Charulata

Saw Charulata, a Satyajit Ray film from the 60s. The titular character, Charulata, is the neglected wife of a rich man who spends his time as the editor of a political newspaper. He is aware of her loneliness, but does not realize how deep it runs. He invites a literature-professor cousin to come stay with them, to entertain Charulata. Sure enough, he comes like a breath of fresh air, smiling and whistling, and singing a song about cuckoos (indeed.) Charulata's husband, the editor, has laid the seeds of his own betrayal but then again, it was he who neglected her first.

This was a very literary film. Dryly believable events are reflected off of the main characters and magnified into personal disasters. The cinematography reflects this as wide-angle shots suddenly zoom in to intimate close-ups. In contrast to this, the editor is always focused on the abstract and geopolitical. The bookcase in his room has many more books than Charulata's but hers are much more well-worn.

The film is a domestic drama. It deals with romance and the central eventual affair in an distant way. This being the 60s, they couldn't have Charulata smooching with the other man, so the film plays it coy, never quite defining what their relationship is or what it's becoming. To label it as an affair (as I've done here) is to remove the intrigue from the film. It's really much more complex than that. An interesting film.