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Summary: Picnics and Panic
Review: "A Passage to India" is based on E.M. Forester's novel and seems to be more about class struggle than romance. The only real romance present here is the very formal courtship between Adela Quested (Judy Davis) and her fiancé, the city magistrate of Chandrapore. She would have been better off staying at home and not causing a such mayhem. At least in my mind, she is terribly immature and not at all ready to enter into an adult relationship of any kind. Adela Quested has traveled to India with Mrs. Moore (Peggy Ashcroft). Both women befriend Dr. Aziz (Victor Banerjee) and he invites them on a picnic excursion to the Marabar caves. Adela suffers from some sort of panic attack and accuses Dr. Aziz of rape. It is all so ridiculous in so many ways. Adela is afraid of her own feelings and instead of acting on them, she panics and flees. What happens next is a court trial in which Dr. Aziz attempts to prove his innocence. The outcome them becomes a mystery to the viewer and the movie holds your attention until the end. While this is not quite a romance, you do get to view Indian temples, trains, caves and beautiful settings. While this film is beautifully made, the ending is not as fulfilling as one would hope. If you are a hopeless romantic, you might wish for an alternate ending. If you are interested in the treatment of Indians by the British ruling and occupying Chandrapore, then this will give you some insight into the class struggle in 1928.
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Summary: STIRRING LAST FILM BY DIRECTOR DAVID LEAN
Review: "A Passage to India" is based on the E.M. Forrester novel and it follows the exploits of two British women, one - Mrs. Moore, a rich dowager, the other, Ms. Quested, her soon-to-be daughter-in-law. However, when a young East Indian doctor suggests a picnic and tour of some mysterious caves, a string of events take place that threaten the social justice and stability of relations between the British colonialists and the Indians. Director David Lean illustrates for us once more why he's the master of such epic styled movies. Stars Sir Alec Guiness, James Fox and Dame Peggy Ashcroft - who won the Oscar for her performance.
Columbia Tristar has given us a very handsome looking print of this sweeping story. Colors are rich and strong. Blacks are black. Contrast levels and shadows are well represented. There is some extremely minor aliasing and fine detail shimmering that occasionally happens but does not distract from the visual presentation. Pixelization crops up now and then but again, does not distract. Sonically - the audio is 2.0 surround and nicely represented, though in several spots it does suggest a very forward sounding characteristic that seems unnatural. No extras but hey, this is a very suitable and attractive effort in remastering from Columbia. One only wishes such attention had been paid to Lean's other masterpiece - "Lawrence of Arabia" (see my review).
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Summary: In defence of A Passage to India
Review: "A Passage to India" is brilliantly acted, shot and conceived, but I would like to speak in defence of this amazing film. I feel it is absurd to claim that the film, "A Pasage to India" is in itself racist. The story upon which the film is based forces one to question what was really going on in India during those times. That's the point, racism forces one to take sides, sometimes when we know we're standing on the wrong side of the fence. The movie brings racism out into the light but does not participate actively, it only observes and allows the audience to decide which side to take. If you feel uncomfortable or angry while viewing this movie, congratulations, you may be onto something. Any movie about assimilation & racism will have it's detractors, that only proves the film has taken a stand. Any film that pleases all sides is catering to it's own box-office requirements. The films "Gandhi", "Shindler's List" & "Gone With The Wind" were all criticized and were all brilliantly biased..... I wouldn't have them any other way. I think everyone needs to look a little deeper into themselves while viewing "A Passage to India". Either that or stick to Hilary Duff movies.
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Summary: David Lean's Beautiful Swan Song
Review: "Passage to India" was one of the greatest films produced in the Reagan era. It also happens to be the final film of one of cinema's most honered craftsmen, Sir David Lean, who is considered by many to be the greatest British director of all-time. This film may not be on the level of his other 70mm epics such as "Bridge on the River Kwai" and "Lawrence of Arabia" in terms of sweeping scope, but it more than holds its own. Produced in an era where apartheid in South Africa was the hot political issue, this film deals realistically with the occupation of the english in India. Not so much the political occupation, but how the two culture relate to each other through the eyes of the films two lead characters beautifully played by Judy Davis and Victor Banerjee. A film which does not give you the answers, but encourages you to draw your own conclusion in regards to the charcters (espeically Davis' Adela Quested) motivations. Now how does the DVD look? The transfer is beautiful, the best I've ever seen this film presented since it opened back in Dec, 1984. There are no distracting compression artifacts or nasty layer switches. The dolby stereo surround track is clear and ambient with no drop-outs, so a 5.1 upgrade would've been unnecessary for this film. If you enjoy striking visuals and English literature brought to vivid life through film, Passage is a must-have. My highest recommendation.
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Summary: Despite the Passage of 20 years, this film still galvanizes
Review: A PASSAGE TO INDIA was made in 1984 and was hailed as David Lean's final epic and also criticized for its stance on colonialism. Now, twenty years later, people are still viewing this film and writing about it with such polarized stances that it seems to prove at least one point: agree or disagree with the story, this film has become iconic.
