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A Passage to India

Play trailer Poster for A Passage to India PG Released Jan 25, 1985 2h 43m Drama Play Trailer Watchlist
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77% Tomatometer 30 Reviews 79% Popcornmeter 5,000+ Ratings
Based on the renowned E.M. Forster novel, this expansive period drama centers on the changing dynamic between British colonials and native locals in India during the 1920s. When an outing to explore scenic caves ends in English tourist Adela Quested (Judy Davis) accusing Indian doctor Aziz Ahmed (Victor Banerjee) of rape, the incident results in a major court case, one that reinforces tensions between the British Empire and the growing movement towards Indian independence.
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A Passage to India

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Critics Consensus

A Passage to India is a visually striking exploration of colonialism and prejudice, although it doesn't achieve the thematic breadth of director David Lean's finest work.

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Critics Reviews

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Pauline Kael New Yorker The novel wants to be about unresolvability; the movie doesn’t, and isn’t. What’s remarkable about the film is how two such different temperaments as Forster’s and Lean’s could come together. Sep 13, 2023 Full Review Gavin Millar Sight & Sound It is a disappointing signpost to what lies ahead. Lean swiftly turns the narrative into a melodrama of social and sexual unease. Feb 10, 2020 Full Review Ian Nathan Empire Magazine The film, for all Lean's innate elegance, is strangely remote and unmoving. It could easily have been a Merchant-Ivory film. Rated: 3/5 Nov 6, 2007 Full Review Kat Halstead Common Sense Media A Passage to India still lives up to the hype some 40 years later. Sep 18, 2024 Full Review Christopher Lloyd The Film Yap David Lean's last film -- after a 14-year break -- was seen as a return to form. But it's an odd, sprawling work with an epic backdrop but a pinched sense of storytelling. Rated: 3/5 Jul 22, 2024 Full Review Molly Haskell Video Review David Lean's adaptation of E.M. For- ster's great Anglo-Indian novel is, for a great deal of its 2 1/2-hours running time, an exceptionally fine and civilized movie, almost a great one. Rated: 3/4 Jan 19, 2023 Full Review Read all reviews

Audience Reviews

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Marcel d A fantastic film about prejudice and injustice. Truly a classic and a must-watch! Rated 4.5 out of 5 stars 01/24/24 Full Review Joe B Having seen around the time of release, I revisited it this year and was happy to see it's largely still very watchable. Whilst the characters now seem a little exaggerated, the themes still resonate today. Although seeing a browned up actor, this was early 80's, is uncomfortable. Rated 4.5 out of 5 stars 11/27/23 Full Review Anna A Magnificent. Stands the text of time Rated 5 out of 5 stars 11/04/23 Full Review Leaburn O There are good moments but some of the characters are cartoonish and playing up to silly stereotypes. Felt far too long for a story that never really threatens to get going. Some interesting depictions of the Raj however. Rated 3 out of 5 stars 08/18/23 Full Review Nur Incredible & short period of time! Rated 5 out of 5 stars 12/13/22 Full Review William L Alec Guinness was apparently so enamored with putting on brownface for David Lean that he did it again more than a quarter century later (after Lawrence of Arabia), and much darker. And strangely, it was not received with as much controversy as you might expect for a film that late; the British master of epics could get away with a lot. While much less biting than the Forster novel it is based on, Lean's cinematic adaptation of A Passage to India carries over many of the criticisms originally leveled against the British Raj, including assessments of character based on prejudice and hate that were ingrained not only into personal interactions but institutional practices. The establishment of this dynamic is rather clever - initially reserved to snide comments that a newly-arrived English delegation can brush off, the stances of the members of the established elite are brought to the forefront when a simple misunderstanding spins out of control. The tone of the film shifts widely in that moment, as what could have been a potboiler adventure of the period showcasing India as a tourist destination rather than a breathing country shifts to a bleak social drama. Nor are the criticisms limited to an overt, superficial hatred. The offense of refined sensibilities and an inability to condone healthy sexual expression actually serves as a trigger to the main plot, a near-laughable repression that is a hallmark of the Edwardian upper crust era of stiff collars and stiffer upper lips. The treatment of Davis's Adela in the aftermath of her recanted testimony, when she is abandoned by her supposed countrymen when she no longer can serve to support their twisted worldview, is a solid moment, and all of the above is interwoven with the development of sincere friendships that supercede cultural divides, rather than limiting the themes to simple "British bad, Indians good," content. While somewhat sanitized, intermittently predictable, and certainly not the same degree of pure visual expression that some have come to expect from Lean's prior work, A Passage to India is still a solid bookend to an internationally renowned directorial career. (3.5/5) Rated 3.5 out of 5 stars 08/08/21 Full Review Read all reviews
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Movie Info

Synopsis Based on the renowned E.M. Forster novel, this expansive period drama centers on the changing dynamic between British colonials and native locals in India during the 1920s. When an outing to explore scenic caves ends in English tourist Adela Quested (Judy Davis) accusing Indian doctor Aziz Ahmed (Victor Banerjee) of rape, the incident results in a major court case, one that reinforces tensions between the British Empire and the growing movement towards Indian independence.
Director
David Lean
Producer
John Brabourne, Richard Goodwin
Screenwriter
David Lean
Distributor
Columbia Pictures
Production Co
EMI Films Ltd.
Rating
PG
Genre
Drama
Original Language
English
Release Date (Theaters)
Jan 25, 1985, Original
Release Date (Streaming)
Jul 1, 2012
Runtime
2h 43m
Sound Mix
Surround, Stereo
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