Product description

A Passage To India [1984]

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Average customer rating: 4.5

Binding : DVD
EAN : 5050070009613
Label : MGM Entertainment
Manufacturer : MGM Entertainment
Publisher : MGM Entertainment
Release date : 2003-03-31
Title : A Passage To India [1984]
Actor : Array
Audience rating : Parental Guidance
Format : Array
Languages : Array
Number of items : 1
Original release date : 1984-01-01
Region code : 2
Running time : 157
Studio : MGM Entertainment
Theatrical releaseDate : 1985-01-25
Number of discs : 1

Editorial reviews

Amazon.co.uk Review
A Passage to India, David Lean's adaptation of EM Forster's mysterious tale of racism in colonial India, turned out to be the master director's final film. Subtle and grand at the same time, Lean's adaptation is faithful to the book, rendering its blend of the mystical and the all-too human with exquisite precision. Judy Davis plays a young British woman travelling in India with her fiancé's mother. While visiting a tourist attraction, she has a frightening moment in a cave--one that she eventually spins from an instant of mental meltdown into a tale of a physical attack that ruins several lives. Lean captures Forster's sense of awe at the kind of ageless wisdom and inexplicable phenomena to be encountered in India, as well as the British tendency to dismiss it all as savage, rather than simply different. --Marshall Fine

Customer reviews

review by: clarelbuchan2002 date: 2008-05-31 rating:

Disappointed
I heard quite a bit about the book, so started reading it. Never really got into it so decided to rent the film out (as you do)...although i have to say, i really was disappointed.

I thought the story was mediocre, the start and middle was quite good, it was like a big build up to something. Something like an unexpected twist; although i waited and waited..then it was over.

I was left thinking, is that it??

review by: date: 2005-11-24 rating:

What is not seen is as important as what is seen.
I've enjoyed this film from the first time I saw it. But as important as it is to note the culture-clash evident in the film (and likely in Forster's novel), it's important to note the absence of another culture-clash. In modern-day India, there is a lot of angst between the Hindu, Muslim, and Sikh religious populations ... angst that was likely subdued during the Raj period of British colonial domination. And, if David Lean's production was an accurate portrayal of Forster's novel, it's interesting to note that this inter-sect rivalry never came up ... as if to signify a unity among the Indian people against a common colonial adversary from which they'd eventually liberate themselves.

I enjoy the film so much that I'm giving it to myself as a Christmas present this year. But, since I have a region-free DVD player that converts PAL to NTSC on the fly, I'm buying it from Amazon.co.uk - because, even with shipping, it's over $10 (US) cheaper than the same DVD sold by Amazon.com. Go figure.

review by: date: 2005-04-09 rating:

Weird, but compelling
A one-sided view of the British Raj at its worst, exploring the ralationships between the Indians and the British. It's emotionall and highly charged in a slightly strange and obsessive, but typically Forster way.

review by: date: 2004-11-12 rating:

"India forces one to come face to face with oneself."
In David Lean's last film, his adaptation of the 1924 novel by E. M. Forster, he abandons Forster's strong moral and political stand on the damaging effects of colonialism in India, in favor of a wider ranging, panoramic love story. Although the novel centers on the friendship between the charming and sociable Dr. Aziz (Victor Banerjee) and Briton Richard Fielding (James Fox), one of the few British functionaries who appreciates the Indians as people, Lean focuses instead on Adela Quested's search for adventure, and maybe, love.

Adela (Judy Davis) has come to Chandrapore with Mrs. Moore (Dame Peggy Ashcroft), the mother of her soon-to-be fiancé, Ronny Heaslop (Nigel Havers), the City Magistrate. When Mrs. Moore and Adela accept an invitation to visit the Marabar Caves, Adela, suffers a breakdown of sorts, and leads people to believe that Aziz has made advances. The trial of Aziz exacerbates the deteriorating relations with the local population and initiates a crisis.

Though the film is lushly photographed in many exotic locations, Lean's changes to the novel's plot and themes leave the film without an emotional center. Adela (Davis) is too hysterical and repressed to generate much sympathy, and her desire for adventure stems more from boredom and naivete than from wanting to know the country or its local population. Mrs. Moore (Ashcroft), is a sweet, kind woman, but she is not strong enough to stand up to her son or the British officials who dominate the culture, and when she leaves India, the moral focus of the film vanishes. Aziz, enthusiastically played by Banerjee, makes a major personality change almost overnight, thereby removing himself as the most sympathetic character in the film. Fielding, representing the "nice" British functionary, plays only a peripheral role in the film, and Sir Alec Guiness, in the role of Godbole, an Indian mystic, is a caricature.

More than an hour elapses before the main action begins in this 163-minute film, and there is not enough character development to illustrate Forster's strong political stand. Nominated for eleven Academy Awards, including Best Actress (Davis), Cinematography (Ernest Day), Direction (Lean), and Best Picture, this pretty film secured only two Oscars--Best Supporting Actress for Dame Peggy Ashcroft, as Mrs. Moore, and Best Original Score by Maurice Jarre. Mary Whipple

review by: date: 2003-02-22 rating:
WHEN EAST AND WEST COLLIDE...
This is a magnificent and exquisitely wrought film, well nuanced and faithful in its adaptation of E.M. Forster's classic novel of the same name. Director David Lean, who had previously directed such cinematic triumphs as "Bridge on the River Kwai" and "Lawrence of Arabia", outdid himself with this film, which was nominated for eleven Academy Awards and for which Peggy Ashcroft won an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress, as did Maurice Jarre for Best Score.

Set in 1928 colonial India, it is a story about racism and love. A headstrong and adventurous Englishwoman, Adela Quested (Judy Davis) travels to India to meet her fiance. She is accompanied on her journey by her fiance's elderly mother, Mrs. Moore (Peggy Ashcroft), a lovely and kindly woman who, upon reaching India, is appalled at the treatment of the native Indian populace by her own countrymen. She eventually makes the acquaintance of a very nice Indian man, Dr. Aziz (Victor Banerjee), who is surprised at being treated as a sentient human being by this Englishwoman. During a social occasion, in which the usual class boundaries were set aside, he again meets the delightful Mrs. Moore and is introduced to Adela Quested. Enthused by being treated as an equal, he gets carried away and invites them to be his guests on an excursion he can ill afford to a well known, but remote tourist spot, the Marabar caves.

It is a hot day and a long journey to these mysterious caves, and Dr. Aziz and Ms. Quested are thrown together more than they ordinarily would have been, setting the stage for a fateful and strange turn of events, one that would have great personal, as well as political, impact on the parties concerned. It is a collision of East and West and makes for a definitive statement about the nature of the relationship between the native Indian population and the British colonialists. It is a relationship that makes itself most manifest during the telling courtroom scenes, making it a film to be remembered.

This is a very well acted and compelling film, a sterling tribute to David Lean's directorial talents. In this, his last cinematic triumph, Lean leaves a legacy to be remembered, having exacted wonderful performances from the star studded cast, including James Fox, Alec Guinness, and Nigel Havers. Victor Banerjee is especially compelling as the put upon, well meaning Dr. Aziz, while Peggy Ashcroft gives a sensitive and well nuanced performance as the humane and soft hearted Mrs. Moore. Judy Davis is excellent as the conflicted Ms. Quested.

The DVD itself is first rate, offering crystal clear visuals that do justice to the breathtaking cinematography. Coupled with crisp sound, this DVD ensures one's viewing pleasure. It is one well worth having in one's collection.

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