Christopher Nolan Praises Satyajit Ray After Discovering ‘Pather Panchali’

Academy Award-winning Hollywood director Christopher Nolan has once again expressed his deep admiration for South Asian cinema, singing the praises of legendary Bengali auteur Satyajit Ray. During a recent visit to the renowned Criterion Closet in New York, the celebrated filmmaker selected Ray’s iconic Apu Trilogy for his personal collection, singling out the landmark masterpiece Pather Panchali for high praise and describing the cinematic experience as utterly mind-blowing.

The Criterion Closet is a famous cultural space maintained by the Criterion Collection, housing a vast repository of over a thousand globally acclaimed classic and contemporary films. Renowned directors, actors, and artists frequently visit the vault to browse the collection, selecting titles that have significantly shaped their artistic perspective or influenced their cinematic vision.

In a video recently released on the Criterion Collection’s official X (formerly Twitter) account, Nolan is seen browsing the shelves before pulling out the boxed set of The Apu Trilogy. Reflecting on the monumental work, Nolan remarked:

“This is Satyajit Ray’s Apu Trilogy, made by one of the greatest filmmakers India has ever produced. It begins with Pather Panchali, which is an absolutely extraordinary film. It completely blew my mind. I haven’t actually watched the second and third installments of the trilogy yet, so I am incredibly excited to take these home and finish the story.”

Released in 1955, Pather Panchali (Song of the Little Road) marks the directorial debut of Satyajit Ray and stands as the opening chapter of The Apu Trilogy. Adapted from Bibhutibhushan Bandyopadhyay’s seminal novel of the same name, the Bengali-language classic poignant depicts the triumphs and tribulations of a impoverished family in rural Bengal through the innocent eyes of young Apu. Celebrated internationally for its humanist storytelling, sublime score by Pandit Ravi Shankar, and stark lyrical realism, the film earned the Best Human Document award at the Cannes Film Festival and remains widely regarded as one of the greatest motion pictures ever made. The subsequent installments of the trilogy—Aparajito (The Unvanquished), released in 1956, and Apur Sansar (The World of Apu), released in 1959—follow Apu’s journey through adolescence to adulthood.

Nolan’s connection with the Indian subcontinent is well established. The British-American director has previously visited India on multiple occasions, including shooting key sequences for The Dark Knight Rises in Rajasthan and filming Tenet in Mumbai, alongside championing the preservation of traditional film print mediums within the Indian film industry.