DVD REVIEW

A Passage To India - Two Disc Collector's Edition

Sony Pictures Home Entertainment || PG || Apr 15, 2008

Synopsis

This adaptation of E.M. Forster's mysterious tale of British racism in colonial India turned out to be director David Lean's final film.  Judy Davis plays a young British woman traveling 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.


Critique

Ah, the yolk of British imperialism.  I swear to Rudyard Kipling it makes one yearn for the gold old days, the sun never sets on the empire days, when you could travel the world under the safety of an iron fisted flag and the grubby natives knew to stay in their places.

Is David Lean the Rudyard Kipling of cinema?  Watching A Passage to India, it struck me that his films have a white man’s burden undercurrent.  That’s white man’s burden in the Kipling sense, the burden being that it’s up to the white man to bring light to the savage darkness.  We can see it in A Passage to India.  The country is there for the taking, a jewel in the British crown.  It would be a perfect set up if there weren’t so many Indians around.

This is an attitude we see over and over in Lean’s films.  Lawrence of Arabia, grand cinema that it is, is an extremely romanticized biopic of T.E. Lawrence, the British legend who fought in World War I to make the world safe for Syria, Iraq and Saudi Arabia.  Bridge on the River Kwai, beneath its war movie exterior, is a film about the nobility of servitude.  A Passage to India carries this on, particularly in an early scene between Dr. Aziz and Mrs. Moore.  She the elder British woman, shot in a halo of light with a scarf over her head, a saintly Madonna, while Aziz is the obvious peasant, deferent before his master, his hands clasped before him as though he were praying for absolution.

The Indians are all but invisible to the British.  When Adela Quested (Davis) talks about wanting to get out into the country and see a bit of India, she remarks, “I’ve scarcely spoken to a real Indian since I landed.”  One of her lunch companions flatly replies, “Lucky you.”  One could argue that if Adela had only listened, everything would have been fine; fine for the British, that is.

Of course, she doesn’t listen.  She goes out to some caves with Aziz, something happens, and the country changes.  The old days of unquestioned British rule are numbered.  The death of Mrs. Moore might be symbolic of that.  Aziz, who started out the film in suits and ties, so eager to please his British masters, changes, wearing more traditional clothing and wanting nothing to do with the British.

A Passage to India has an old Hollywood feel to it from the start.  Everything is BIG, GRAND, SPECTACULAR.  The problem is that the film also feels just plain old.  The film plays too much like a soap opera in parts, tedious, and it’s hard to imagine it looked much different in 1984.


Video

A Passage to India is presented in the original 1.66:1 aspect ratio.  The transfer is sharp, and the film’s earthy color palate is expertly rendered.  The black and white levels are solid, and the overall picture is crisp.


Audio

This DVD is presented in 5.1 Dolby Digital sound.  The presentation is clear and well balanced, and all channels come through brilliantly.  The film’s quiet moments are matched well with the louder, more raucous moments.  This is a great presentation.


Special Features

Commentary with Producer Richard Goodwin: talks about growing up in British India and making the film.  He covers how the film was shot, the sets, and more.  This is interesting, if a bit dry.

E.M. Forster: Profile of an Author: a look at the author and his experiences in India and how that came to influence the book.

An Epic Takes Shape: Richard Goodwin and others talk about how the film came together, the novel, working with David Lean, getting the financing and more.

An Indian Affair: this one is about the logistics of shooting in India.

Only Connect: A Vision of India: here we look at how pieces of the film were shot in India and in Britain, and how the footage from the two locations was melded together.

Casting a Classic: the cast members talk about being cast in a classic.

David Lean: Shooting with the Master: recollections of working with Lean after the director’s decade long absence from film.

Reflections of David Lean: Lean himself, in archival interview footage, talks about William Holden, Alec Guinness, and A Passage to India.


Final Thoughts

A Passage to India is good technical filmmaking, but the film itself is not as engaging as one might remember.  The performances are good and the writing is solid, but the whole thing feels stiff, and film feels stagy and by-the-numbers.  The bonus material is informative, and the audio-visual presentation is good.  I have to recommend it, if only as a curiosity.

VERDICT: RECOMMENDED

 

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Review posted on Apr 24, 2008 | Share this article | Top of Page

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