Pather Panchali (Song of the Little Road). Satyajit Ray, 1955.
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Edition screened: Criterion Blu-ray #783, included in box set #782 The Apu Triology, released 2015. Bengali language with English subtitles. Runtime approximately 125 minutes.
Summary: Physical abuse to kittens.
Details:
1) The aging old “Auntie” intentionally throws her big filthy fabric bag full of crap on top of a kitten, completely covering it, 11:28. The camera stays on the bag through 11:33 and we do not see the kitten emerge.
2) Immediately afterwards and through 11:38, she steps from the front door of the house and pointlessly picks up another kitten and hurls him down into the dirt.
Auntie is a complex and confusing character in this first film of the The Apu Trilogy. Despite the reverence shown for her advanced age, she feels overly entitled and makes no effort to contribute to the family that supports her. She is genuinely kind to young Apu and his sister, to the point that the mother accuses Auntie of corrupting the girl by indoctrinating her to petty theft and lethargy. There is evidence of these character flaws taught by one generation to another, and Auntie’s pointless cruelty to the kittens indicates an underlying malicious and destructive personality, just as the mother accuses.
