A Passage to India (1984)

User Rating:

7.4/10   

Director:

David Lean

Writers:

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

Release Date:

25 January 1985 (USA)

Genre:

Adventure | Drama | History

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:

Doctor | India | Magistrate | Mosque | English

Awards:

Won 2 Oscars. Another 18 wins & 24 nominations

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
Rashid Karapiet	...	Das
H.S. Krishnamurthy	...	Hassan
Ishaq Bux	...	Salim
Moti Makan	...	Guide
Mohammed Ashiq	...	Haq
Phyllis Bose	...	Mrs. Leslie
Sally Kinghorn	...	Ingenue (as Sally Kinghorne)
Paul Anil	...	Clerk of the Court
Z.H. Khan	...	Dr. Panna Lal
Ashok Mandanna	...	Anthony
Dina Pathak	...	Begum Hamidullah
Adam Blackwood	...	Mr. Hadley
Mellan Mitchell	...	Indian Businessman
Peter Hughes	...	P & O manager
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
John Michie	...	Bit Part (uncredited)
Duncan Preston	...	Club Member (uncredited)

Directed by
David Lean

Writing credits
E.M. Forster		(novel)
Santha Rama Rau		(play)
David Lean		(screenplay)

Produced by
John Brabourne	....	producer
Richard B. Goodwin	....	producer (as Richard Goodwin)
John Heyman	....	executive producer
Edward Sands	....	executive producer

Original Music by
Maurice Jarre

Cinematography by
Ernest Day		(director of photography)

Film Editing by
David Lean

Casting by
Priscilla John

Production Design by
John Box
Herbert Westbrook		(uncredited)

Art Direction by
Cliff Robinson		(as Clifford Robinson)
Leslie Tomkins
Herbert Westbrook
Ram Yedekar

Set Decoration by
Hugh Scaife

Costume Design by
Judy Moorcroft

Makeup Department
Eric Allwright	....	makeup artist
Elaine Bowerbank	....	hair stylist
Jill Carpenter	....	makeup artist
Vera Mitchell	....	hair stylist

Production Management
Rashid Abbasi	....	unit manager: India
Jim Brennan	....	production manager
Shama Habibullah	....	production manager
Barrie Melrose	....	production supervisor
John Downes	....	production manager (uncredited)

Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
Patrick Cadell	....	assistant director
Christopher Figg	....	assistant director
Ajit Kumar	....	assistant director
Nick Laws	....	assistant director
Arundhati Rao	....	assistant director

Art Department
Albert Blackshaw	....	construction manager: India
Ron Coleman	....	construction manager: UK
Eddie Fowlie	....	props
Bert Hearn	....	property master: UK
Mickey Pugh	....	props
Steve Short	....	props
Frank Billington-Marks	....	assistant property master (uncredited)
Bill Stallion	....	storyboard artist (uncredited)

Sound Department
Jeremy Baylis	....	assistant dialogue editor
Ron Butcher	....	sound engineer
Michael A. Carter	....	sound recordist
Peter Dansie	....	assistant sound editor
Graham V. Hartstone	....	sound recordist
Jack T. Knight	....	sound effects editor
Nicolas Le Messurier	....	sound recordist
Dick Lewzey	....	sound recordist (as Richard Lewzey)
Archie Ludski	....	dialogue editor
John W. Mitchell	....	sound recordist (as John Mitchell)
Keith Pamplin	....	boom operator
Winston Ryder	....	sound editor
Lionel Strutt	....	sound recordist
Chris David	....	stereo sound consultant: Dolby (uncredited)

Special Effects by
Robin Browne	....	effects

Stunts
Richard Graydon	....	stunt coordinator (uncredited)

Camera and Electrical Department
Robin Browne	....	photography: second unit
Frank Connor	....	still photographer
Frank Elliott	....	focus puller
John Fletcher	....	second camera operator
Roy Ford	....	camera operator
W.C. 'Chunky' Huse	....	grip (as Chunky Huse)
Martin Kenzie	....	clapper loader
Alan Martin	....	electrician
Bill Pochetty	....	electrician
Chris Pinnock	....	camera operator (uncredited)
Nigel Seal	....	assistant camera (uncredited)

Costume and Wardrobe Department
Rosemary Burrows	....	wardrobe mistress
Keith Morton	....	wardrobe master

Editorial Department
Kees T. Hooft	....	assistant editor (as Kees 'T Hooft)
Ron Lambert	....	color timer: USA
Eunice Mountjoy	....	associate editor
Anne Sopel	....	assistant editor
Alf Wharton	....	color grading: UK

Music Department
Robin Clarke	....	music editor
John Dalby	....	composer: theme "Freely Maisie"
Maurice Jarre	....	conductor

