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A Passage to India (1984)
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Overview
User Rating:
Release Date:
25 January 1985 (USA) moreTagline:
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. full summary | add synopsisAwards:
Won 2 Oscars. Another 18 wins & 24 nominations moreNewsDesk:
(9 articles)
Composer Maurice Jarre dies, aged 84 (From digitalspy. 30 March 2009, 7:29 AM, PDT)
Prolific Film Composer Jarre Dead At 84
(From Studio Briefing - Film News. 30 March 2009, 2:34 AM, PDT)
User Comments:
There'll Always Be a Raj-------NOT moreCast
(Cast overview, first billed only)| 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 |
Additional Details
Parents Guide:
Add content advisory for parentsRuntime:
163 minColor:
Color (Technicolor)Aspect Ratio:
1.85 : 1 moreSound Mix:
DolbyCertification:
Iceland:L | Canada:PG (Ontario) | Norway:12 | West Germany:6 (f) | Brazil:Livre | Argentina:Atp | Australia:PG | Chile:TE | Finland:K-11 (DVD rating) | Sweden:11 | USA:PG | Ireland:PG | UK:PG | Singapore:PG | Netherlands:ALFun Stuff
Trivia:
The original Broadway production of "A Passage to India" by Santha Rama Rau (born in Tamil Nadu, India) opened at the Ambassador Theater in New York on January 31, 1962 and ran for 109 performances. moreGoofs:
Errors in geography: When Stella gets out of the car to view the Himalayas, she turns her head slowly from left to right to view each summit, then finally looks in the middle. However, each summit that she looks at has a shadow on a different side, and the final shot of a summit has no shadow at all. moreQuotes:
McBryde: [at the trial] Before we begin, I'd like to state what I believe to be a universal truth: the darker races are attracted to the fairer, but not vice-versa.Advocate Amrit Rao: Even when the lady is LESS attractive than the gentleman?
[court breaks out in laughter]
more
Soundtrack:
Tea For Two moreFAQ
A NOTE ABOUT SPOILERSmore
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A Passage Through India tells a story about the radicalization of a native Indian who happens to be a Moslem. This was in the days before the idea of a separate Pakistan took hold in the independence movement.
Victor Bannerjee plays Dr. Aziz Ahmed and as you see by his title he's a professional man. But he's still looked down upon by most of the British who are ruling India. He's befriended by Peggy Ashcroft who is visiting India with her daughter-in-law to be, Judy Davis. Peggy's son is a magistrate. Bannerjee is also friends with James Fox who is an administrator at a local college.
He's warned against fraternizing with the British by his friends and family, but Bannerjee goes on a picnic with Ashcroft and Davis and Davis has a horrifying experience in the historic caves at Marabar. It's only her claustrophobia acting up, but Bannerjee winds up accused of rape. And his trial becomes a cause celebre for the Congress Party. Note that Bannerjee has two defense attorneys, a Moslem and a Hindu.
E.M. Forster who wrote A Passage to India brought two elements of his background to the writing of this novel. He served as a private secretary to a local maharajah so he knew the customs of India as well as the political scene. Most in the United Kingdom wanted to see India free after World War I. A few very powerful folks like Winston Churchill and some influential press lords, most prominently Lord Beaverbrook did not. There opposition kept India a British colony until after another World War.
Secondly Forster was a closeted gay man. His homosexuality was not publicly revealed, he wasn't 'outted' until after he died in 1970. One of his relationships was with a Moslem Indian who died at a young age. He's the model for Dr. Aziz. The India Forster writes about is not Rudyard Kipling's India. A place where the native population is made to feel like outsiders. Forster identified with them in a way Kipling could never conceive.
Peggy Ashcroft won a Best Supporting Actress Award for her role as the kindly Mrs. Moore. I've got a sneaking suspicion that Forster modeled her character on his own mother who lived with him until she died in 1945. Judy Davis got a nomination for Best Actress and A Passage to India was nominated in a whole bunch of technical categories.
A Passage to India is a disturbing look at a bygone era in a place where you can see a lot of the problems we face today being nurtured.