Match #2 of Auteur Tennis starts in the year 1955 and features directors from India and Poland. Satyajit Ray wanders onto the court, a bit unsure of the rules but eager to play. He pulls out Pather Panchali (Song of the Little Road), based on a novel by Bibhutibhushan Bandopadhyay.

Andrzej Wajda is escorted onto the court and told where to stand. His “ballboys” linger for a bit and then disappear. He reveals Pokolenie (A Generation), also based on a novel, this one by Bohdan Czeszko.

Wajda serves an extremely long shot, one of the finest, especially for a young director. It sets a realistic tone for the film as the shot pans across the grim living conditions of working-class Poles living under occupation. The main character, Stach, is a naive, young man who is nearly killed stealing coal from a passing Nazi supply train. He is trying to find work so he won’t be sent to labor in the fields. He finds work making stretchers for the Nazis and also discovers a gun hidden in the supply room. A brief montage, prior to the gun discovery, of Stach stumbling around while orders are barked took away from the initial mood established by the opening shot.

Ray opens with a realistic portrayal of rural Indian life early in the 20th century. A family struggling to make ends meet welcomes the addition of a new baby boy (Apu). The father, a priest and aspiring playwright, spends more time daydreaming than worrying about money, while the mother bottles her frustration, which is tested consistently by her richer and ruder nearby in-laws. The daughter Durga steals from their orchard to give fruit to her proud old aunt. Although Wajda’s opening shot was awe-inspiring, the first point goes to Ray for creating a richer experience of the lives of his characters.

Ray continues developing the relationship between Durga and her brother Apu while highlighting the alienation the family feels from their neighbors. This alienation is brought inside as the mother’s emotions erupt and she sends the old aunt away. The aunt is nearing death, but she hobbles to a different family member’s house, where she is told she can stay for only a few days. Durga, meanwhile, shows Apu the world outside their village. Even through their fighting, their bond becomes stronger as they create their own lives independent of the problems and issues inside their home and village. The aunt finds her own peace in the forest, where she is discovered by Durga and Apu.

Wajda returns by building up his own relationship story, that of Stach and a woman (Dorota) who leads the student resistance movement. Stach throws himself into the resistance and brings in his friends (including Roman Polanski) and a co-worker to form a cell. Their first action is shooting a Nazi officer, which builds their courage but also brings strife into the cell. They proceed with a plan to help refugees from the ghetto uprising and must steal a truck. The truck-stealing scene has a bit of Keystone Kops feeling to it, which lightens the mood a little before the coming chase and shoot-out sequence. The point goes to Wajda for varying the mood while heightening the action, although I could easily swing the other way with Ray’s excellent building of Durga and Apu’s relationship.

Ray brings out the storm for the finale. The monsoon arrives while the father is away looking for work. Durga, already suffering from ill health, and Apu run out in the chilly rain before heading home. As the storm intensifies, the mother tends to a feverish Durga while trying to keep the house together. The father had promised to get repairs made but has been gone longer than expected. The house barely survives the storm, and, unfortunately, Durga does not. Apu does not understand what has happened. One of the best scenes of the film is when the father returns and the wife does not speak to him. When she finally breaks down and he realizes what has happened, I wanted the movie to end there, but it continues with scenes of the family packing and moving.

Wajda finishes with his love story starting to bloom until Dorota is taken away by the Nazis. Stach barely misses being caught himself, having gone out to buy some bread and flowers to give to Dorota after their first night together. Instead, he witnesses her being taken away and is powerless to act. The bittersweet ending is softened a bit by the emergence of a new crop of young people ready to join the resistance under Stach’s leadership.

Both films use different worlds to show the story of a young man or boy who loses someone close and must find a way to continue with their struggle to survive. Although in Pather Panchali, Durga is the main character; however, she becomes just one important character in the life of Apu over the trilogy. In the case of Wajda’s war trilogy, Poland is the continuing focus as no central character carries through his trilogy.

One aspect adding to the difficulty of selecting a winner for this first set is the vast difference in the presentation of the films. A Generation has been restored by The Criterion Collection, while Pather Panchali lacks that quality. I love both of these films but give the point and set to Ray for an overall more compelling film. Some of the variations in A Generation’s style detract from its ability to completely engage the viewer in the events that unfold, although I much preferred its ending.

Next up: Set #2, Aparajito and Kanal