--- title: "Pather Panchali: the reviews" canonical: "https://film.one/film/pather-panchali/reviews" title_page: "https://film.one/film/pather-panchali" critics_score: 90 critics_reviews: 12 licence: "© Fi1m Ltd. Written by AI under a human editor; checked against sources before publication. Quote with attribution and a link to the canonical URL." --- # Pather Panchali (1955): what the critics said Critics' score 90 from 12 reviews: 12 positive, 0 mixed, 0 negative. The reviews are unanimously positive, with praise centred on Satyajit Ray’s close observation of rural Bengali family life and the feeling he draws from ordinary experiences. Most critics emphasise how the film combines realism with carefully composed images, making poverty, childhood and family tensions tangible without forcing the story. Subrata Mitra’s black-and-white cinematography, Ravi Shankar’s music and the natural performances receive particular attention, while several reviews find the film’s emotional reach extends well beyond its specific setting. There is little disagreement, and the differences are chiefly matters of emphasis: some critics concentrate on visual composition, others on the rhythms of village life or the treatment of childhood and old age. Empire supplies the clearest reservation, finding the film slow while still describing it as absorbing and humane. Even the less emphatic responses remain firmly favourable; there is no substantial dissent among these twelve reviews. ## RogerEbert.com — Roger Ebert Rating 4/4. 4 March 2001. The Apu Trilogy, beginning with Pather Panchali, creates a convincing world that feels like another life one might have lived. It affirms what cinema can be through its beauty, mystery, and deep connection to human feelings across time and culture. [Read the review](https://www.rogerebert.com/reviews/great-movie-the-apu-trilogy-1959) ## The AV Club — Ignatiy Vishnevetsky Rating A. 7 May 2015. The critic highlights how the 4K restoration allows appreciation of Ray's graphic sensibility and visual poetry in depicting a rural Bengali family's struggles. Pather Panchali is singled out for its composition in iconic scenes like the train sighting and rainstorm, moving beyond historical context to its artistic merits. [Read the review](https://www.avclub.com/the-restored-apu-trilogy-reintroduces-satyajit-ray-1798183722) ## Slant Magazine — Jake Cole Fi1m's normalised score 90/100 (inferred from the text). 20 January 2024. The critic praises Ray's assured debut for blending neorealism with poetic storytelling and juxtaposing joy and tragedy, as in the train chase followed by a death. Pather Panchali is noted for its uncluttered frames and emotional complexity in portraying loss of innocence amid India's modernization. [Read the review](https://www.slantmagazine.com/dvd/the-apu-trilogy-4k-uhd-blu-ray-review-satyajit-ray/) ## The Guardian — Peter Bradshaw Fi1m's normalised score 90/100 (inferred from the text). 3 May 2002. The critic calls this 1955 classic the extraordinary result of director Satyajit Ray and cinematographer Subrata Mitra being new to their craft yet showing a miraculous gift for lighting, handling non-professional actors and allowing narrative to flow unforced. It is described as a luminous, transcendental masterpiece depicting the beginnings of young Apu’s life in a remote Bengal village with his sister, mother, aunt and priest father. [Read the review](https://www.theguardian.com/film/2002/may/03/culture.reviews) ## The New Yorker — Richard Brody Fi1m's normalised score 90/100 (inferred from the text). 6 May 2015. The Apu trilogy, starting with Pather Panchali, is a great cinematic bildungsroman about the awakening of a soul and a young man’s confrontation with life’s responsibilities. Ray’s meticulous realism gives rise to a stark mythopoetic vision arising from first-hand experience. [Read the review](https://www.newyorker.com/culture/richard-brody/the-miraculous-apu-trilogy) ## The New York Times Fi1m's normalised score 90/100 (inferred from the text). 7 April 1995. Pather Panchali remains unsurpassed at conveying an elemental apprehension of the human life cycle in a Neo-Realist style. Its most powerful imagery contemplates human beings in the natural world struggling for simple survival alongside every other creature. [Read the review](https://www.nytimes.com/1995/04/07/movies/critic-s-choice-film-indian-classic-of-1955-restored-and-reissued.html) ## Time Out — GA Fi1m's normalised score 90/100 (inferred from the text). 23 August 2005. It is the first and finest part of the Apu Trilogy and a landmark of world cinema that remains essential viewing for its lyrical realism. The detailed observation of village life is turned into pure poetry through motifs like trains and water, with Ravi Shankar’s music singled out for praise. [Read the review](https://www.timeout.com/movies/pather-panchali) ## Variety — Variety Staff Fi1m's normalised score 90/100 (inferred from the text). 31 December 1954. Pather Panchali poetically and lyrically unfolds a tender but penetrating tale of coming of age in India, fusing all aspects of filmmaking into a moving whole that shows India perceptively for the first time to a Western audience. The treatment of old age is one of the most profound ever seen on the screen. [Read the review](https://variety.com/1954/film/reviews/pather-panchali-1200417857/) ## Evening Standard — Charlotte O'Sullivan Fi1m's normalised score 85/100 (inferred from the text). 10 April 2012. Satyajit Ray's first film is a superb lesson in how to tell a simple story so that it will always be remembered. It is beautiful, poetic and utterly truthful, having woken up the West to Indian cinema. [Read the review](https://www.standard.co.uk/culture/film/pather-panchali-7385635.html) ## Los Angeles Times — Robert Abele Fi1m's normalised score 85/100 (inferred from the text). 29 May 2015. Pather Panchali is spirited and sad in pitch-perfectly equal measure, brimming with the seesawing rhythms of poverty-stricken rural living. The tactile black-and-white cinematography and Ravi Shankar’s ragas are among the all-time great scores. [Read the review](https://www.latimes.com/entertainment/movies/la-et-mn-apu-trilogy-review-20150529-story.html) ## Empire — Alan Morrison Fi1m's normalised score 80/100 (inferred from the text). 1 January 2000. The critic praises Ray's directorial debut for its neorealist approach, capturing village life through a boy's eyes with beauty and humanity. It is called a remarkable, absorbing film despite being slow. [Read the review](https://www.empireonline.com/movies/reviews/pather-panchali-review/) ## Collider — Andre Dellamorte Fi1m's normalised score 90/100 (inferred from the text). 17 February 2016. The review praises the Apu Trilogy's humanist portrayal of a boy's coming-of-age amid poverty, family struggles, and loss in rural Bengal, calling the series essential viewing for its empathetic depth and universal themes despite its modest production. [Read the review](https://collider.com/a-room-with-a-view-apu-trilogy-criterion-blu-ray-reviews/) --- © Fi1m Ltd. Written by AI under a human editor; checked against sources before publication. Quote with attribution and a link to the canonical URL. Our review: https://film.one/film/pather-panchali.md