A Passage to India (1984)

Director:

David Lean

Writers:

E.M. Forster (novel)
Santha Rama Rau (play)

Release Date:

25 January 1985 (USA)

Genre:

Adventure | Drama

Tagline:

David Lean, the Director of "Doctor Zhivago", "Lawrence of Arabia" and "The Bridge on the River Kwai", invites you on . . .[A Passage to India]

Plot:

Cultural mistrust and false accusations doom a friendship in British colonial India between an Indian doctor, an Englishwoman engaged to marry a city magistrate, and an English educator.

Plot Keywords:

Asia | Place Name In Title | Country Club | Country Name In Title | India

Awards:

Won 2 Oscars. Another 18 wins & 24 nominations

US Showtimes:

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Cast

Judy Davis	...	Adela Quested
Victor Banerjee	...	Dr. Aziz H. Ahmed
Peggy Ashcroft	...	Mrs. Moore
James Fox	...	Richard Fielding
Alec Guinness	...	Professor Godbole
Nigel Havers	...	Ronny Heaslop
Richard Wilson	...	Turton
Antonia Pemberton	...	Mrs. Turton
Michael Culver	...	Major McBryde
Art Malik	...	Ali
Saeed Jaffrey	...	Advocate Hamidullah
Clive Swift	...	Major Callendar
Ann Firbank	...	Mrs. Callendar
Roshan Seth	...	Advocate Amrit Rao
Sandra Hotz	...	Stella

Runtime:

163 min

Country:

USA | UK

Language:

English | Hindi

Color:

Color (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

Dolby

Certification:

Canada:PG (Ontario) | West Germany:6 (f) | Norway:12 | Iceland:L | Brazil:Livre | Argentina:Atp | Australia:PG | Chile:TE | Finland:K-11 (DVD rating) | Sweden:11 | USA:PG | Ireland:PG | UK:PG | Singapore:PG | Netherlands:AL

Filming Locations:

Bangalore Palace, Bangalore, Karnataka, India

Company:

EMI Films

Trivia:

David Lean's first (and last) film after a 14-year hiatus from the industry. He was so devastated by the negative reviews of Ryan's Daughter (1970), he dropped out of the filmmaking scene.

Goofs:

Factual errors: Exiting the caves, Mrs. Moore sees a full moon overhead in the mid-day sky. This is an astronomical impossibility.

Quotes:

Ronny: [on Aziz] He was dressed in his Sunday best, and his back collar stud was out. And there you have the Indian all over.

Movie Connections:

Referenced in The Nearly Complete and Utter History of Everything (1999) (TV)

Soundtrack:

Tea For Two

One of Lean's Best

David Lean ended his illustrious career on a high note with this haunting love song to the exotic & sensual world of India.

The action takes place during the last days of England's rule over colonial England. Much of the emphasis in the movie is placed on the culture clash between the two countrys.

Judy Davis stars in one of her earliest films as a woman who travels to India on what she imagines will be a romantic adventure to meet up with and marry a waiting fiance.

The great Dame Peggy Ashcroft portrays the fiance's mother who accompanies Davis on her "Passage To India".

Alec Guiness is along for the ride in a culture-bending role as a Hindu spiritual man. Guiness's role is in turn played for laughs then for dramatic punch when needed.

The major conflict in the movies arrives from an ill fated tourist jaunt to the Marabar Caves some miles away.

What does or does not happen there becomes a legal and moral crisis that involves all the film's key players as well as the entire city.

The movie is played with sensitivity as well as allowing for the usual David Lean broad strokes of color and light.

It's one of my favorite movies and definitely appealing to more than the "Merchant & Ivory" crowd.