Apu Trilogy/Dvd, Criterion Collection, DVD

Two decades after it's original negatives were burned in a fire, Satyajit Ray's breathtaking milestone of world cinema rises from the ashes in a meticulously reconstructed new restoration. The Apu Trilogy brought India into the golden age of international art-house film, following one indelible character, a free-spirited child in rural Bengal who matures into an adolescent urban student and finally a sensitive man of the world. These delicate masterworks-Pather Panchali (Song of the Little Road), Aparajito (The Unvanquished), and Apur Sansar (The World of Apu)-based on two books by Bibhutibhusan Banerjee, were shot over the course of five years, and each stands on it's own as a tender, visually radiant journey. They are among the most achingly beautiful, richly humane movies ever made-essential works for any film lover.