Thursday 13 April 2023

Yasujiro Ozu's own "Teen Kanya"

"Teen Kanya" (1961) was the omnibus film based on three Rabindranath Stories made by Satyajit Ray to commemorate Tagore's birth centenary.

The first story, "The Post Master" deals with Ratan, a little village girl, who is the household help of the village postmaster. The second story has Manimalika, a rich man's wife, who is utterly obsessed with jewels & ornaments. The third story has the  hoydenish Mrinmoyee, entrapping the most educated man hailing from her village as her husband.

In Ozu's first colour film, "Equinox Flower" (1958), the three daughters are contrasted in character, attitudes, & action: Fumiko has left home to live with her lover, Yukiko stays at home dutifully with her inn keeper mother, & Setsuko tricks her father into letting her marry the man of her choice. (From "Ozu & the Poetics of Cinema" by David Bordwell.)

The difference between Ray & Ozu is that Ray has picked three females of different age & social status (in different Tagore stories) whereas Ozu's three women belong to the same age group & similar social status.

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