A journey down the Ganges in the company of a unique Charonte: the boatman Gopal, who knows every bend in the river. As we chug along, the waves gently lapping, the rituals of an archaic culture, going back thousands of years and foreign to us, are revealed. Death in this culture is the most obvious sign of an all-embracing love of life. In his debut film, Gianfranco Rosi shows he can combine his gifts as a perceptive observer with his talent in crafting and shaping stories, making new inroads into documentary filmmaking that erase ethnic, anthropological, and geographical distances.
DIRECTOR: Gianfranco Rosi
NATION: Italy, USA
YEAR: 1993
RUNTIME: 55′
CAST: Gopal Maji, Karampal Singh, Shamlal Maji, Neville Hogg, Gajand Sir, Sushama Pal
Original version with subtitles