The Middleman (1976) [Re-UP]

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The Middleman opens with a shot of a disinterested proctor monitoring the History final examination at Calcutta University. A student hides a note inside a cigarette box and passes it to Somnath (Pradip Mekherjee), who chooses not to participate in the rampant cheating, and passes on the note to his childhood friend, Sukumar (Gautam Chakravarti). It is a foreshadowing of a career that Somnath will eventually undertake, but never seemed destined for. After receiving a mediocre grade on the history test (primarily because the professor could not read his small handwriting), Somnath's future is uncertain. He applies for every advertised job, only to be discouraged with the prospect of competing with 100,000 other applicants, or perplexed by absurd, unrelated interview questions. One day, he meets an old acquaintance named Bishu (Utpal Dutta), who encourages him to go into business for himself. Somnath wishes to discuss the prospect with his father (Satya Bandyopadhyay), but is greeted home instead with an arranged marriage proposal to the youngest daughter of a cement factory owner. Left with few alternatives, he calls on Bishu the following day to learn about the business of "order supplies", acting as an independent agent between the buyers and suppliers to sell any commodity from "pins to elephants".

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The Bengali word for the enterprise is "dalaal", and Somnath is apprehensive about its disreputable connotation of "pimp". Bishu reassures him by using the more palatable euphemism, "middleman". Soon, he begins to furnish businesses with office stationary and table lamps, and finds an opportunity to sell optical whiteners for a sizable commission. He calls on Mr. Goenka (Soven Lahiri), the chief officer of Kejriwal textile mills, who refuses to make a commitment on the sale. Desperate, Somnath calls on Mr. Mitter (Robi Ghosh), a "public relations specialist" who shadows prospective clients in order to determine their weaknesses. He reports to Somnath that Mr. Goenka is willing to offer him a contract in exchange for the services of a call girl. Somnath is unsettled by the proposition, and defers a decision until the appointed confirmation call from Mr. Goenka on the following afternoon. Returning home, he is greeted by his sweet, understanding sister-in-law, Kamala (Lily Chakravarty), who reassures him of her support, and is left alone to choose between financial gain and moral consequence.

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Satyajit Ray creates a clever, highly engaging satire on capitalism and moral integrity in The Middleman. Using incongruous imagery and lyrical narrative, Ray depicts the hypocrisy of economic prosperity and professional success. Somnath's daily trips to the employment offices invariably take him through city streets riddled with homeless people and beggars, under a graffiti sign that reads: "1971 is the year of victory". Mr. Shaha's (Santosh Dutta) description of a luxurious British colonial mansion is juxtaposed against a hypnotic, frenetic tour of a dilapidated building. Ironically, the potential sale of optical whiteners proves to be Somnath's darkest hour. Note the minimal, candle lit scene where a disillusioned Somnath alludes to his unpalatable task. The Middleman is a fascinating, contemporary parable on the corruption of the human soul, a poignant tale of an idealistic young man who stumbles into a corrupt world outside of his creation, and is swallowed into the chaos.

Strictly Film School

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What if, after much soul-searching, "The Graduate" had spurned Mrs. Robinson, ignored his raging hormones and, following the advice of a well-wisher, gone into plastics?

The time of "The Middleman" is the early '70s. Somnath Banerjee (Pradip Mukherjee) has just finished his year-end tests at college. He passed – an accomplishment shared by only 40 percent of his class – but without the honors he expected. The so-so grade was the result of Somnath's teacher's inability to read his small script.

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Here's a smart boy, a decent kid, an upright citizen who studies hard and respects his elders and . . . the system has done him in. Screenwriter-director Satyajit Ray wastes no time in putting us right in his corner. The film, opening today for a week at the Embarcadero Cinema, is part of the continuing Ray retrospective there.

The student's highbrow father, disappointed with his son's lackluster grades, reluctantly gives his approval for his youngest son to declare his studies over and try his hand at work.

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Somnath sets out to find a job, first responding to a stack of ads in the Calcutta newspaper. Ray uses a brilliant series of collage-like images to show him posting written responses, hurrying through downtown streets and submitting to a series of interviews, where he is subject to barrages of irrelevant questions – "What is the weight of the moon?" – posed by antagonistic and irrational employers.

Unsuccessful in his job hunt and eager to prove to his father that he has the stuff to make it in the world of business, Somnath decides, at the suggestion of an experienced friend, to start his own. His friend explains that as a middleman – a profession he hadn't even known existed before – he will buy all sorts of wares at low prices and then resell them to purchasing agents at factories and businesses.

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What he realizes in a short time (he must have heard it from Sam Rayburn) is that to get along you've got to go along. Somnath starts out pure and innocent but faces his greatest moral dilemma when he ventures forth into the middle of the throbbing Calcutta business district.

Throughout the crescendo that leads to the film's final crisis, when Somnath is forced to choose between success and ethics – between the morality taught to him at home and the greasy-palmed at mosphere of the marketplace – the film maker demonstrates empathy for his hero but at the same time never lets him off the hook.

The director's use of sound is remarkable. The dramatic crescendoes of the movie sneak in silently. From the very start, when Somnath is pictured taking his final exam, there's no background music; all you hear is the squeaking of pens on paper. The film's silences are more attention-getting and mesmerizing than the most demanding background music.

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"The Middleman" gets a bit bogged down in the middle but justifies itself with a gripping finish. The film maker's view of the corruption of business isn't out of line with the view expressed 15 years later in such cautionary pieces of propaganda as Michael Moore's "Roger and Me". Where Moore hits you over the head with his point, though, Ray's presentation is much more sophisticated and elegant.

His "Middleman" evokes an insidious amorality that he sees as an inevitable side effect of the huge pressures from within the family and outside to get ahead and make something of oneself.

San Francisco Chronicle

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