Kingdom of Diamonds (1980)
Cast: Soumitra Chatterjee, Utpal Dutt, Robi Ghosh
Director: Satyajit Ray
Country: India
Genre: Comedy
Official Site: Here
Editor’s Notes: The following review is part of our coverage for TIFF’s The Sun and the Moon: The Films of Satyajit Ray. For more information on upcoming TIFF film series visit http://tiff.net and follow TIFF on Twitter at @TIFF_NET.
The second film in a trilogy based on a story by Satyajit Ray’s grandfather, Upendra Kishore Roychowdhury, Kingdom of Diamonds continues the tale of Goopy Gyne and Bagha Byne who had earned themselves three boons and the hands of two princesses in Ray’s earlier film Goopy Gyne Bagha Byne (1969). The pair long for a new adventure as the unceasing sands of time slip quietly through an hourglass at the center of their lavish quarters, so armed with the ability to summon food and clothing with the clap of a hand, magic slippers that take them anywhere they wish to go in the blink of an eye, and the ability to hold men captive with the sounds of their music they set back out into the world to admire its many wonders and find a worthy adventure. Meanwhile, a tyrant king holds court to determine the most auspicious day to unveil his new statue as a bored ministry kowtows for favor and trinkets, unmoved by the needs and pleas of his peasants as he seeks to strike rebellious thoughts from the minds of the people through tyrannical policies and a brainwashing machine invented by the court scientist.
In a complete reversal of Ray’s typical modus operandi, Kingdom of Diamonds is filled with music and fantasy but tempered by Ray’s political conscientiousness as nearly everyone in the film delivers their lines through song or rhyme.
In a complete reversal of Ray’s typical modus operandi, Kingdom of Diamonds is filled with music and fantasy but tempered by Ray’s political conscientiousness as nearly everyone in the film delivers their lines through song or rhyme. An idealistic teacher is the only character that would find himself at home in Ray’s typical filmography, and in deliberate contrast that sets the man apart from the other characters in the film he delivers his lines uncolored by artifice and rhyme and acts as the film’s social conscience as he refuses to succumb to the tyrant’s whims and attempts to arm his students with knowledge so that they might use it to face down tyranny and oppression. The teacher’s efforts would earn him the ire of the king and banishment from the kingdom, but in his exile he meets with Goopy Gyne and Bagha Byne who will help him depose the despot and restore peace and justice to the land.
Ray does a complete reversal and makes his somber solemnity the non sequitur element while his magical heroes follow the lead of a naturalistic protagonist.
Kingdom of Diamonds is a strange entry in Satyajit Ray’s illustrious and multifaceted oeuvre that takes the filmmaker’s precepts and upends them, opting for whimsical fantasy instead of the typical grounded austerity that permeates his work. Even at his most whimsical Ray remains a voice of political conscientiousness, using a realm of fantasy to address topical concerns such as social injustice and the caste systems that Ray would chip away at with his body of work. While Bengali cinema typically favors the capriciousness found in Diamonds with Ray’s own work acting as a counterpoint to the untouchable chivalric heroes and non sequitur musical numbers, Ray does a complete reversal and makes his somber solemnity the non sequitur element while his magical heroes follow the lead of a naturalistic protagonist.
Kingdom of Diamonds is a strange entry in Satyajit Ray's illustrious and multifaceted oeuvre that takes the filmmaker's precepts and upends them, opting for whimsical fantasy instead of the typical grounded austerity that permeates his work.
