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A PASSAGE TO INDIA – Judy Davis, Peggy Ashcroft – d: David Lean

Synopsis:

In the early 20th century, a British woman, Miss Quested (Judy Davis), and her soon-to-be mother-in-law, Mrs. Moore (Peggy Ashcroft, right), arrive in India, where they’re met by Ronny Moore (Nigel Havers), a young and self-righteous representative of the British Empire.

During their stay, a local Muslim physician, Dr. Aziz (Victor Banerjee), befriends the two women. All goes well until something strange happens in the dark and foreboding Marabar Caves. A distraught Miss Quested then accuses Dr. Aziz of having attempted to rape her. A trial ensues.

The Pros:

• Director-screenwriter-editor David Lean offers an intelligent and mostly subtle critique of both the British Empire and the British, who in the 19th and early 20th century apparently believed themselves to be members of God’s Chosen Master Race.
• A Passage to India is a stunning-looking film, boasting a great sense of time and place — which proves that David Lean was gay. Or perhaps it just proves that those who insist that gay directors are the ones who know how to create beautiful films don’t know what the hell they’re talking about.
• Better yet, Judy Moorcroft’s colorful costumes, John Box’s elaborate production design, and Ernest Day’s lush cinematography never dwarf the human drama.
• Judy Davis is excellent as the sexually repressed heroine we can both despise and sympathize with; veteran stage (and The Jewel in the Crown) star Peggy Ashcroft is flawless as the embodiment of the open-minded, compassionate "West" — which, perhaps not coincidentally, gets swallowed up by the "East"; and a politically incorrect — but highly effective — Alec Guinness is fully believable as a cryptic Indian wiseman. Both Davis and Ashcroft were nominated for Academy Awards; Ashcroft, though as much a lead as Davis, was placed in the supporting actress category and came out victorious.

The Cons:

• The worst thing about A Passage to India is, unfortunately, the very last sequence. David Lean should have left the viewer wondering about what really happened inside those caves, but instead he makes sure we know that not only Dr. Aziz (i.e., The East) is good, but he has a heart bigger than the largest Marabar cave. The unjustly accused doctor is thus capable of forgiving sexually repressed, self-deluded Christians who believe themselves superior to other cultures and ethnicities even though they can’t even handle their own (quite natural) inner urges. This is the sort of life-affirming, crowd-pleasing, feel-good finale that belongs to intellectually challenged Hollywood productions, not to an adult drama.
• Victor Banerjee’s performance should have been more controlled. However politically incorrect, Alec Guinness could have taught him a lesson or two in that regard. Guinness would probably have scratched out most of Dr. Aziz’s annoying "Mrs. Moore!!" exclamations as well.
• Maurice Jarre’s Oscar-winning Old Hollywood score is woefully inappropriate. Jarre used high, vibrant notes (it’s an epic, see?) when scenes required something more intimate and delicate.

In Sum:

A Passage to India is a solid, well-directed and mostly well-acted intimate epic, but one that only partially succeeds in its depiction of the relationship between the Twain, which not only did meet but got stuck in a loveless marriage for a very long time.

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