I am a bit of a fan of Gurinder Chadha's work Bhaji on the Beach, What's Cooking Paris Je t'aime and Bend it being my favourites)and was aware that she intended to make this film many years ago and as I also have an interest in the history of India as plundered by the UK I have been keenly awaiting its release.
I had heard some ropy reviews, particularly from BBC radio 3. also a suggestion of being over reaching and 'Downtonesque' from the film 2017 cast. Thankfully this didn't put me off.
Just back from seeing this film.
I am not disappointed, in fact my expectations were far exceeded. one of the features of her films is always love. She has the ability to convey the emotion of utterly horrible things without doing the cliché showing and perpetuating violence.
The highlights for me. the portrayal of the involvement and point of view of his wife, unexpectedly well played by Gillian Anderson ( not that I don't like her, I just couldn't imagine her in this role. The portrayal of the viewpoint shared by the staff - which is of course the point of view of the Indians so roughly treated by the raj and how she puts us in their position so we really see it from their eyes, I felt like I was peeping through doors with them. The history was told clearly and unflinchingly without the violence being centre stage - that's been done and done again. Gurinder showed us the effect on people. All this was made almost palatable and certainly accessible by the device of the young lovers, cruelly torn apart by the partition.
Why 9 points and not ten? well despite illustrating that there was skulduggery afoot amongst the government I do think Dicky was painted a little too upright, straightforward and honest and I just don't believe that. However, I do not profess to know the history so well and may be wrong.
I had heard some ropy reviews, particularly from BBC radio 3. also a suggestion of being over reaching and 'Downtonesque' from the film 2017 cast. Thankfully this didn't put me off.
Just back from seeing this film.
I am not disappointed, in fact my expectations were far exceeded. one of the features of her films is always love. She has the ability to convey the emotion of utterly horrible things without doing the cliché showing and perpetuating violence.
The highlights for me. the portrayal of the involvement and point of view of his wife, unexpectedly well played by Gillian Anderson ( not that I don't like her, I just couldn't imagine her in this role. The portrayal of the viewpoint shared by the staff - which is of course the point of view of the Indians so roughly treated by the raj and how she puts us in their position so we really see it from their eyes, I felt like I was peeping through doors with them. The history was told clearly and unflinchingly without the violence being centre stage - that's been done and done again. Gurinder showed us the effect on people. All this was made almost palatable and certainly accessible by the device of the young lovers, cruelly torn apart by the partition.
Why 9 points and not ten? well despite illustrating that there was skulduggery afoot amongst the government I do think Dicky was painted a little too upright, straightforward and honest and I just don't believe that. However, I do not profess to know the history so well and may be wrong.