Beautifully filmed drama about what a man is willing to do for success. The scenes of everyday life in Calcutta are fascinating and the performance of the lead actor is engaging. The ending peters out a little bit, though.

Left devastated by Ray's carefully crafted beauty and forlorn brilliance, like an elegy to virtue, the reality displayed is both remarkable and upsetting.

The way Ray masters the narrative here could easily put to shame all the western cinema elitists; it's a perfectly well crafted film, a wonderful story about the loss of traditions and honesty in the everchanging, fast-growing modern world. It's incredible how Ray's stories are always well rooted in the indian culture and society where they take place, and yet manage to be so universal. It has a comic tone despite being quite bleak, but it is a marevelous film full of colorful characters.

Another phenomenal film from Satyajit Ray. This is a really dark film for him, although one with a well-honed comic edge to it. There are some marvelous touches -- the way every cigarette seems to indicate another piece of Somnath's soul burning away, the glove compartment protecting its secrets, the candlelit dinner, the witty job interview montage, the shots of the imposing and decaying city. Great performances throughout.