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India: Matri Bhumi

  • 19591959
  • 1h 30m
IMDb RATING
7.2/10
647
YOUR RATING
  • Cast & crew
  • User reviews
  • IMDbPro
India: Matri Bhumi (1959)
  • Documentary
  • Drama
Several stories depicting the landscapes and fauna of India are mixed with documentary footage.Several stories depicting the landscapes and fauna of India are mixed with documentary footage.Several stories depicting the landscapes and fauna of India are mixed with documentary footage.
IMDb RATING
7.2/10
647
YOUR RATING
  • Director
    • Roberto Rossellini
  • Writers
    • Roberto Rossellini(screenplay)
    • Sonali Senroy DasGupta(screenplay)
    • Fereydoun Hoveyda(screenplay)
Top credits
  • Director
    • Roberto Rossellini
  • Writers
    • Roberto Rossellini(screenplay)
    • Sonali Senroy DasGupta(screenplay)
    • Fereydoun Hoveyda(screenplay)
  • See production, box office & company info
    • 4User reviews
    • 10Critic reviews
  • See production, box office & company info
  • See more at IMDbPro
    • Awards
      • 2 nominations

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    Roberto Rossellini in India: Matri Bhumi (1959)
    India: Matri Bhumi (1959)
    India: Matri Bhumi (1959)
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    Storyline

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    Did you know

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    • Quotes

      Narrator: When faced with death, the general belief is that when a man dies, his life doesn't end, because he's reincarnated in another. But no one knows in whom. Therefore, all men are brothers.

    • Connections
      References Stay Alert (1956)

    User reviews4

    Review
    Top review
    8/10
    Unusual film from Rossellini has its rewards
    This episodic film, shot in 1956 and released in 1959, deals mostly with vignettes of life in rural India. It is not a documentary, since the episodes are obviously scripted and performed by amateur actors (probably villagers, themselves). Apparently, India's leader at the time, Nehru, asked famous Italian director Roberto Rossellini to make this movie (whether the Indian president or other authorities like the end result, I don't know).

    The director praises through the narrator the widespread tolerance of the Indian people, and we soon see the diversity and vitality of the country. After a brief introduction in Mumbai, we move to what the movie calls the "real India", that is, the India of the villages. We see elephants being forced to work as loggers, a puppet show, an illiterate elephant runner having his father arrange a marriage with a local farm girl, a worker in a nearly completed dam knowing he will soon have to move with his family to another place (despite the desperate pleas of his nagging, complaining wife), an elderly villager having to deal both with the presence of man killing tigers nearby and the arrival of government mining prospectors, and, in the best story, a performing monkey chained to its master who has to escape when he suddenly collapses in the heat and is surrounded by vultures. As you can see, animals are as much the stars of this movie as people, as we see elephants, tigers, monkeys, cows, vultures. It is not very well known film, and it can be accused of being a tad folkloric, but is very much worth watching, especially in a copy with its color restored.
    helpful•4
    0
    • Andy-296
    • Aug 5, 2015

    Details

    Edit
    • Release date
      • February 4, 1960 (Italy)
    • Countries of origin
      • Italy
      • France
    • Languages
      • Italian
      • English
    • Also known as
      • Indien, Mutter Erde
    • Filming locations
      • Hirakud, Odisha, India
    • Production companies
      • Aniene Film
      • Union Générale Cinématographique (UGC)
    • See more company credits at IMDbPro

    Technical specs

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    • Runtime
      1 hour 30 minutes
    • Sound mix
      • Mono
    • Aspect ratio
      • 1.37 : 1

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