Devi ("Goddess") is a 1960 film from India directed by Satyajit Ray.
Umaprasad and Doyamoyee are a young husband and wife (Doya is only 17) who live in the mansion of Uma's wealthy father Kalikinkar, along with Kalikinkar's other son Taraprasad, Taraprasad's wife Harasundari, and their little son Khoka. Kalikinkar is very much a traditional Indian, a devout worshipper of the goddess Kali, while Uma is a more modernized young man who is studying English.
One night Kalikinkar has a dream, in which Doya's face morphs into that of the goddess Kali. He decides that this means Doya actually is Kali, a reincarnation of the goddess. Without bothering to ask her, Kalikinkar turns his daughter-in-law into a holy woman, with trains of pilgrims coming in to visit "Kali" and ask her to heal their illnesses. Eventually, tragedy strikes.
Tropes:
- Barefoot Poverty: Nibaran, the grandfather who desperately carries his grandson to be healed by Doya, is shown carrying the boy cross-country, in bare feet.
- Belief Makes You Stupid: Pretty much the Central Theme. Almost everyone is quick to believe that Doya, a 17-year-old girl, is actually a goddess. Even the doctor that Hara calls to tend to her son suggests that she try the "goddess" first. It's made explicit at the end when Uma screams at his father, saying "Your blind faith is responsible for his death!"
- Cock-a-Doodle Dawn: A rooster can be heard crowing one morning, emphasizing that while Kalikinkar's mansion is lavish, it is in the remote country.
- Death of a Child: Poor little Khoka dies of a fever, because his idiot grandfather gives him to Doya to heal, rather than taking him to a doctor.
- Downer Ending: Khoka dies of a fever because of his grandfather's idiocy. Doya is left broken in spirit.
- Dream Sequence: Kalikinkar has a dream in which his daughter in law turns into Kali.
- Flashback: Doya is alone in her room where she's been basically imprisoned. There's a flashback to moments of quiet domestic happiness with her and Uma (she helps him getting dressed), followed by her weeping.
- Gratuitous English: English is associated with the more Westernized characters.
- Uma's friend says that he's engaged to a woman his family doesn't approve of, then says in English that he faces "total disinheritance."
- Uma is telling a teacher of his about the whole situation when he cries out in English, "She's only 17!" The teacher tells about how he changed religions, to the outrage of his parents, then lurches into English as well when he says "I want to fight!"
- Kubrick Stare: Kalikinkar's dream of Doya opens with her shooting an unsettling Kubrick stare right at the camera, in close-up.
- Off-into-the-Distance Ending: The film ends with Doya, in despair after she was unable to save Khoka, running off into the fog.
- Taking the Veil: An Indian spin on this trope, as Kalikinkar turns Doya into a holy woman, an object of veneration, without even asking her and while her husband is out of town. When Uma finds out about this he decides to bust his wife out.
- Title Drop: The first scene has a crowd constructing an idol of Durga Devi and hailing it.
- Voiceover Letter: As Hara is sending her letter to Uma her voiceover reveals that she's saying "Come at once," because she wants Uma to put a stop to Doya's deification.
