In Devi, a young girl is believed by her rich father–in–law to be an incarnation of the goddess Kali. She is placed on an altar outside his home, and because of a "miracle," the peasants and the girl come to believe in her divinity. Pauline Kael crusaded for Devi at the time of its release, noting: "Surrounded by so much luxury, what is there for the girl to do but try to please?....Ray creates an atmosphere that intoxicates us as well; the household is so rich and the rich people so overripe....And perhaps because of the camera work, which seems to derive from some of the best traditions of the silent screen and the thirties, perhaps because of the Indian faces themselves, the eyes have depths-and a disturbing look of helplessness-that we are unused to. It's almost as if these people were isolated from us and each other by their eyes."