The Middleman director by Satyajit Ray

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This 1975 Satyajit Ray film may be only for diehard fans. While Ray may have had a social or political agenda in some of his other films, he was clever enough to keep it hidden. Here, it sticks out and the film suffers from the "preachy" attitude of the script, especially during the first half. If you can stick with it through to the end, you'll find a flawed but ultimately compelling portrait of corruption in a big city.

Somnath Bannerjee (Pradip Mukherjee), a member of the elite Brahmin caste, fails his history exam because the man hired to grade them can't read his small handwriting. Somnath searches for a job for over a year. When he finally does get an interview, the big question is "What is the weight of the moon?" He tries to argue that this has nothing to do the job, but is dismissed. He ends up as a "middleman" buying paper products and reselling them at higher prices. His father is deeply dismayed because family members traditionally don't engage in sales. One by one, Somnath is taught the harsh lessons of doing business in a setting where nothing matters but closing the deal. Ultimately, he stoops to blackmail, with the sister of his best friend as bait.

Based on the novel Jana Aranya by Mani Shankar Mukherjee, Ray wrote the screenplay and the music as well as directing the feature.

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