Scene after scene, image after image of breathtaking beauty, mystery and poetry. The unfolding play of light, surfaces, textures, sounds, memories, impressions, ideas and emotions is extraordinary even by Tarkovsky's standards.

Satyajit Ray's "Pather Panchali" was a revelation. A comionate portrait of the lives of an impoverished amily in a Bengali village, informed by a fundamentally humanist vision. The poor but educated writer, scholar and dreamer Hori and his wife Sarbajaya bring up their daughter Durga and newly-arrived son Apu in straitened circumstances. The daily struggle, humiliations and anxiety of poverty are experienced most intensely by Sarbajaya - yet through the eyes of Apu we also experience wonder, excitement and the…