I read the E.M. Forster novel between viewings of "A Passage to India," and found that my impression of the film was somewhat diminished the second time as a result. But there's an old-fashioned splendor to David Lean's style of film-making that I love, and so I very much admire this film despite its faults.
Judy Davis and Peggy Ashcroft play two English ladies, one young, one old, who travel to India in search of a true Indian adventure. While exploring the mysterious Marabar caves with a doctor who both ladies befriend (Victor Banerjee), something enigmatic unhinges both of them, and the doctor is accused by Adela (Davis) of attempted rape. The resulting trial brings the already simmering tension between the English and Indians to an angry boil.
Forster's novel is deeply complex and psychological. The film only skims the surface of the inner lives of its characters, and focuses instead on the more tangible plot points. As a result, the movie doesn't make as much sense as the book, mostly because we never fully understand Davis's character, and it's on the inner workings of her mind that the whole story hinges. But the film does successfully ask the same question as Forster's novel, which is not how can the English and Indian cultures integrate, but rather whether or not such a thing will ever be possible.
"A Passage to India" does have all of the elements that immediately identify a film as being of David Lean's canon: the exotic locales, the traditional Hollywood feel, the glorious Maurice Jarre score, and even if less than in the novel, a level of character development that is frequently lacking in big-screen epics.
Grade: A-
Judy Davis and Peggy Ashcroft play two English ladies, one young, one old, who travel to India in search of a true Indian adventure. While exploring the mysterious Marabar caves with a doctor who both ladies befriend (Victor Banerjee), something enigmatic unhinges both of them, and the doctor is accused by Adela (Davis) of attempted rape. The resulting trial brings the already simmering tension between the English and Indians to an angry boil.
Forster's novel is deeply complex and psychological. The film only skims the surface of the inner lives of its characters, and focuses instead on the more tangible plot points. As a result, the movie doesn't make as much sense as the book, mostly because we never fully understand Davis's character, and it's on the inner workings of her mind that the whole story hinges. But the film does successfully ask the same question as Forster's novel, which is not how can the English and Indian cultures integrate, but rather whether or not such a thing will ever be possible.
"A Passage to India" does have all of the elements that immediately identify a film as being of David Lean's canon: the exotic locales, the traditional Hollywood feel, the glorious Maurice Jarre score, and even if less than in the novel, a level of character development that is frequently lacking in big-screen epics.
Grade: A-