David_Lean’S_Interpolation_on_the_Film_Version_of_a_Passage_to_India__Artistic_or_Commercial_

Mahbuba Fahmee Assistance Professor Shah Ahmed 20th Century English Fiction (Eng-604) 4 May 2011 David Lean’s interpolation on the film version of A passage to India: artistic or commercial' A Passage to India is a book about a passage, which leads us to a small city Chandrapore, a city under British colonization. And some stereotype British characters for whom India is a “civilizing mission”, or Rudyard Kipling’s famous line “the white man’s burden” (A Passage). The passage also leads us to the caves, the ancient, ungovernable unexplainable India. It is a book which explores the sentiment of a common Indian man, an oriental, though written by an English man, E. M. Froster. Although Forster began writing the book in 1913, just after his first visit to India, the novel was not finished until well after his second visit. Finally published in 1924, A Passage to India examines the racial misunderstandings and cultural hypocrisy that characterized the complex relations between Indians and the English towards the end of the British occupation of India. The book failed to attract the appreciation of the English readers as because it shows the actual picture of the British Raj. But it did attract the attention of a famous British director David Lean. Lean was one of those film directors who brought many grand literary pieces into the world of films, gave them life. David Lean, who started his career as a tea boy in Gaumont Studios best remembered for bringing Charles Dickens's novels to the screen with films such as Great Expectations (1946) and Oliver Twist (1948), and for his big-screen epics such as The Bridge on the River Kwai (1957), Lawrence of Arabia (1962), Doctor Zhivago (1965), Ryan's Daughter (1970), and A Passage to India (1984). He was at the same time a film director, producer, screenwriter, and editor (Wiki). David Lean directed motion pictures with an acknowledged awareness of his actions and a stated set of intentions and expectations about the product of his labour. As a worker in an industry where that product faces evaluation based on economic results on the one hand and artistic satisfaction on the other, Lean achieved a height which few other directors in the history of motion pictures have achieved. A Passage to India is essentially a story of what can happen as a result of a chain of wrong-headed decisions and terrible misunderstandings, of trust given too easily or withheld far too long. At the film's center is Mr. Banerjee's superb performance as Aziz, a mad mixture of foolishness, bravery, honor and anger. Miss Davis, the young Australian actress who first caught American attention in ''My Brilliant Career,'' is far prettier than Forster's Adela, but she has a particular presence - like that of a younger, less abrasive Glenda Jackson - that helps make the film work. The film's tone is set by the splendid Miss Ashcroft's Mrs. Moore, whose self-assurance slowly ebbs as events and life overwhelm her (Canby) In the film version of the movie A Passage to India, we come across some interpolation done by the director although most of the time Lean remained faithful to the original story of Froster. Such as, the original story starts at the fictional city Chandrapore, but the story in the film begins back in England, with Adela Quested. Adela Quested visits an immigration officer to get her visa to visit India with her future mother-in-law, Mrs. Moore. Mrs. Moore is an old woman, who has a different way of seeing things, unlike the common British people. She has a something spiritual within her, like the Orientals, like the Indians. The actual story begins after these two women arrive in India. From the moment of their meeting we see that Adela is longing for her future husband’s attention, Ronny. But Ronny has the undeveloped heart of an Englishman; he hardly shows any kind of emotion or attraction towards Adela. This absence of love is very artistically portrayed in the film of David Lean. Afterwards we get a glimpse of Ronny’s mentality when a dead body was passing their car. On their way they had a small accident with Dr. Aziz, but the British driver did not even stopped or looked back to see if anything serious happened. This incident also is absent in the book of E. M. Froster. And by this accident Aziz (Victor Banarje) is introduced to us. In Frosters novel the Aziz is the touchstone character, the whole story circulates around Aziz. But in David Leans novel Aziz has not given that much importance, the film starts and ends with Adela Quested. In another scene, we get to see that Adela is riding a bicycle, going somewhere alone. This is quite unusual for an English woman at that time. But in the movie she rides a bicycle and visits a ruin of a temple. There were so many statues in that temple showing affectionate moment of man and woman. The temple symbolizes the ancient India, its culture, and its deep passion. But just like the decaying temple India is also decaying, its culture and tradition are losing their hold, and western culture is taking its place. Because we see the leading male character is wearing western dress all the time. But this temple, these statues makes Adela realize that there is no love between her and her fiancée, Ronny. And this realization frustrates her, as she was a woman of passion, always looking for true love. She wanted to see real India, but after the cave incident, she started to see the harshness, the bitter truth of real life. Dr. Aziz also recognized his true identity, becomes conscious about his root, his culture and religion. And thus afterwards, we get to see Aziz in traditional Muslim costumes. The images and archetypes through which Lean’s motion pictures transfuse the narrative and communicate sensation or point-of-view are unique. Contrary to the consent of most film critics, Lean’s work, his composition, presents a very different style of motion picture. It is no easy task to place Lean in any directorial hierarchy, nor is it necessarily advisable to do so (Silver). As in his Lawrence of Arabia, director David Lean again demonstrates to make imperial domination and Eastern uprising as scenic as possible. A Passage to India is a studious and reasonably concerning adaptation of Forster's novel, the premise of which—a young English lady visiting her prospective fiancé in India is allegedly molested by a warm and obsequious native doctor. The plot is sufficiently explosive to guarantee at least a few screen fireworks. A Passage to India aims to capture an epic confrontation of raging tempers, the formal adjudication of Adela Quested's rape clearly standing in for the growing impatience of the Indian people under British rule and the opposing, unbroken disregard of the British for the people they still call their subjects. It is very hard to say if the film version of A Passage to India is artistic or commercial. Because Lean is infamous for the artistic quality of him films. His films are legends in the history of motion picture and an inspiration and motivation for the striving directors. Lean made a number of literay movies which are successful both artistically and commercially. “Lean’s sense of artistry, which he seldom consented to discuss, was ultimately given free rein, as economic success permitted him a freedom of aesthetic choices very few directors have ever had” (Silver). And some of his interpolation in the film version of A Passage to India: such as the temple scene with Adela, provides us with an insight to the ancient India as well as the mind of Adela. When Fielding and professor Godbole appears in the train station late, before the journey to the Marabar Caves, a bar falls in front of their tonga, and professor Godbole takes it as bad omen. And for this barrier in front of him he refuses to go to the journey. This also shows us the conservative mentality of Hindu people at that time. But Lean also considered about the audience of his film, and my be for this reason he made Adela Quested the central character of the movie and not Dr Aziz. As his audience will be the British people, not the Indians. And thus, the movie A Passage to India is commercially successful as well as a piece of art itself. Work cited Shmoop Gamma. http://www.shmoop.com/passage-to-india/literary-devices.html. 4 May 2011. Canby, Vincent. The Screen ‘A Passage to India’, by David Lean. The New York Times.14 Dcem 1984. http://movies.nytimes.com/movie/review'res=9C05E6D61238F937A25751C1A962948260. 4 May 2011. Wikipedia The Free Encyclopedia. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/A_Passage_to_India. 4 May 2011. Silver, Alain. David Lean ‘Great Directors’. http://www.sensesofcinema.com/great-directors/. 4 May 2011.