Based rather faithfully on EM Forster's novel, A PASSAGE TO INDIA examines the dichotomous roles of British colonialization of India and the force of impact of the longstanding occupation on not only the Indian population, but also on the British colonists who loved India and were dismayed by the conflict of political struggle. Forster, as usual, approaches the Macro with the Micro: the underlying disparity between the British and the Indians is brought into focus by the examination of relationships between 'opposing' sides. It is finally in a courtroom that the story gels and the results of history alter.
The cast is strong with especially notable characters created by Judy Davis, Dame Peggy Ashcroft, James Fox, Michael Culver, and Victor Banjeree. One will never understand why Lean cast Sir Alec Guinness as the Indian Godbole when there are so many fine Indian actors who could have made the role significant. For all of Guinness' talent he simply looks foolish in his makeup and demeanor.
Maurice Jarre contributes a fine musical score and the richness of color photography is in line with Lean's other epics. The film is long, yes, and there are times when those unfamiliar with Forster's novel would fault as cumbersome. But the very fact that this film continues to spark debate about the British/Indian duplicity is, to this reviewer, an indication of how fine and important - and durable! - this film truly is. Grady Harp, January 2005
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Summary: CLASH OF CULTURES IN PRE-WAR INDIA
Review: A young Englishwoman travels to India with her future mother-in-law to be with her fiance - and she becomes the focus of a terrible misunderstanding which throws an entire province into turmoil. Based on the novel by E.M. Forster, David Lean's adaptation brings the book to life. This is a marvelous study of the differences between western and eastern cultures and vividly portrays the final days of the British Empire in India. There are great performances by Judy Davis, James Fox and Dame Peggy Ashcroft - and especially the actor who portrayed Dr. Aziz. The cinematography is breathtaking and the overall mood of the film is mystical and mysterious. Anyone who likes Merchant-Ivory films will enjoy this movie.
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Summary: A Disappointment from Lean, and not Forster's Novel
Review: David Lean has made some of the best films of all time (incl. "Dr. Zhivago" and "Lawrence of Arabia"), and E. M. Forster is a delightful writer (esp. "Howards End" and "Room with a View"). This film adaptation, however, turns out to be a disappointment. It lacks the incisiveness and subtlety of the novel, and it does not match up to Lean's earlier work. The very essence of the story is the question, can Indians and Britons be friends? That is the heart of the novel, as Dr. Aziz and Mr. Fielding struggle to be friends as their societies conflict and they offend each other through misunderstandings. This is not really shown in the film. In fact, in some ways, the chief Anglo-Indian relationship in the film is a latent love between Dr. Aziz and Miss Quested. Lean leads us to believe that they secretly long for each other, but society (and they themselves) will not allow such a relationship. Additionally, Lean has changed much of the focus from an Indian story (about Dr. Aziz and his search for a place in colonial society) to a British one (about the place of British colonials in an alien place). This is reinforced by the invented opening scene of the movie, which is not in the novel. Also, the Major, Dr. Aziz's overbearing, racist boss, has a minimal role in the movie. In the book, he is very important. In fact, some friends of mine who had not read the novel had trouble following just what was going on in the earlier parts of the movie, and they certainly didn't get much of the oblique critique of the British colonial project. Considering the novel as the premise, this is not an epic tale, and it was not suited for Lean's grand style. The more intimate style of Merchant-Ivory would have been appropriate here. Lawrence's "Seven Pillars of Wisdom" and Pasternak's "Dr. Zhivago" were epic novels needing broad strokes to appear on screen. Forster's novel mixed subtle satire with poignant portrayal of the dilemma's facing a Western-educated Indian under the British Raj. Most of that is lost in this film.
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Summary: Last Passage
Review: Director David Lean created some of the most visually stunning and brilliant films in movie history. The final film of his illustrious career was 1984's A Passage To India. The film is again a marvel to look at as Mr. Lean captures the Indian landscape with all its mystical splendor. Judy Davis is alluring as a young woman who travels to India with her perspective mother-in-law to visit her fiancé who is a magistrate there. On a cave exploring trip, she involved in a mix-up with Victor Banerjee's Dr. Aziz that leads to a court case and the revealing of the racial divide between the natives of India and the British who rule the country. Peggy Ashcroft won an Oscar as the all-knowing Mrs. Moore and long time Lean collaborator Maurice Jarre won an Oscar for his score. Alec Guinness appears in one of the most bizarre roles of his career as an Indian professor (complete with an Indian accent and dispensing of mystical preachings). A Passage To India is a strong closing film in the career of a respected and revered filmmaker.
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Summary: Worst garbage ever filmed
Review: For starters I remember when I first was this film when it aired on cable tv in the mid 1980's- I remember devoting serious concentration to this film only to be floored halfway through the film when I discovered the entire film is about a rape that happened to someone somewhere sometime ago.
Now get this straight- I have a B.A. in literature and was forced to read an EM Forster novel once, and it was the worst most boring piece of pretentious British trash ever invented, the absolute worst novel on the planet- this author is TEN times worse than Henry James. You want to waste your time? Then buy this trash and watch it, youll be sorry, I promise you. One reviewer below is also dead on- EM Forster is just a really bad author.
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Summary: One of the best films of the 80's
Review: Great acting, story, and plot A pasage to India is great. The dvd is well done.
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