In this golden age of home viewing, the Criterion Collection still provides some of the best editions of the best movies ever released, usually with a rich selection of extras and often including audio commentaries (a feature they pioneered, and perhaps the greatest gift ever to film students and cinephiles alike). This column features one Criterion release per week, based on where my interests lead me and what’s available from the public library.
Henrik Ibsen wrote An Enemy of the People in 1882, partly in response to the backlash from a previous play, Ghosts (1881), which not only dared to mention venereal disease but showed it infecting a respectable family (like bacteria ever discriminated on the basis of class). The connection is clear, given that the plot of An Enemy of the People involves a physician who persists in speaking out regarding contamination of the local baths, placing public health above the desire to keep the money flowing.
Ibsen’s play has been adapted many times, perhaps most famously in Peter Benchley’s 1974 novel and Steven Spielberg’s 1975 film Jaws, in which a resort town’s livelihood is threatened by a rogue great white shark. Satyajit Ray’s version of Ibsen’s play (Bengali title Ganashatru) sticks pretty closely to the original, setting the story in a small Bengali town where the tourists who come to visit a local temple provide an important source of income, and water plays an important role in the experiences pilgrims seek at the temple.
Conscientious physician Ashok Gupta (Sumitra Chatterjee, who appeared in many Ray films) notices an increase in cases of jaundice (a symptom of hepatitis, which can be transmitted through impure water) among his patients. Being trained in the scientific method, he sends a sample of the town’s water for analysis, and the results indicate that his suspicions were correct: the water is contaminated. With the best of intentions he tries to publish this information in the local newspaper, suggesting that the temple be closed until the water can be treated. A priest at the temple is offended by the implication (he claims the water dispensed at the temple is purified by being mixed with water from the Ganges) and the town mayor Nishith (Dhritiman Chatterjee), Gupta’s brother, also opposes shutting the temple down because it will mean a loss of income for a lot of people. The phrase “no good deed goes unpunished” comes to mind as events play out, although “he who laughs last, laughs best” is also relevant.
Apart from the interest of seeing Ibsen’s play adapted for a context far from its origins, Ray’s An Enemy of the People provides an interesting view of Bengali society in the 1980s. The costume design by Bablu Das and Ratan Lai has the characters dress in a mix of Western (so many leisure suits!) and traditional Indian clothing, with some characters doing a code switch based on where they are and what impression they want to make. The furniture and furnishing (production design by Ashoke Bose) is also a mix of East and West, and these contrasts are echoed in the story’s intellectual content, which distinguishes among the scientific (and to some views Westernized) view of Dr. Gupta, the faith of the people who visit the temple (shown briefly and not in speaking roles), and the money-grubbing of those who want to suppress information of a serious health risk (although of course that’s not what they claim to be doing).
An Enemy of the People was shot entirely in the studio, which has the effect of making it appear like a television production or a filmed play. The reason had to due with Ray’s health: The circumstances under which this film was made are relevant to its form: after suffering a heart attack in 1983 he had to curtain his activity levels over his final years. The result is not bad: the lack of a more cinematic treatment puts the focus on Ibsen’s play as a play, and on the ability of the actors to embody their characters within a relatively simple production. Plus I’m on record as enjoying filmed plays (including movies that stick close to their source material even if they do open it up a bit), and this one is certainly a worthwhile viewing experience. | Sarah Boslaugh
Spine #: Eclipse Series 40
Technical details: 99 min.; color; screen ratio 1.33:1; Bengali.
Edition reviewed: single DVD from Eclipse Series 40
Extras: none (the Eclipse series presents forgotten or overshadowed films in simple and affordable editions)
Fun Fact: Ibsen’s original play included a pro-eugenics speech by the central, heroic character Dr. Stockmann which is usually omitted in performances today. The omission is probably for the best, but the fact that it ever existed is a useful reminder that eugenics was once a mainstream, modern idea promoted in many countries (including the United States).
Parting Thought: Will anyone have the guts to put on a major revival of this play during the next four years, and will it include a director of public health who opposes many of the measures that have improved public health over the last hundred years or so? Like vaccines, which saved over 154 million lives in the past 50 years.
