“You have to have all kinds of experiences in life. Otherwise, how can you write about them?”
Director: Satyajit Ray
Length: 70 mins
Genre: Drama | Romance
Language: Hindi | Bengali
Review contains minor spoilers.
The Blurb
When the vehicle of Amitabha Roy, a scriptwriter from Calcutta, breaks down in a small town, he is offered a place to stay by the rich tea planter named Bimal Gupta. With no where else to go, Roy agrees. Upon arriving at Mr. Gupta’s bungalow, he meets his ex-lover Karuna, who is now Mrs. Gupta.
Thoughts
Having regrets, whether big or small, is something we’ve all experienced in life. And throughout this film of The Coward, we are confronted with the main character’s regret of letting go of his past lover.
I enjoyed the simple and straightforward plot of the film, but I was mainly drawn to the personalities of the characters of Mr. Gupta, a talkative, friendly man, and an alcoholic as well, seems to be more than just a jolly person; Mrs. Gupta, a rather cold, rigid woman, who is dependent on her sleeping pills; and our main character, the writer Mr. Roy, grief-ridden and regretful, is overcome with both painful and beautiful memories of his time with Karuna.
Karuna has to be one of the most interesting female characters I have seen in film so far. I lover how her character was portrayed with her smirk and questioning eyes that seems to pull you in, and you never know what her next move would be and what exactly goes on in her mind. She seems to have a lot of strong emotions bubbling under the surface, and she’s great at hiding it. It makes me wonder what else went on in the succeeding years after Roy to change her then emotional self. Karuna definitely knows how to play with emotions, as seen in that spectacular ending scene at the train station.
There is a lot of curiosity embedded in the film: Is Karuna truly happy in her current marriage? How different would things have been if Roy didn’t let go of Karuna in the past? And despite the painful happenings, no one is to blame. Roy made his decision then, and Karuna, albeit a bit playful and cruel, decided for herself in the end. Honestly, I did not know whether to feel sad for Roy or marvel at the conviction of Karuna’s chocie. This film made me think of the famous line, “Hell hath no fury like a woman scorned.”
Mae the Dreamer 