ellis@spar.UUCP (Michael Ellis) (02/13/85)
I left this movie with the feeling it was the finest I'd seen in years! There are some elements of `Passage to India' that some may call faults, namely, for its length there is little plot and character development, and that many things are never made exactly clear. This film should appeal to you, however, if you feel humans are properly somewhat antlike creatures who are simply forced to respond to larger unseen forces, and that the world is an unknowable and indeterminate, though stikingly beautiful, place. A pleasant surprise was the subtle and unnoticeable musical score, which caused mental interference only while the initial and final credits were being shown -- a welcome relief from the bombastic musical themes that marred `Dr. Zhivago' and `Lawrence of Arabia'. The major characters in the story (to me), namely unknowable cosmic forces, were drawn into the story more effectively and disturbingly than I have ever seen presented before. Breathtaking images of the sun, moon and stars repeatedly underline key moments in the film. Moments before a violent event in the plot, a huge terrifying shot of the moon suddenly fills the screen. -michael
channic@uiucdcsb.UUCP (02/21/85)
(I wanted to mail this but couldn't get mail to author, so.._ Here Here! (Hear hear?) I am all for the movies that convey the existence of higher powers than man, and the intervention of those powers in human lives. This is why I loved Raiders of the Lost Ark and despised Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom, and also why I found 2010 most entertaining despite the fact that it was scientifically inferior to 2001. I found Passage to India especially interesting because India is really that kind of place. I don't remember the exact line from the movie, but some character said something like, "India has a way of bringing one face to face with one's self". Having been to India, I can testify to this. I think anyone who goes to see the real India, can't help but feel a sense of insignificance in the presence of a greater reality, which can be disconcerting to a Western looking-out-for-number-one ego. If the Westerner is sufficiently aware of his place in the universe (i.e. that it does not revolve around him), however, his experience of India can be one of ecstasy in the realization that the higher powers are on his side and maintain his existence despite his shortcomings. Unfortunately, the two ladies were just sensitive enough to feel the effect and not the blessings, and so there was a "slight disturbance in the force". Of course, the main result was a victory and increased unity for the Indian people, which was clearly organized by some entity with a greater perspective than the characters in the story. On a less cosmic level, I thought Aziz was an example of a class human being. We in the West, and especially the British back in those days, think ourselves to be so more civilized than India, China and other Asian nations. Aziz put all these beliefs to shame. Despite the arrogance of the British, to Aziz they were still guests in his home. The man never thought of himself and was always doing whatever he could to help out the next guy. That is civilized. The capability to overrun a country with military strength is not. Of course, the British did do wonderful things in India, creating roads and schools, etc. But Passage to India suggests to me that the British were just tools that were always in the hands of destiny and simply discarded when they had served their purpose. Tom Channic channic@uiucdcs || ihnp4!pur-ee!uiucdcs!channic
knight@rlgvax.UUCP (Steve Knight) (02/28/85)
> A pleasant surprise was the subtle and unnoticeable musical score, which > caused mental interference only while the initial and final credits were > being shown -- a welcome relief from the bombastic musical themes that > marred `Dr. Zhivago' and `Lawrence of Arabia'. > > -michael A potentially interesting note on Maurice Jarre's score for Dr. Zhivago, from the book "Film Music: A Neglected Art" by Roy M. Prendergast: As a contrast to this sensitive use of a theme [Mancini's sparing use of "Moon River" in "Breakfast at Tiffany's"], one might look at Maurice Jarre's score for "Dr. Zhivago" where his banal "Lara's Theme" grinds on interminably and loses any of its dramatic impact by the end of the first third of the film. A footnote, though, adds this: In fairness to Maurice Jarre, it should be pointed out that he was not responsible for this. The producer, during the production of the film, became so enamored of Jarre's "Lara's Theme" that he threw out much of Jarre's other music for the film and substituted the music of "Lara's Theme." I have to admit I was somewhat relieved. I had always enjoyed the soundtrack album for "Dr. Zhivago," and was disappointed that the film itself seemed to handle the music so insensitively. Hmm...maybe this should have gone in net.music.movies (or vice versa)... :-) -- Steve Knight {seismo,allegra,some other sites}!rlgvax!knight
