About

I think the cinema is the only medium that challenges you to be naturalistic, be realistic and yet be artistic at the same time. Because in the cutting is the creation, you see.

A sequel to Song of the Little Road, The Unvanquished continues Apu's story as a child in the sacred Hindu city of Benares (now Varanasi) as he moves to a small village with his mother Sarbajaya. Apu is a bright student and after earning a scholarship from his village school travels to university in Kolkata, much to the heartache of his mother who would rather have him close to her working in his father's profession as a holy man. The Unvanquished centres on the changing relationship between mother and son and as Sarbajaya prepares her child for the world she mourns the loss of their intimacy.

Apu's trajectory into adolescence and his cultural, emotional and intellectual growth is subtly crafted by Ray as a reflection of India's modernisation and its embrace of new models of family, relationships and culture. The portrayal of the mother-son relationship as anything other than reciprocal devotion was considered controversial in India and the film was more successful overseas than domestically. The Unvanquished won widespread acclaim including Venice Film Festival's highest prize, the Golden Lion in 1957.