Described by Pauline Kael as “a major film by a major artist,” Days and Nights in the Forest follows four friends from Kolkata who take off for a weekend in the countryside. The all-male group’s plans for a relaxing rustic vacation are sidelined by the appearance of two young women staying nearby. With its panorama of characters, its romantic entanglements and its trenchant view of class, Days and Nights in the Forest is reminiscent of Renoir’s The Rules of the Game, and Ray’s film is strong enough to stand the comparison. Tagore stands out in an ensemble cast because she is the wisest of the characters: she seems to comprehend all four of the male visitors at a single glance, and her sympathetic bemusement is a statement of Ray’s all-encompassing humanism. – DP