A Passage to India [Blu-ray]

… with those who waffle viewed as traitors.E. M Forester’s classic novel has been a part of my life. I first read it in early 1969, when I was an agent of another empire, playing the same game, of trying to keep those ever-so-uppity natives in their place. Admittedly, I did a bit of waffling. I re-read the novel in 2018, appreciating it all the better, due to my subsequent experiences in the Muslim world. In my review on Amazon, I provided the novel with my special “6-star” rating.And then there is David Lean, the epic master, first and foremost of “Dr. Zhivago,” with so many memorable quotes that have resonated through the decades, like, “your country, officer…” And “Bridge Over the River Kwai,” what a wonderful metaphor for so much of modern life, and the raised hand, falling, denoting the time to race down the sand dunes and attack the Turkish train headed for Medina, in “Lawrence of Arabia.” Lean is a master, and therefore there should be no surprise that he beautifully reproduced a British cantonment in India, between the World Wars, with its essential club, where the “unwashed” are not admitted, that is, the 400 million people of India at the time.How does he do it? Alex Guinness, that is, who left us at the age of 86, in the year 2000. He played the wise and cynical half-brother of Yuri Zhivago, Yevgraf, of, “happy men don’t enlist.” In “Passage,” rather amazingly, he played Godbole, a Brahmin, with numerous penetrating insights into the Indian caste system as well as the Indian-British relationship.Adela Questad is going out to India with dear ol’ mom, Mrs. Moore, possibly to marry Ronny, an upstanding sahib in the British establishment. Adela wants to see “the real India.” She and mom are seated for dinner, across from the British commissioner for Chandrapore, who is wearing his tux, along with his wife, on the train. As for Adela’s bubbling enthusiasm for seeing the real folks, the commissioner gently rebukes her with: “we don’t come across them socially”… “east is east,” you understand.Judy David plays Adela Questad. James Fox plays the schoolteacher with all those dangerous waffling ideas about the “club” and Britain’s own caste system, which tosses the Brahmins like Godbole down the heap quite a bit. Victor Banerjee is excellent as Aziz, a medical doctor who bubbles with enthusiasm at the prospect of just receiving the slightest nod of acceptance within the British establishment. He arranges for a very ill-starred outing to the Malabar Caves near Chandrapore. The caves’ principal feature is that they are dark inside. “The real India.”Ah, the changing fashions in psychiatric diagnoses. Consider PTSD, for example. An appropriate description for the mental state of a soldier who saw two of his friends burned alive by a white phosphorus shell. Now it has morphed into an official medical diagnosis to describe the mental condition of a woman who gets a lot of grief for building a 20,000 square foot home on Nantucket Island, per a recent documentary.There was a time when the standard diagnosis for a lot of women was a “hysteric.” Today, Google has difficulty finding it, with a preference for a myriad of more specific sub-categories.Heat, darkness, dollops of repressed “hysteria,” and Adela imagines that Aziz has raped her when it was just the two of them inside a cave. Yes, Aziz, no good deed goes unpunished. He is brought to trial. The Club naturally has to “circle the wagons,” loyalty, et al., with the exception of the schoolteacher. The “natives” demonstrate they can be restless.The one person’s true opinion of this novel, and now movie, that I’d love to have is my daughter-in-law’s, who is a psychiatrist, specializing in female mental conditions, obviously a century after the time of this novel. My “gut” says it would ruin a good dinner’s conversation and I do not need the grief, seemingly content in my antiquitarian world view.And thus, for David Lean’s superlative adaptation of a STILL excellent novel, 6-stars.

An interesting movie and story about India!

The first time I saw the film “A Passage to India” was back in 1985, about one year after its theatrical release. At that time, I watched it on VHS tape, so the video and audio quality were both pretty poor, even then. Last week, I watched it for only the second time, this time in 1080p resolution on Blu-ray disc. What a different viewing experience that was!“A Passage to India” is a film that defies being easily categorized. Epic in scope, it’s part romance and part political and legal drama. Directed by David Lean, its stars include Judy Davis, Peggy Ashcroft, Alec Guinness, Victor Banerjee, James Fox, and Nigel Havers. The film is based on the 1924 novel of the same name written by E.M. Forster. One of its key themes is the growing divide between the ruling British Raj and the Indian population in the years before India became an independent nation.“A Passage to India” is set in the India of the 1920s, two decades before India gains its independence from Britain. The rule of the country by the British Raj is still absolute, although voices favoring independence are beginning to be heard. Onto this stage steps Adele Quested, a young upper-class woman engaged to a British city magistrate. She is travelling from Britain to India on a sightseeing trip with her future mother-in-law, Mrs. Moore.She goes on a guided tour of the Marabar Caves with a friend named Dr. Aziz. Soon she is seen running away from the caves in terror. Her clothes are torn and bloody. Something happened in the caves… but what? When the touring party returns home, police arrest Dr. Aziz for attempting to rape Miss Quested. The question is: did he do it…?“A Passage to India” is certainly a very well written, produced, and acted film, as shown by the eleven Academy Award nominations it received (including Best Picture, Best Cinematography, Best Original Score, and Best Director for Lean) and the two it won (Best Supporting Actress – Peggy Ashcroft; Best Original Score – Maurice Jarre). I thought the acting was superb throughout the film. The story was interesting and entertaining; the cinematography and music were both gorgeous and deserving of recognition.However, despite its many fine qualities, “A Passage to India” just misses being the kind of movie I like best. There were times I found the film a bit slow moving and hard to follow. When I finished watching “A Passage to India” last week, I remembered why it is that I’ve only recently added it to my home video collection. Recommended.

If you're a fan of David Lean, this dvd is for you.

Loved this show/drama! Also reminded me of another great series Indian Summers. My Daddy was a Designing Engineer for Norfolk Southern RR in the 50's60's & Mother & I always traveled with him all over US. We had a wonderful private Pullman sleeper car, there were Fine Dining cars, Waiters wore White gloves, linen table clothes, Bone China, Sterling silverware, and beautiful Silver Tea/coffee/Hot Chocolate pots brought to our car in the evening and wake-up! Bar/Lounges. I always loved traveling by trains, I'm 66 yrs young now & still do, but in Europe. It's really sad the US doesn't have Luxury Train travel, it's great as Europe still does and Canada. Planes get you to destination quicker, IF you don't have long waits or cancellations, but really it's the journey, the sightseeing of the countrysides the kids miss, plus Amtrax has great kids cars with movies, games, soda & snack bar! *I do wish my Daddy would have had to travel to exotic places too! When my son was 16, I can't believe it's been 25 yrs ago! We went from Amtrak in Atlanta to the Grand Canyon, it was fabulous trip! Stayed 4-5 days in cabin ontop of Canyon, drove to Flagstaff, Sedona, then back on Amtrak & Navajo Princess came onboard for an hour trip. Trust me, Take your kids, breathtaking sites, my son took plane ride through canyon, hiked down to Canyon River & take raft rides! They will Love it and so will you! Different packages. I pray I can take my Grandson next summer, he'll be 11.