GOOPY GYNE BAGHA BYNE/THE ADVENTURES OF GOOPY AND BAGHA (Satyajit Ray, 1968)

date watched: April 26, 2009
location: Film Society of Lincoln Center
This marks my last viewing of Ray's films in the "First Light" series at Lincoln. How sad :(

I could tell Ray was having a lot of fun with this film, compared to his more serious Apu Trilogy and the other two films mentioned in this blog. It's no wonder this was his most popular film, as it was a domestic box office hit. I almost thought he was experimenting with some recreational drugs at some points, especially during the Ghosts' dancing sequence and the appearance of the Ghost King. It reminded me of the drunken revelries of Dumbo in the Disney movie, when he sees all kinds of elephants dancing. Some of those ghosts looked like teletubbies, and this was 1968!



The portrayal of the kings were most intriguing: the corpulent King of Amloki who chases out bad musicians on gaunt donkeys; the good-natured King of Shundi; and the King of Halla, brother to the King of Shundi, who was under the evil spell of Borfi and his own Prime Minister. I would also add the Ghost King, who speaks like one of Alvin's chipmunks and has a visage filled with so many sequins you can hardly focus.

It is the Ghost King who grants Goopy and Bagha three wishes, and being simple men, they ask not for riches, but for a voice and a rhythm, some food, and easy transportation. I suppose the ability to paralyze the audience through song was a bonus.

When the King brothers reunite, they bring with them their only daughters, as wives for Goopy and Bagha. Here, Ray borrowed a little of Fleming's magic, as the image transforms from grays to Technicolor, like the moment Dorothy steps into the colorful land of Oz. Like Oz, the colors seen on the screen are almost too much for the eyes. Especially since Indian culture values color so much, the abundance of hues seem fake, even. But this splash of color was an unexpected gesture of Ray's, since all of his films (the famous ones, anyway) are in black and white. Sometimes, surprises are necessary, even in the world of cinema, right?