-2024) English film journalist and a passionate member of the Free India Movement during the 1940s. Later in her career the Indian government appointed Cullen to be the London regional manager of their National Film Development Corporation of India. In this capacity she formed strong professional and personal relationships with many figures in the Indian film industry, including Satyajit Ray. In 1995 she set up the Satyajit Ray Foundation in his memory, recognising new film-makers by supporting them and screening their works.
Shatranj Ke Khilari (The Chess Players, 1977), Ray's first feature made primarily in Hindi rather than Bengali, was an ambitious historical drama set against the British annexation of the kingdom of Awadh in 1856 and featured a distinguished cast including Sanjeev Kumar, Saeed Jaffrey and Richard Attenborough. Joi Baba Felunath (The Elephant God, 1978), by contrast, was Ray's second screen adventure featuring his celebrated Bengali detective Feluda, played by Soumitra Chatterjee, and had already received international recognition at the Hong Kong International Film Festival in June 1979. Ray's insistence in the present letter upon proper subtitles rather than simultaneous translation provides a revealing insight into his concern for the presentation and critical reception of his films before international audiences.
Ray's reference to Bangalore proved prophetic. Filmotsav '80, held there from 3rd-17th January 1980, celebrated twenty-five years since the release of Pather Panchali (1955) with an extensive retrospective of his work, comprising twenty-two feature films and three documentaries. The event amounted to an extraordinary survey of virtually Ray's entire filmmaking career to that date, from Pather Panchali to Joi Baba Felunath.
The ´new film´ which was occupying Ray at the time of the present letter was almost certainly Hirak Rajar Deshe (The Kingdom of Diamonds, 1980), his colourful sequel to Goopy Gyne Bagha Byne (1969), in which the adventures of Goopy and Bagha are transformed into a pointed political satire concerning an authoritarian ruler who exploits his subjects and employs a machine to brainwash dissenters.
RAY SATYAJIT: (1921-1992) Indian film director, the recipient of an Honorary Academy Award in 1992. A rare A.L.S., Satyajit, two pages (separate leaves), 8vo, n.p., 24th September 1979, to Pamela Cullen, on attractive stationery featuring a large printed illustration of a Mahratta Horseman to the first page. Ray apologises for his delay in replying (´I´ve been hopelessly tied up with the new film & away on far-flung locations much of the time´) and adds that Cullen already knows his views on earphone translation, remarking ´Even the most professional job (like Saeed´s last year) is no substitute for subtitles. There were quite a few tepid press notices after the LFF screening of Chess [Shatranj Ke Khilari; The Chess Players, 1977] last year. The critics sat up only after the film was shown with subtitles at the Academy. JBF [Joi Baba Felunath; The Elephant God, 1978] cries out for subtitles, & the best way to put over the film at its first screening in London is not with simultaneous translation´. In concluding Ray informs Cullen ´Bangalore threatens to hold a special exhibition to celebrate 25 years of S. Ray. I do hope there´ll be a large British contingent´. A letter of interesting content and with good references to two of Ray´s films, as well as a third in the making. Two very slightly irregularly trimmed edges and with some minor traces of former mounting to the versos, otherwise VG
Pamela Cullen (1923-2024) English film journalist and a passionate member of the Free India Movement during the 1940s. Later in her career the Indian government appointed Cullen to be the London regional manager of their National Film Development Corporation of India. In this capacity she formed strong professional and personal relationships with many figures in the Indian film industry, including Satyajit Ray. In 1995 she set up the Satyajit Ray Foundation in his memory, recognising new film-makers by supporting them and screening their works.
Shatranj Ke Khilari (The Chess Players, 1977), Ray's first feature made primarily in Hindi rather than Bengali, was an ambitious historical drama set against the British annexation of the kingdom of Awadh in 1856 and featured a distinguished cast including Sanjeev Kumar, Saeed Jaffrey and Richard Attenborough. Joi Baba Felunath (The Elephant God, 1978), by contrast, was Ray's second screen adventure featuring his celebrated Bengali detective Feluda, played by Soumitra Chatterjee, and had already received international recognition at the Hong Kong International Film Festival in June 1979. Ray's insistence in the present letter upon proper subtitles rather than simultaneous translation provides a revealing insight into his concern for the presentation and critical reception of his films before international audiences.
Ray's reference to Bangalore proved prophetic. Filmotsav '80, held there from 3rd-17th January 1980, celebrated twenty-five years since the release of Pather Panchali (1955) with an extensive retrospective of his work, comprising twenty-two feature films and three documentaries. The event amounted to an extraordinary survey of virtually Ray's entire filmmaking career to that date, from Pather Panchali to Joi Baba Felunath.
The ´new film´ which was occupying Ray at the time of the present letter was almost certainly Hirak Rajar Deshe (The Kingdom of Diamonds, 1980), his colourful sequel to Goopy Gyne Bagha Byne (1969), in which the adventures of Goopy and Bagha are transformed into a pointed political satire concerning an authoritarian ruler who exploits his subjects and employs a machine to brainwash dissenters.
