Pather Panchali (1955), Bengali for “Song of the Little Road,” is an innovative and striking film by Indian director Satyajit Ray. Based on a book by Bibhutibhushan Bandyopadhyay, the story of a desperately poor Indian family is reminiscent of The Grapes of Wrath in its stark depiction of poverty. It differs from Steinbeck’s classic in that it centers on a child, Apu, and his older sister Durga; their lives are difficult, but they have the small joys of children: a kitten, a foil crown, sugar cane to chew. They still find ways to play and find interest in their surroundings, even when they wear rags for clothes.

The cinematography is exquisite: remarkably the work of just one amateur cinematographer, Subrata Mitra, the film features beautiful lighting and angles that bring home the deeply personal nature of the film. It seems that only half of the film consists of dialogue, its genius resting instead in the visuals. Perhaps it was precisely Mitra’s lack of experience that make this film so unique, freeing it from conventions of cinematography. In any case, the film’s portrayal of India’s strange mix of poverty and rapid modernization during the first half of the twentieth century is art at its finest.