It would be a bit of a stretch to call this a comedy - the context surrounding this film would be the social and political turmoil of Calcutta in the late 60s and early 70s. But there are a few moments of great gallows humor here, which adds to the sense of sharp realism - the job interview scene immediately springs to mind. More sprawling than most of the Satyajit Ray I've seen, MIDDLEMAN (JANA ARANYA) is nonetheless a remarkable film, further developing the sense of rambling, rhythmic slice-of-life feel (with many quiet moments of great moral insight hidden within) explored in his earlier KANCHENJUNGHA and the 1970 masterpiece DAYS AND NIGHTS IN THE FOREST. Here, Ray's Calcutta recalls Scorsese's rather similar treatment of New York in TAXI DRIVER - location becomes character, and a vast city acquires a symbolic and mythic significance; the two films (made within a few years of each other, and conceived at roughly the same time) could almost be seen as distant mid-70s companions, linked by somewhat similar social and political concerns.
It is a great shame that more of Ray's work isn't available in the US - a body of work equivalent to that of Kurosawa, Ozu, Fellini or Bergman in its' breadth and depth is largely going unseen and sliding into obscurity in the West, due to (presumably) tangled business reasons. One would hope that someone can resolve this unfortunate state of affairs in the near future.
