Kanchenjungha, Satyajit Ray (India, 1962)

For the setting of his first film in color, Ray chose the scenic Himalayan hillside resort of Darjeeling, where the elite flee from the heat of Calcutta. Here, one family vacation turns into a family showdown, as a wealthy, Anglicized father tries to rule over his stifled wife, libertine son, unloved eldest daughter, and rebellious younger one. “Ray’s most creative and detailed look at contemporary India’s cross-cultures” (Albert Johnson), Kanchenjungha is one of the great director’s most Chekhovian works, a tale of manners and mores played out amid a landscape as dramatic as the conflicts on display.

—Jason Sanders

• Written by Ray. Photographed by Subrata Mitra. With Chhabi Biswas, Alakananda Roy, Anil Chatterjee, Karuna Banerjee. (102 mins, In Bengali with English titles, Color, From Academy Film Archive, permission Chhayabani Private Limited)