leeper@ahutb.UUCP (m.r.leeper) (03/09/85)
REFERENCES: <84@spar.UUCP>, <526@rlgvax.UUCP> >A potentially interesting note on Maurice Jarre's score for >Dr. Zhivago, from the book "Film Music: A Neglected Art" >by Roy M. Prendergast: > > As a contrast to this sensitive use of a theme [Mancini's sparing > use of "Moon River" in "Breakfast at Tiffany's"], one might look at > Maurice Jarre's score for "Dr. Zhivago" where his banal "Lara's > Theme" grinds on interminably and loses any of its dramatic impact > by the end of the first third of the film. > >A footnote, though, adds this: > > In fairness to Maurice Jarre, it should be pointed out that he was > not responsible for this. The producer, during the production of > the film, became so enamored of Jarre's "Lara's Theme" that he > threw out much of Jarre's other music for the film and substituted > the music of "Lara's Theme." > >I have to admit I was somewhat relieved. I had always >enjoyed the soundtrack album for "Dr. Zhivago," and was >disappointed that the film itself seemed to handle the music >so insensitively. > After hearing this I wondered what the missing pieces might have sounded like. Then I heard a piece of music that sounded like it could have come from the score. I told myself "Self, that both sounds Russian and like it is in Jarre's style." Upon closer examination I discovered that it was Jarre writing in Russian style. The piece of music was the closing credit sequence of THE BLACK MARBLE. The film is an adaptation of a Joseph Wambaugh novel about a policeman of Russian extraction. I am only speculating, but a composer rarely throws away a good piece of music and this might have been part of the excised Zhivago score. People interested may want to watch for the film to show up on TV. Mark Leeper ...ihnp4!ahutb!leeper "Prez of the Evelyn Leeper Fan Club, but why smarm all over the net?"
knight@rlgvax.UUCP (Steve Knight) (03/18/85)
> Upon closer examination I > discovered that it was Jarre writing in Russian style. The piece of > music was the closing credit sequence of THE BLACK MARBLE. The film is > an adaptation of a Joseph Wambaugh novel about a policeman of Russian > extraction. I am only speculating, but a composer rarely throws away a > good piece of music and this might have been part of the excised > Zhivago score. People interested may want to watch for the film to > show up on TV. Actually, this isn't likely. Prior to the mid-70's (at least), composers of film scores did not own their music; this was explicitly outlined in their contract with a studio. Some composers with widespread name recognition (e.g., Mancini, Bacharach) were able to demand half ownership of their film scores, but these were exceptions. Jarre, in fact, was once asked to conduct the Zhivago score by a major symphony orchestra. When he asked MGM for the score, though, he was informed that it had been destroyed for the storage space. Nevertheless, I'll certainly look out for "The Black Marble." It's always possible that Jarre attempted to reconstruct excised portions of "Zhivago" from memory. -- Steve Knight {seismo,allegra,some other sites}!rlgvax!knight
mark@nvuxd.UUCP (M.Friedman) (04/10/85)
Path...!nvuxb!mark References: <556@cornell.UUCP> <1315@yale.ARPA> <4651@ucla-cs.ARPA>, <651@ahutb.UUCP> I was really sickened by this portrayal of yesterdays India. To this day I still can't figure out how this atrocity recieved so many Academy Awards. The film lasted for a period not exceeding 3 hours. Ten minutes into the film we were ready to leave, but after paying $4.00 a piece we refused to leave the theater, without a full refund... Granted the director got together 100's of the lowlife's from India to shoot the film, just like Ghandi... Big f*uckin deal! My advise is to stay away from Assage to India......
