Introductions by Richard Peña on November 1 & 3

Used to traditional country life, taxi driver Bimal (Kali Banerjee) struggles to fit into the mechanics of the modern, industrialized world. To do this, he has the help of his “special friend” Jagaddal, who tends to Bimal’s emotional as well as economic needs. Jagaddal is an ancient, battered Chevrolet, creaking along the backroads of Bengal, caught in an increasingly cantankerous relationship with his driver. The title—which literally translates to “The Unmechanical”—here refers to the belief that humans are separate, even superior, to the world around them. Ghatak fashions a tender, if at times chilling, story about a displaced soul, filling The Pathetic Fallacy with both historical and religious imagery.