Transportation Department
Pamela Wells	....	transportation

Other crew
Pamela Allen	....	contact: London
Mohini Banerji	....	liaison: Delhi
Charles Cannon	....	production accountant
Eleanor Chaudhuri	....	production secretary: India
Eddie Fowlie	....	location manager
Diana Hawkins	....	publicist
Christopher Palmer	....	assistant: Maurice Jarre
P.N. Parthasarathy	....	government liaison: India
Pat Pennelegion	....	production assistant
Brioni Pereira	....	location secretary
Germinal Rangel	....	couturier
Rex Saluz	....	location accountant
Maggie Unsworth	....	continuity
Marcus Wilford	....	customs liaison
David Cherrill	....	location manager (uncredited)
Yeti Jindal	....	location manager (uncredited)
Lee Katz	....	production consultant (uncredited)
Richard Morrison	....	title designer (uncredited)
Kevin Phelan	....	unit projectionist: Mercury Theatres, London (uncredited)
Thomas Thanangadan	....	production assistant (uncredited)

Production Companies

• EMI Films
• Home Box Office (HBO) (in association with)
• Thorn EMI Screen Entertainment

Distributors

• Columbia Pictures (1984) (USA) (theatrical)
• Chapel Distribution (1997) (Australia) (theatrical) (35mm print)
• Sandrew Film & Teater (1985) (Sweden) (theatrical)
• 20th Century Fox Home Entertainment (2003) (Brazil) (DVD)
• Columbia TriStar Home Video (2003) (USA) (DVD)
• Columbia TriStar (USA) (laserdisc)
• Kinowelt Home Entertainment (2006) (Germany) (DVD)
• MGM Home Entertainment (Europe) (2003) (UK) (DVD)
• MGM Home Entertainment (UK) (video)
• RCA/Columbia Pictures Home Video (USA) (laserdisc)
• Sony Pictures Home Entertainment (2008) (USA) (DVD) (Blu-ray)
• Svensk Filmindustri (SF) (2003) (Sweden) (DVD)
• Tec Home Vídeo (19??) (Brazil) (VHS)

Other Companies

• Blowup  stills processing
• Capitol Records  soundtrack
• Mayflower Recording  adr recording
• National Maritime Museum  ship models and paintings
• Optical Film Effects Ltd.  titles
• Peerless Camera Company  opticals
• Pinewood Studios  post-production
• Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, The  music performed by (as The Royal Philharmonic Orchestra)
• Studios CTS  music recorded at

Runtime:

163 min

Country:

UK | USA

Language:

English | Hindi

Color:

Color (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

Dolby

Certification:

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:AL

Filming Locations:

Bangalore Palace, Bangalore, Karnataka, India

Company:

EMI Films

Trivia:

Two of the actors had acted in a 1965 Play of The Month version of the Novel. Saeed Jaffrey in the same role and Ishaq Bux as Alli.

Goofs:

Incorrectly regarded as goofs: Exiting the caves, Mrs. Moore sees a full moon overhead in the mid-day sky. This is an astronomical impossibility, but it is shown in the film to highlight the powerful effect that the caves have on the human mind. The caves would also deeply affect Adela a little while later, but with much more serious consequences.

Quotes:

Mrs. Moore: God has put us on earth to love and help our fellow men.
Ronny: Yes, mother.

Movie Connections:

Featured in Casting a Classic (2008) (V)

Soundtrack:

Tea For Two

Mercifully, This Is No Epic

My interest in caves led me to watch this film. A small, but pivotal, part of the film's plot centers on what happens at the Marabar Caves. While the cave segment was a disappointment to me, I was pleasantly surprised by the film as a whole. It was not the grandiose, pretentious cinematic epic I had feared.

"A Passage To India" tells the story of a young British woman and her elderly traveling companion who journey from England to India, at a time when the British still ruled that country. The film's theme centers on British attitudes toward the people of India. Those attitudes can be summarized as: condescending, snobbish, and racist. It was the English vision of cultural superiority over the Indian people that E.M Forster wrote about in his 1924 novel, upon which the screenplay is based. That cultural vision represents a bygone, imperial era that today seems quaint.

The cinematography here is excellent, though perhaps not quite as sweeping or majestic as in some of Director Lean's previous films. What comes through in the visuals is India's spectacular scenery. The film's acting is competent. And I liked the film's original score.

My main complaint is the film's length. It's a two-hour story stretched to fill almost three hours. I would have cut out most, or all, of the crowd and mob scenes because they are not needed, and because they infuse the film with a "cast of thousands" aura that moves the film implicitly in the direction of epic status. Even as is, the film is sufficiently low-key and personal to be enjoyable.