A Passage to India
by David Lean
List Price:
Our Price: $6.94
You Save: $13.05 (65%)
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
Buy Used: from $5.69 (click here)
Category: DVD
See more DVD releases
Buy this DVD movie at online store in your country
Canada
Canada
DVD Cover Information
Actor: Alec Guinness, James Fox, Judy Davis, Peggy Ashcroft, Victor BanerjeeDirector: David Lean
Brand: Sony
Writer: David Lean
Producer: Edward Sands
Producer: John Brabourne
Producer: John Heyman
Producer: Richard B. Goodwin
Writer: E.M. Forster
Writer: Santha Rama Rau
DVD: Region Code 99
Audio: English (Unknown); French (Subtitled); Spanish (Subtitled); English (Original Language); Hindi (Original Language); French (Dubbed); Spanish (Dubbed)
Format: Closed-captioned, Color, Dolby, Dubbed, DVD, NTSC, Subtitled, Widescreen
Picture Format: Anamorphic Widescreen, 1.85:1
Running Time: 164 minutes
DVD Release Date: 2001-03-20
Audience Rating: PG (Parental Guidance Suggested)
Studio: Sony Pictures Home Entertainment
Movie Reviews of A Passage to India
Movie Review: Culture, race, and one thing you may not notice.
Summary: 5 Stars
Sometimes, what you don't see can be of equal importance to what you do see in a film. David Lean's film is no exception ... but more on that later.
A film of epic quality, it follows two travelers on their journey from England to India during the Raj colonial period of the 1920s. For Adela Quested, it's her first time out of England to anywhere. For Mrs. Moore, it's a chance to visit her son, Ronny, who is expected to marry Adela during the visit. But, their visit is not without incident.
What both Adela and Mrs. Moore discover is an India ruled by British bureaucrats (Ronny being one of them, a city magistrate) who exude personal and cultural superiority over Indians. This was a shock to them since they both expected to find Indians and Britons meeting socially and on friendly terms. The only exception to that rule appears to be Fielding, principal of a college.
Through Fielding, Adela is introduced to Professor Godbole (a Hindu holy man) and Dr. Aziz (a Muslim physician) socially. Mrs. Moore met Aziz in a previous scene but had not yet met Godbole until that moment. One note on that (a film flaw). During that mosque scene where Mrs. Moore meets Dr. Aziz, Aziz never once mentions his name to her ... yet later, Adela knows his name as mentioned to her by Mrs. Moore. Perhaps his name was mentioned in a brief scene that ended up on the cutting-room floor. But, that omission is trivial and in no way detracts from the enjoyment of the film.
During this social introduction, Aziz invites Mrs. Moore and Adela on a journey to the Marabar caves, a tourist destination. On the trip, and tired from all the activity, Mrs. Moore stays at the encampment near the lower caves and encourages Aziz and Adela to explore the higher caves alone.
Then, something happened ... and I won't tell you what (grin). Suffice it to say that Aziz finds himself in police custody. A court trial ensues that pits culture against culture, race against race, and clearly demonstrates the differences in attitudes between resident British citizens and Indians. But the trial's climax isn't the most moving part of the film. Lean has risen the film's denouement to a higher level ... one that leaves you smiling and crying at the same time. But what Lean does NOT mention in the film is equally interesting.
In today's world, India is beset by inter-sect angst between Hindus, Muslims, Sikhs, and persons of other faiths. In theory, this inter-sect rivalry has been around since before India became a British colony. But, this rivalry was not mentioned once in the film. It is perhaps a testament to the novelist (E.M. Forster) and Lean to realize a potent underlying force in the story ... that British colonial rule held these rivalries in abeyance ... uniting Indians of all faiths into a common bond that eventually forced colonialism to end in India.
The film is a masterpiece on every level and remains one of my favorites of all time.
P.S. Closing comment to those (like me) who own region-free DVD players that render both PAL and NTSC DVDs. For some reason unknown to me, it's over $10 cheaper to buy the DVD from Amazon.co.uk than it is from Amazon.com ... even after overseas shipping is added in. That's where I ordered mine (from the UK).
Summary of A Passage to India
PASSAGE TO INDIA - DVD MovieThis adaptation of E.M. Forster's mysterious tale of British racism in colonial India turned out to be master director David Lean's final film. Subtle and grand at the same time, Lean's adaptation is faithful to the book, rendering its blend of the mystical and the all-too human with exquisite precision. 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. Lean captures Forster's sense of awe at the kind of ageless wisdom and inexplicable phenomena to be encountered in India, as well as the British tendency to dismiss it all as savage, rather than simply different. --Marshall Fine
Similar DVD Movies
Story of IndiaPBS; Release date: 2009-03-10; DVD
Best price: $13.77
Price in other shops:
Enchanted AprilLGF; Release date: 2011-04-26; DVD
Best price: $6.81
Price in other shops:
Lawrence of Arabia (Collector's Edition)Sony; Release date: 2008-06-10; DVD
Best price: $9.28
Price in other shops:
The Remains of the Day (Special Edition)SONY PICTURES HOME ENT; Release date: 2001-11-06; DVD
Best price: $6.83
Price in other shops:
Out of AfricaREDFORD,ROBERT; Release date: 2000-02-29; Published: 2000-02-01; DVD
Best price: $5.98
Price in other shops:
The Far PavilionsAcorn; Release date: 2011-06-28; DVD
Best price: $15.98
Price in other shops:
The Jewel in the Crown (25th Anniversary Edition)A and E Home Video; Release date: 2008-09-30; DVD
Best price: $17.48
Price in other shops:
The Flame Trees of ThikaA&E; Release date: 2005-03-29; DVD
Best price: $8.27
Price in other shops:
Gandhi (Widescreen Two-Disc Collector's Edition)Sony; Release date: 2007-02-20; DVD
Best price: $9.20
Price in other shops:
Doctor Zhivago (45th Anniversary Edition)Warner Brothers; Release date: 2010-05-04; DVD
Best price: $9.19
Price in other shops: