You have to be a bit of a cinema geek to become one of the greatest filmmakers in the world. So it came as no surprise that Christopher Nolan—fresh off the mammoth success of The Odyssey—looked like a kid in a candy shop during his recent visit to the famed Criterion Closet in New York. Home to more than 1,700 classic and contemporary films distributed by the Criterion Collection, the tiny room has become a pilgrimage site for cinephiles, with actors, directors and artists dropping by to pick the movies that shaped them.
In a video shared by the organisation, Nolan joked that he was “singing for his supper” as he perused through the stacked shelves, pulling out titles that have left an indelible mark on him. Among them was one Indian classic that he said had “blown my mind”, while also calling its director “one of the greatest Indian filmmakers.”
Christopher Nolan reveals this Indian film “blew his mind” and calls it one of his all-time-favourites; Can you guess which one it is?
The film in question? Satyajit Ray’s Pather Panchali, the first instalment of the critically acclaimed The Apu Trilogy.
Holding up The Apu Trilogy, Nolan reflected on discovering Ray’s landmark work for the first time. “And then there’s the Apu Trilogy by Satyajit Ray, one of the greatest Indian filmmakers. The trilogy starts with Pather Panchali, which is an absolutely incredible film. It just blew my mind. I haven’t yet seen parts two and three of the trilogy, so I’m pretty excited to get this and complete the story,” he said.
Based on the novels of Bibhutibhushan Bandyopadhyay, The Apu Trilogy comprises three Bengali films—Pather Panchali (1955), Aparajito (1956) and Apur Sansar (1959). Together, they trace Apu’s life from a poverty-stricken childhood in rural Bengal to adulthood, and are widely regarded as among the most influential works in world cinema.