Watches
August 04, 2022
I'm not a big Satyajit Ray fan, but so far I've been exclusively watching his older films. I was curious to see if his (more) recent ones could be closer to my personal taste, but alas. The Stranger is a rather bland and unattractive drama that goes on endlessly. Not a step up from his other work at all.
A middle-class family gets word that an unfamiliar uncle is planning to visit them. They have never met the man, but his invitation intrigues them and they don't dare to deny him, even when they're not certain he's an actual uncle. When he arrives, they do their best to find out his true identity.
The cinematography is an absolute eyesore, the performances are uninviting and while the premise sounds somewhat intriguing, the film gets completely stuck in it. The pacing is slow and with about 120 minutes on the clock, this became quite a challenge to finish. I think I'd rather go back to Ray's older films.