简介：AwealthyfamilyfromCalcuttaisonthelastdayoftheirvacationinDarjeeling,ahillstationatthefootofMountKanchenjungha,thesecondhighestpeakoftheHimalayas.Untilnow,theyhavebeenunabletocatchaglimpseofthepeakKanchenjungha.Thefamilymembersaredominatedbythefather,Indranath(ChhabiBiswas),anindustrialist.Hewantshisdaughtertomarryamanofhischoiceandhopesthatthemanwillproposeiftheyarelefttogetheraloneforsometime. Severallongwalksandlongconversationsformthemainbodyofthefilm.Thereal-timedramaunfoldsthedaughter'sfeelingsaboutherfather'sidea,andthenegativereactionstothisbyhermotherandothers. Byaccident,shemeetsanoutsider,Ashoke,ayoungstudentwhohasrefusedajobofferfromIndranath.Thoughnothingdevelopsbetweenthem,hispresencecoupledwiththesettingofmountainsandthefailureofhersister'smarriage,prompthertorejecttheproposedsuitor. Attheendofhiswalk,theindustrialistarrivesatarendezvouspoint,expectingtomeethisfamilyandthesuccessfulsuitor.Noneofthemispresenttogreethim.Asthemistclears,thepeakofKanchenjunghaisrevealedinitsfullglory.ButIndranathistoopre-occupiedtoadmireit. KanchenjunghawasRay'sfirstoriginalscreenplayandforthefirsttime,hewasshootingincolor.Thefilmshowsabout100minutes(inrealtime)inthelifeofagroupofrichBengalisonvacation.UnliketheusualRayfilms,ithasafragmentednarrativewithnocentralcharacters,andnostraightnarrativeintheclassicalsense. Itisaverystructuredandcomposedfilmthatusescolorandnaturetoheightenthedrama.RaytoldhisbiographerAndrewRobinson:"Theideawastohavethefilmstartingwithsunlight.Thencloudscoming,thenmistrising,andthenmistdisappearing,theclouddisappearing,andthenthesunshiningonthesnow-peaks.ThereisanindependentprogressiontoNatureitself,andthestoryreflectsthis." Astheweatherbecomesmisty-theyoungdaughterandthesuitorpartatthatpoint,IndranathmeetsAshoke,andtheelderdaughter,Aminaandherhusbandhaveabittermomentbetweenthem.Andthenwhenthesunappearsagain-Amina'sdaughtercomesbacktoherparentsandtheyaccepther,themisunderstandingisclearedup,andtheyoungerdaughterandAshokedevelopatentativerelationshipwithahintoffutureprospects. ThecharactersandtheNatureareinterrelatedinmood.InhislaterfilmAsaniSanket(DistantThunder,1973),Rayattemptedquitetheopposite.WhiletheNatureisshowninitsfullgloryandlushness,incontrast,thecharactersstarveanddoinhumanthings. Asthecharactersdonotchangetheclothesduringthefilm(itbeingdepictionofarealtimeeventthathappensin100oddminutes),thecolorsofclothestooaddadimensiontothecharacters. AboutKanchenjungha,RaytoldinaninterviewtoCineastemagazine,"(Itwas)averypersonalfilm.Itwasagoodtentofifteenyearsaheadofitstime...Kanchenjunghatoldthestoryofseveralgroupsofcharactersanditwentbackandforth....It'saverymusicalform,butitwasn'tliked.Thereactionwasstupid.Eventhereviewswerenotinteresting.But,lookingbacknow,Ifindthatitisaveryinterestingfilm."…