A Passage to India

1984

Action / Adventure / Drama / History

48
Rotten Tomatoes Critics - Rotten 79% · 30 reviews
Rotten Tomatoes Audience - Upright 79% · 5K ratings
IMDb Rating 7.3/10 10 22796 22.8K

based on novel or book cave hindu doctor india 1920s

Plot summary

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.

Director

David Lean Photo
David Lean

Top cast

Nigel Havers Photo
Nigel Havers as Ronny
Alec Guinness Photo
Alec Guinness as Godbole
Clive Swift Photo
Clive Swift as Major Callendar
Peggy Ashcroft Photo
Peggy Ashcroft as Mrs. Moore
720p.BluRay 1080p.BluRay
1.15 GB
1204*720
English 2.0
NR
Subtitles us  
23.976 fps
2 hr 44 min
Seeds 5
2.47 GB
1792*1072
English 2.0
NR
Subtitles us  
23.976 fps
2 hr 44 min
Seeds 15

Movie Reviews

Reviewed by AlsExGal 8 / 10

An odd and mesmerizing entry among Lean's films, and his last

I've always loved this film.This film has a lot of truly fascinating character development. Dr. Aziz goes from the kind of easily intimidated and emotionally battered employee that the British must have loved to have as a compliant colonial subject, to a frightened defendant who has had injustice snatch him from his lonely but well-ordered life, to a bitter and empowered man who thinks identifying with the plight of his fellow Indians means he must abandon all friendships with westerners, in particular that of the compassionate Richard Fielding. Sir Alec Guiness plays the minor but important role of Professor Godbole, a man whose beliefs puzzle Fielding. When Aziz has been unjustly accused of raping Adela Quested, a British woman, Fielding wants to mount some kind of campaign, to perform some kind of action on Aziz' behalf. Godbole calmly insists that although he cares about Aziz very much, nothing he or anyone does will matter - the whole thing has been predetermined. This is one of the issues that plays like background music in the film - that of Western views of human action and divine purpose working synergistically versus Eastern views on the same themes - karma versus Christian endeavor. I truly believe 1984 was a year in which the Academy got it right - Amadeus was indeed the best picture. However, this film is a photo-finish second and I highly recommend it.
Reviewed by petra_ste 7 / 10

Adventures occur, but not punctually

Forster has been lucky as far as movie adaptations of his works are concerned. James Ivory did him justice with A Room with a View and especially with the magnificent Howards End, and having your most successful book handled by David Lean is something every novelist would envy.A feast for the eyes - with damp jungles, peaks shrouded in clouds and crystal-blue lakes reflecting the sky like polished mirrors - the movie is a tale of social, racial and sexual tension, as in colonial India a British lady (wrongly) accuses a local doctor of attacking her during a visit to an isolated archaeological site.The female protagonists fare better than their male counterparts. Judy Davis is phenomenal in the lead role of Adela Quested - a nuanced, powerful portrayal of a psychologically distressed individual. Ashcroft is also excellent as Mrs Moore.Banerjee succeeds at making doctor Aziz likable, but it isn't exactly a subtle performance: he appears too childlike, naive and eager to please. Only in the epilogue some much needed bitterness comes through and paints the doctor as something deeper than a saintly scapegoat. More on target is James Fox as the British educator who sides with Aziz against his own compatriots. Alec Guinness, great as he was, is miscast as a Brahmin.Not one of Lean's best works, but still compelling and visually rich.7/10; for a different take (less political, more esoteric) on similar themes - sexual repression, conflict between nature and civilization - see also Peter Weir's Picnic at Hanging Rock.
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