India's submission to the 50th Academy Awards - and Satyajit Ray's first Hindi movie - uses chess as an allegory for the British occupation of India. A pair of men play shatranj (an ancient version of the game), having little interest for the world outside. Some of the most effective scenes show the British general (played by Richard Attenborough) discussing the impending annexation of Awadh with his aide; these scenes make perfectly clear the British attitude towards the colonized peoples. In other scenes, we get to see all sorts of things representing Hindustani culture.
I've only seen one other Satyajit Ray movie ("The World of Apu", and that was a long time ago), so I can't really compaure "Shatranj Ke Khilari" with everything else. But I can say that it's one impressive piece of work. Not the ultimate masterpiece, but I recommend it. Chess plays as important a role as it does in Stanley Kubrick's movies (it's worth noting that the game got created as an analysis of medieval Europe, with the expendable pawns getting sent out first, while the monarchs and their cohorts stay safely behind). I need to start watching more of Ray's movies.
I've only seen one other Satyajit Ray movie ("The World of Apu", and that was a long time ago), so I can't really compaure "Shatranj Ke Khilari" with everything else. But I can say that it's one impressive piece of work. Not the ultimate masterpiece, but I recommend it. Chess plays as important a role as it does in Stanley Kubrick's movies (it's worth noting that the game got created as an analysis of medieval Europe, with the expendable pawns getting sent out first, while the monarchs and their cohorts stay safely behind). I need to start watching more of Ray's movies.