Our Films Their Films

Rating:
Summary: Brilliant essays on creativity and culture
Review: Our Films, Their Films is a brilliant chronicle of creative thinking by one of the one of the world's most brilliant playwrights. This book is a must for anyone who questions what creatiity is and how culture affects creativity. Ray's essays are both endearing and quite lucid for the normal person to read and understand. All of Satyajit Ray's stories should find their way back into print. He was a breath of fresh air in the film industry.

Rating:
Summary: Welcome to Ray's World
Review: Ray proves in this book(written over a period of twenty years starting from 1948) that he is equally at ease with his pen and he can touch people's mind with his amazing clarity of reasons and a definite mastery over the film medium.

As the name of the book suggests,in the first part ,i.e,in "Our Films", he talks about Indian films and related matters.
The essays here are on different topics ranging from the problems of traditional Indian Cinema to various facets of his work; from his analysis of a few "new wave" films by other contemporary Indian directors to the sights and sounds captured in his diary during the shooting of Aporajito(The Unvanquished)in Benares.

The second part, "Their Films" ,talks mostly about the films of Hollywood,Japan and Italy and Russia.Essays here are more captivating as they portray Ray's meetings with such greats as Renoir and Kurosawa and elaboration on few of their works.

Not to miss are the essays on Hitchcock's biography written by Trauffau,Chaplin's autobiography and a tribute to great John Ford and one on Italian neo-realistic genre.

Ray is completely successful in sharing his love for simple ,realistic, human documentary than craftsmanship in this book.This is a great book-for anybody who appreciates good cinema.

Rating:
Summary: Welcome to Ray's World
Review: Ray proves in this book(written over a period of twenty years starting from 1948) that he is equally at ease with his pen and he can touch people's mind with his amazing clarity of reasons and a definite mastery over the film medium.

As the name of the book suggests,in the first part ,i.e,in "Our Films", he talks about Indian films and related matters.
The essays here are on different topics ranging from the problems of traditional Indian Cinema to various facets of his work; from his analysis of a few "new wave" films by other contemporary Indian directors to the sights and sounds captured in his diary during the shooting of Aporajito(The Unvanquished)in Benares.

The second part, "Their Films" ,talks mostly about the films of Hollywood,Japan and Italy and Russia.Essays here are more captivating as they portray Ray's meetings with such greats as Renoir and Kurosawa and elaboration on few of their works.

Not to miss are the essays on Hitchcock's biography written by Trauffau,Chaplin's autobiography and a tribute to great John Ford and one on Italian neo-realistic genre.

Ray is completely successful in sharing his love for simple ,realistic, human documentary than craftsmanship in this book.This is a great book-for anybody who appreciates good cinema.