The Adversary (Pratidwandi) - (Mr Bongo Films) (1971) [DVD] [2007]

Set against the city of calcutta in turmoil during the naxalite unrests of the early 70s, an intense film of a young man opposing the circumstances he finds himself in, and trying to come to terms with them at the same time. Brilliant performances by all concerned, set against the backdrop of intense camerawork in black and white, and the old districts of Chowringhee in Calcutta, a memorable film. Ray's characters say so little, yet convey so much! One of Ray's best films, together with "Jana Aranya" (The Middleman)-another masterpeice about an individual's life in the city of Calcutta.

Wow, how anyone can give this film 5 star rating is beyond me.firstly, it appears to have been shot on a camera from the 1900's. It's badly dubbed (not in English), the cinematography is jerky, poor quality, as though the film has been dropped on a dusty floor.I tried to watch to the end, but 20 mins before it finished, i gave up. His 'hallucinations' are terrible, his face morphing into a different face in the mirror.. badly! If there was consequences at the end of the film, nothing could have been good enough to excuse the zero plot, awful cinematography, frustrating dubbing and wooden acting.

The inner struggles of a young adult in Calcutta, in the first years of the sixties, are depicted with great sensititivty an all encompassing empathy. His anguish, seeing his sister debase herself, his brother becoming prey to an illusory revolution, his mother's helplessness .. We are invited to feel all the seductions he is torn between, among which even the early 'hippy' hedonism. Is what he does in the end an avoidance, a courageous new start .. We are given much to think about, urged to reflect on our own doubts and decisions. Even its moments which don't feel true for me, like the dream sequences, seem to be Ray's facing his own frailties, and so add to its being a great work of art.The French transfer is much better than Mr. Bongo dvd offers, and so are the subtitles (which of course are in French). Let us hope that in the near future the Criterion Collection will restore the whole Calcutta trilogy!

Genius Ray beautifully explores how different characters react in situations of Adversary.This is one of my favourites of Ray's movies.A very typical Indian family setting and the three children grow up and choose different paths during times of Adversary.The ending too is beautiful.Every bit of the movie is factual, beautiful and powerful.An understanding of Indian culture is must to appreciate the movie.

Since Amazon sometimes duplicates reviews from one edition to another, please note that this review refers solely to the Mr Bongo edition: MRBVD05. Further, this review deals solely with the quality of that edition. I refer those seeking a review of the film in its own right to the existing five star reviews by others.This review exists simply to warn those who share my ignorance of Bengali that the English subtitling in this edition is so poor that, if my experience is anything to judge by, it can impair one's ability to remain absorbed in the film and to appreciate it fully.The subtitles are often almost illegible and, worse, much of the dialogue is not subtitled at all. One cannot usually expect every sentence to be subtitled but long exchanges are frequently ignored, presumably because they were deemed unimportant by the subtitler. The incompetence of the subtitling is sometimes striking. For example, at one point a short sentence that is spoken in English is rephrased, in the subtitles, no more succinctly than the original. I cannot think what, other than carelessness, could have led to this substitution.I therefore recommend avoiding the Mr Bongo edition of The Adversary if another is available. At the time of writing, unfortunately, there seems to be no such edition. This being the case, I could hardly suggest avoiding The Adversary but perhaps, if you know what to expect of the subtitles, your first viewing will be more satisfactory than mine.PS It's worth mentioning, for Bengali speakers, that the subtitles cannot be switched off.

Rays wonderful film The Adversary says it all for worldwide cinema for me. The film captures a poetic snapshot of a man's life in a bustling faraway place, whose journey is filled with emotion and conflict.Here we see a wide range of the deepest human emotions of which Rays films are so good at doing and invariably make us human. Anger, grief, happiness and loss are all faced and dealt with along life's many paths and against the grimy backdrop of deepest Calcutta.His portrayal of Sergio as a man finding himself as he grows up and moves on from his past is tragic and daunting. A terrifically dramatic tension is built up as we see the constant day to day struggle of one man growing up and moving on.