The Kingdom of Diamonds (Hirok Rajar Deshe)
Satyajit Ray's inventive, colorful “children's films” (intended by Ray to be appreciated equally by adults) have an enormous audience in India, though they are among the lesser known of his films in the West. A sequel to The Adventures of Goopy and Bagha (see Saturday, October 24), The Kingdom of Diamonds is both more aesthetically ambitious and politically directed than its predecessor. Our heroes, two simple men who, in The Adventures of Goopy and Bagha, married by magical means into maharajahs' families, here quit pampered but uneventful lives to head for the land of Hirok. This diamond-rich realm is ruled by a tyrant king who force-feeds his flock on rhymed couplets, turning dissension into loyalty, and who has shut down the state's only school, run by the opposition idealist-thinker Udayan. Goopy and Bagha, fueled by their magic music, and aided by the peasants, mine workers, and pupils, set about dethroning the despot (and, as an added bonus, making him see the error of his ways).
“Ray's talents in design, music, and verse are pre-eminent in the film.... (He) shot extensively on location...(and) there is a rich contrast between the grandeur and variety of the Indian landscape and the claustrophobic interiors of the evil king's palace.” --“Film India '80/'81.”
“Written in rhymed couplets, it has a Gilbertian atmosphere.... Visually superb, with instantly remembered music combining Western influences - including Mozart - with traditional Raga, it is Ray in an ebullient mood....” --John Warrington, London Film Festival 1980. (JB)