“Two” by Satyajit Ray: Don’t ruin other’s happiness if you cant create your’s own
I have always been fond of cinema because of the fact that how much it can communicate in a single screen and how layers of human emotions, experience and psychology can be coloured in just one canvas.
Two, a short film written & directed by SatyaJit Ray is one such movie, where even though those 12 minutes had no dialogues, it communicated more than most films are able to do in 3 hours.
The story encapsulates child psychology, relativity of happiness, the economic divide which exists in the society, the system of oppression and how bounties of money can’t assure happiness in life.
The film captures story of a rich spoilt brat and a poor kid who have a battle of toys amongst each other and how this battle brings out the economic, cultural and maturity divide that exists between the two class. The setting of the movie is quite cinematic in the sense that the rich kids window overlooks the slum and his window is stationed above the poor kid’s slum, eliciting “oonch neench” that exists in society.
The film has a lot of symbolism in it -like the moustache which the kid makes on his face to show the ego that arrives with the riches, or the kite that poor kid flies-a symbol of his freedom which the rich eventually shots down. In another scene, rich kid is shown to enjoy his drink-symbolism of rich savouring his ego and extremities in life. The poor kid of the slum was minding his own life until the rich tried to assert his bounties in front of him.
The most classical display of cinema was in the fact that all the toys of rich kid were mechanical while those of the poor one were more labour oriented. The rich was dependent on machines to ensure his display of power while the poor was dependent on himself and his own skills for that. Even though having some of the cheapest toys available, those couldn’t stop him from enjoying his life, while the rich, even though having the best of the toys available, never learnt to care them.
The story even though being mute has some of the most interesting and perhaps the greatest scenes which can emote thousand things in one shot and the best being the last one where all the power struggle leaves the rich kid in despair while the poor being happy in what he has.
One of the most beautiful message in the movie which is the major plot in the movie amongst several sub plot is that “If you cant find your own happiness, don’t try to ruin others” and this is essentially the basic fact for all the evils that are there in the world. People aren’t happy in their own lives and that’s why they try to ruin the life of others. How even though having everything can still make you the poorest in life by virtue of choices that you make to ensure your happiness.
All in all, it is movie which was made in 1964 but the sensibilities are way ahead of its time and relevant today and decades that will come !!
Typical Satyajit Ray!!
Link of the movie: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zACGLjd9JNY
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