The Middleman [VHS]

The Middleman [VHS]
by Satyajit Ray

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VHS Tape Cover Information

Actor: Arati Bhattacharya, Bimal Chatterjee, Gautam Chakraborty, Lily Chakravarty, Satya Bannerjee
Director: Satyajit Ray
Cinematographer: Soumendu Roy
Writer: Satyajit Ray
Editor: Dulal Dutta
Writer: Manisankar 'Sankar' Mukherjee
Edition: VHS Tape
Audio: English (Subtitled)
Format: Color, NTSC, Subtitled
Running Time: 131 minutes
Release Date: 1997-09-02
Audience Rating: NR (Not Rated)
Publisher: Sony Pictures
Studio: Sony Pictures

VHS Movie Reviews of The Middleman [VHS]

Movie Review: The Beginning is the BEST part
Summary: 5 Stars

I continue with the viewer comments that the amazon girl is an imbecile. First of all, the main character doesn't fail the exam, which is important. He passes. And passing means nothing. Because everybody passes because cheating was being encouraged at the time. It is this strange sort of comedy that's only a little bit funny. The first scene is sort of surreal and beautiful. All the actors in the film are so good and so beautiful, too. Strangely, the fashions and the hari-styles seem of 1970's India are so very similar to the styles in New York today. The fashion in the movie is nice. The writing on the walls, the strange half-drawn picture of Indira Gandhi welcoming in the new year 1977. This IS a situated piece, which makes it perhaps all the more reason that it is not just for die-hard Ray fans, but for people who may not care for detached art but want to see some commentary on the world and times expressed artistically. Maybe it's preachy. But not really. More in that Catch 22 sort of way. Comedy that's unnerving to laugh at. Pathetic satire. The characters are unforgettable, particularly... (okay the names might be), the guy that gets Somnath into pimping, and the father, and the friend's sister. The ending is something amazing. The music is great, too. I don't read Bengali. But script and writing is important, from all the writing on the wall, to Somnath's small handwriting (which is in English) and even the way the titles come on the screen in the beginning. It's a very beautiful script that becomes a character or characteristic in the film.

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Summary of The Middleman [VHS]

This 1975 Satyajit Ray film may be only for diehard fans. While Ray may have had a social or political agenda in some of his other films, he was clever enough to keep it hidden. Here, it sticks out and the film suffers from the "preachy" attitude of the script, especially during the first half. If you can stick with it through to the end, you'll find a flawed but ultimately compelling portrait of corruption in a big city.

Somnath Bannerjee (Pradip Mukherjee), a member of the elite Brahmin caste, fails his history exam because the man hired to grade them can't read his small handwriting. Somnath searches for a job for over a year. When he finally does get an interview, the big question is "What is the weight of the moon?" He tries to argue that this has nothing to do the job, but is dismissed. He ends up as a "middleman" buying paper products and reselling them at higher prices. His father is deeply dismayed because family members traditionally don't engage in sales. One by one, Somnath is taught the harsh lessons of doing business in a setting where nothing matters but closing the deal. Ultimately, he stoops to blackmail, with the sister of his best friend as bait.

Based on the novel Jana Aranya by Mani Shankar Mukherjee, Ray wrote the screenplay and the music as well as directing the feature. --Luanne Brown

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