A Passage to India (1984)

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.

Director:

David Lean

Writers:

E.M. Forster (by), E.M. Forster (based on the novel by)

Stars:

Judy Davis, Victor Banerjee, Peggy Ashcroft

Won 2 Oscars. Another 20 wins & 26 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Judy Davis	...	Adela
Victor Banerjee	...	Aziz
Peggy Ashcroft	...	Mrs. Moore
James Fox	...	Fielding
Alec Guinness	...	Godbole
Nigel Havers	...	Ronny
Richard Wilson	...	Turton
Antonia Pemberton	...	Mrs. Turton
Michael Culver	...	McBryde
Art Malik	...	Ali
Saeed Jaffrey	...	Hamidullah
Clive Swift	...	Major Callendar
Ann Firbank	...	Mrs. Callendar
Roshan Seth	...	Amritrao
Sandra Hotz	...	Stella

Storyline

It's the early 1920s. Britons Adela Quested (Judy Davis) and her probable future mother-in-law Mrs. Moore (Peggy Ashcroft) have just arrived in Chandrapore in British India to visit Adela's unofficial betrothed, Ronny Heaslop (Nigel Havers), who works there as the city's magistrate. Adela and Mrs. Moore, who long for "an adventure" in experiencing all India has to offer, are dismayed to learn upon their arrival that the ruling British do not socialize, let alone associate, with the native population. Such people as the Turtons, Mr. Turton (Richard Wilson) being Ronny's superior, who openly thumb their noses at the idea in their belief that the Indians are an inferior people. They are further dismayed to see that Ronny adheres to that custom in not wanting to jeopardize his career. At the local white only club, Adela and Mrs. Moore find a like-minded Brit in the form of Richard Fielding (James Fox), the school master at government college, he who offers to organize a small, but truly ...

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Plot Keywords:

india | doctor | cave | 1920s | small town | 

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Taglines:

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

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Genres:

Adventure | Drama | History

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Certificate:

PG

Did You Know?

Trivia

Peggy Ashcroft was initially reluctant to take the role of Mrs. Moore. She told Sir David Lean, "Mr Lean, I'm 75 years old." "So am I", he replied. Although she had recently worked in India on The Jewel in the Crown (1984), she said, "I thought, 'Oh dear, I really don't want to do it', but it's very difficult to turn down a Lean film."

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Goofs

The visiting British women, in addition to a band, are treated to reed instruments which resemble (South Indian) naadaswarams and not local Bihari music, though everybody including Fielding speaks Hindi and Urdu. When Dr Aziz is being felicitated for his freedom, the music is in Hindu Marathi - "Govinda Ala re," a music reserved only during Janmashtami ( Lord Krishnas' birth) in Maharashtra, whereas the audience is predominantly Moslem.

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Quotes

Indian crowd member #1: [pointing at Mr. Fielding and Adela leaving in the carriage] That was Mr. Fielding!
Indian crowd member #2: And Mrs. Moore!
Entire Indian crowd: Mrs. Moore! Mrs. Moore! Mrs. Moore!...

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Connections

Referenced in Indiana Jones: Making the Trilogy (2003)

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Soundtracks

Freely Maisie
Written by John Dalby

User Reviews

Multi-layered masterpiece from the great David Lean

E.M. Forster's multi-layered masterpiece is on the surface the story of a young woman and her passage through India. On another level it's the story of India's independence from British rule. And there are other themes as well: mysticism, reincarnation, the clash of eastern and western cultures and religion. Only master director David Lean could reveal all the levels and he succeeds in this film.

You can watch this film once for each of the levels and always see something new. The sequence of the trip to the Marabar Caves and what happens there is one of the most mysterious in all of film.

Like Kubrick and Hitchcock, Lean can tell a story yet somehow depict things beneath the surface which ads to the richness of the film and gives it a depth all other films lack. It's not an epic like Lean's masterpiece Lawrence of Arabia but it's still a terrific film.

Alec Guinness is superb as Professsor Godbhole, teacher/guru/who is he really?. With Judy Davis as Adela Quested, Victor Banerjee as Dr. Aziz H. Ahmed, Peggy Ashcroft as Mrs. Moore, and James Fox in a terrific performance as Richard Fielding.

Details

Country:

UK USA

Language:

English Hindi

Release Date:

1 February 1985 (USA)

Also Known As:

A Passage to India

Filming Locations:

Bangalore, Karnataka, India

Box Office

Budget:

$16,000,000 (estimated)

Opening Weekend USA:

$84,580, 16 December 1984

Gross USA:

$27,187,653

Cumulative Worldwide Gross:

$27,201,244

Company Credits

Production Co:

EMI Films, Home Box Office (HBO), Thorn EMI Screen Entertainment

Technical Specs

Runtime:

164 min

Sound Mix:

Dolby Stereo

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1