The Stranger (1991)

A well-off family is paid an unexpected, and rather unwanted, visit by a man claiming to be the woman's long-lost uncle. The initial suspicion with which they greet the man slowly dissolves... See full summary »

Director:

Satyajit Ray

Writers:

Satyajit Ray (screenplay), Satyajit Ray (story)

Stars:

Utpal Dutt, Dipankar Dey, Mamata Shankar

Top Rated Indian Movies #24 | 2 wins & 1 nomination.

Cast

Complete credited cast:
Utpal Dutt	...	Manomohan Mitra
Dipankar Dey	...	Sudhindra Bose
Mamata Shankar	...	Anila Bose
Bikram Bhattacharya	...	Satyaki Bose
Rabi Ghosh	...	Ranjan Rakshit
Dhritiman Chatterjee	...	Prithwish Sen Gupta (as Dhritiman Chattopadhyay)
Subrata Chatterjee	...	Chhanda Rakshit (as Subrata Chattopadhyay)
Promode Ganguly	...	Tridib Mukherjee
Ajit Banerjee	...	Sital Sarkar (as Ajit Bandyopadhyay)
Rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Sourav Banerjee

Storyline

A well-off family is paid an unexpected, and rather unwanted, visit by a man claiming to be the woman's long-lost uncle. The initial suspicion with which they greet the man slowly dissolves as he regales them with stories of his travels, tales that are at odds with their conventional middle-class perspective on the world.

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Plot Keywords:

rubik's cube | lawyer | letter | suspicion | identity | 

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Genres:

Drama

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Certificate:

Not Rated

Details

Country:

India France

Language:

Bengali English

Release Date:

26 August 1992 (France)

Also Known As:

Le visiteur

Company Credits

Production Co:

National Film Development Corporation, Canal+, DD Productions

Technical Specs

Sound Mix:

Mono

Color:

Color

Did You Know?

Trivia

This was Satyajit Ray's final film. He was so ill during the production of it that most of it was directed from an oxygen tent.

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Connections

Referenced in Maacher Jhol (2017)

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Soundtracks

Bajilo Kaharo Bina
Performed by: Sromona Guhathakurta
Lyrics by: Rabindranath Tagore

User Reviews

Aging

It is possible and dangerous to read too much into a director's final film as being a "swan song" or a "culmination," and it seems to be an easy "insight" by those unable to come up with something better. But here we have a veritable summation and a compelling final statement of a brilliant career.

Whenever I watch an S. Ray film, I always feel lost trying to find a main theme or thrust in the story. Here we have several: ancient custom vs. technology, self-discovery, mystery/doubt, etc. But they all co-mingle in this extraordinarily complex character (based on Ray himself no doubt, hence the high level of insight). His was a cinema of life, scattered and bewildering, yet sublimely beautiful.

Still, Ray remains one of the few great directors from his era who never quite mastered the use of colour. Indeed, the lingering shots of images lacks the power of say the chandelier in "Jalsaghar," and the regret and sorrow on the faces of the family doesn't come anywhere close to the final scenes of "Pather."

On top of this we have Ray trying most explicitly to be philosophical. Some of Manmohan's laments on civilisation resemble passages from "Notes From Underground," and we even have the husband talking about having to "put two and two together," but these themes seem to be mentioned for the sake of mentioning them. Ray, like Manmohan, was an anthropologist, not a philosopher. Still, there are some deeply touching moments in this overall capably and thoughtfully made film.

3 out of 5 - Some strong elements