DEVI Movie Review

The Goddess

In 19th-century Bengal, a well-to-do man (Chhabi Biswas) dreams that his 17-year-old daughter-in-law (Sharmila Tagore) is the reincarnation of the goddess Kali. Believing his dream to be a holy message, the father publicly proclaims this “miracle” and promptly ensconces the startled girl on an altar at his home; soon, the area's peasants—and the girl herself—become convinced of her divinity. Satyajit Ray's bold, perceptive, and extraordinarily haunting drama touches on issues of faith, fanaticism, class, and, as in so many of his films, the subjugation of women. Devi's themes caused the film to be the subject of protest by fundamentalist Hindus in 1960, but after a brief ban, the government approved it for both domestic and international distribution.

NEXT STOP … The Music Room, Charulata, Days and Nights in the Forest

1960 93m/B IN Chhabi Biswas, Sharmila Tagore, Soumitra Chatterjee; D: Satyajit Ray; W: Satyajit Ray; C: Subrata Mitra; M: Ali Akbar Khan. VHS COL, WFV, DVT