mgh@hou5h.UUCP (Marcus Hand) (04/11/85)
mark@nvuxd.UUCP (M.Friedman) writes: > References: <556@cornell.UUCP> <1315@yale.ARPA> <4651@ucla-cs.ARPA>, <651@ahutb.UUCP> > I was really sickened by this portrayal of yesterdays India. To this day > I still can't figure out how this atrocity recieved so many Academy Awards. > The film lasted for a period not exceeding 3 hours. Ten minutes into the > film we were ready to leave, but after paying $4.00 a piece we refused to > leave the theater, without a full refund... > Granted the director got together 100's of the lowlife's from India to > shoot the film, just like Ghandi... Big f*uckin deal! > My advise is to stay away from Assage to India...... For such a tirade of abuse it would be nice to see some justification for Mark's opinions. After ten minutes was he bored with the film? Was he sickened by the attitudes of the portrayed characters? Was it a realistic portrayal of the then current socio-political set-up? Or did he think the movie was highly inaccurate, indulgant, self-satisfied, trivial, glorying in a sad period of history, or what? What does he mean by "lowlifes from India"? Mark, so you didn't care for this movie; are you going to tell us why? -- Marcus Hand (hou5h!mgh)
nosmo@pyuxqq.UUCP (P Valdata) (04/11/85)
I am appalled by Mr. Friedman's "review" of A Passage to India. (I don't know how to include it in this posting.) I think he owes us all an apology, both for the obscenities and for his characterization of the Indian extras in the film. While I find it difficult to believe that anyone could be so displeased by such a beautiful and interesting film, I realise that there is no accounting for taste, and we all have the right to express our opinions. Nevertheless, regardless of how strongly one dislikes a film, there is no need to be offensive in the review. Pat Valdata pyuxh!nosmo
rajeev@sftri.UUCP (S.Rajeev) (04/13/85)
> Path...!nvuxb!mark > References: <556@cornell.UUCP> <1315@yale.ARPA> <4651@ucla-cs.ARPA>, <651@ahutb.UUCP> > I was really sickened by this portrayal of yesterdays India. To this day Why were you "sickened"? > I still can't figure out how this atrocity recieved so many Academy Awards. > The film lasted for a period not exceeding 3 hours. Ten minutes into the > film we were ready to leave, but after paying $4.00 a piece we refused to > leave the theater, without a full refund... > > Granted the director got together 100's of the lowlife's from India to "lowlife's from India"... and why are they "lowlife's [sic]", pray? Such blatant, bigoted stereotyping merely reflects on you, Mr. Friedman. As an Indian, I strongly resent this unwarranted insult and suggest that you owe us all an apology. > shoot the film, just like Ghandi... Big f*uckin deal! > My advise is to stay away from Assage to India...... You are entitled to your opinion about the artistic merit in this movie, but try to substantiate it with some reason instead of ranting and raving. A measure of decorum and tact from all concerned would make this newsgroup much more useful and interesting. -- ...ihnp4!attunix!rajeev -- usenet ihnp4!attunix!rajeev@BERKELEY -- arpanet Sri Rajeev, SF 1-342, Bell Labs, Summit, NJ 07901. (201)-522-6330.
mr@hou2h.UUCP (M.RINDSBERG) (04/18/85)
> References: <556@cornell.UUCP> <1315@yale.ARPA> <4651@ucla-cs.ARPA>, <651@ahutb.UUCP> > I was really sickened by this portrayal of yesterdays India. To this day > I still can't figure out how this atrocity recieved so many Academy Awards. > The film lasted for a period not exceeding 3 hours. Ten minutes into the > film we were ready to leave, but after paying $4.00 a piece we refused to > leave the theater, without a full refund... > > Granted the director got together 100's of the lowlife's from India to > shoot the film, just like Ghandi... Big f*uckin deal! > My advise is to stay away from Assage to India...... Lowlifes ??????? WHY ? It is true that the movie was not the best of movies however some of the artistry was superb and did deserve some sort of Academy award. Mark
gvg@hp-pcd.UUCP (gvg) (04/20/85)
from: GV Goebel
re: PASSAGE TO INDIA
date: Saturday 20 April 1985
I was interested in all the Net comments on PASSAGE TO INDIA.
I don`t think I would ever bother to argue over the merits of a movie;
if you like a movie, that`s fine, if you don`t, fine also.
The thing that interests me about people`s reactions to A PASSAGE TO
INDIA is that it shows just how vastly different people`s points of
view can be.
I went to the film and enjoyed it - I could pleasurably sit through it
again - which is unusual for me. I was baffled when I heard other people
say, "I couldn`t understand what it was all about!" It seemed utterly
straightforward to me - no more baffling (in its own very different way)
than, say, STAR WARS.
The thing that was unusual about the film (in my own opinion) was that
it didn`t try to spell everything out. There was no attempt to spell
out the motivations of the characters, there was no pat moral to the
story. I liked that, because as far as I can see, the real world is
like that...
Regards - GVG
hplabs!hp-pcd!gvgwetcw@pyuxa.UUCP (T C Wheeler) (04/23/85)
It helps to have read the book in understanding Passage. It helps even more if it was one of the books discussed in ENG 203. T. C. Wheeler