Buddhadeb Dasgupta's tales of Bengali life are both searing social comment and pure poetry. It's a delicate balance, and in The Window he once again transforms the complexities of today's India into a song of many harmonies.
Bimal and Meera are a young Kolkata couple, very much in love and on the verge of being married. But Bimal has an idealistic streak. On a visit to his old school, he sees how it has fallen into disrepair. He immediately decides that he must donate a beautiful new carved window to replace the now-decrepit one from which he gazed as a boy. It seems like a simple act of generosity, but in Dasgupta's Bengal, generosity can seed chaos.
The school sits in a lovely town by the sea and, not surprisingly, it is seized by village politics. The school's headmaster is outraged by Bimal's gift. What an insult to suggest that the window needs replacing! A simple gift of money would have been so much better. But Bimal borrowed to afford the window, and when the gift is rejected he finds himself with neither thanks nor the means to repay the loan. He can't bear to tell his fiancée.
Dasgupta directs this story with the assurance and fluidity of a master, weaving in a parallel plot about a pair of circus performers to contrast Bimal and Meera's story. He brings the threads together as the film reaches its climax, finding a way to satirize elements of Indian society while drawing closer to his characters.
Although The Window is in many ways a moral tale, what resonates most is the human emotion, especially between Bimal and Meera, as well as the surprising sensuousness. This couple shows a natural freedom in their love rarely seen in Indian cinema. And whether he is shooting a scene on a city tram or a magical trapeze sequence in the forest, Dasgupta takes that same freedom as his own.
Cameron Bailey
Buddhadeb Dasgupta was born in Anara, India, and studied economics. He is a celebrated Bengali poet and novelist whose work has been translated throughout the world. He won a special jury prize at the 2000 Venice International Film Festival for
The Wrestlers (00). His other films include
Distance (78),
Bitter Morsel (79),
Crossroads (81),
The Return (86),
The Tiger Man (89),
Their Story (92),
The Shelter of the Wings (93),
The Red Doors (96),
A Tale of a Naughty Girl (02),
Chased by Dreams (04),
Memories in the Mist (05),
The Voyeurs (07) and
The Window (09).