A Passage to India Film Analysis | Screenplay Explained | David Lean

[@LivingWaterEternal]

A plus. Good analysis.

[@tellable]

Thank you very much :)

[@ibnbattuta1304]

When I first watched this film, I had an impression that Mrs. Moore was returning to India. Also, that Adela was like a younger version of Mrs. Moore, and Aziz a younger version of Professor Godbole. I can see Ms. Quested returning to India at an old age to see Dr Aziz.

[@GoofyChaiLoverGirl]

Beautiful Analysis, you have cracked the story.

[@ushashi6158]

I think Sir Alec Guinness playing the part of Professor Godbole is a blunder... His accent is in no way Indian... Its absolutely British

[@tellable]

We must agree with you, though he has tried his best. We are curious to know why David Lean wanted an Englishman to play the part of an "Indian, Hindu representative"... is it because Lean believed that Hinduism is all about diversity?

[@ushashi6158]

@@tellable may be.. But I think Girish Karnad would have been a better option

[@tellable]

@@ushashi6158 that sounds appropriate! - he would have done a brilliant role.

[@williamgardiner2010]

I’ve warmed to his Idiosyncratic portrayal of an idiosyncratic character. Lean had had a fallout with Alec Guinness many years before so Guinness did not appear in Ryan’s Daughter. This was an attempt to patch things up. Guinness was deeply undecided what to do with the part and wanted to leave the set during the shoot. He thought he had failed though was annoyed when most of his performance was cut by Lean from the film. All these years later, having Godbole as an enigmatic cameo worked within the structure of the film. Do remember that the Soviet’s were outraged when a Syrian/Egyptian actor from Cairo played a Russian in Doctor Zhivago. It is impossible now to think of that film without the wonderful Omar Sharif.

[@tellable]

"having Godbole as an enigmatic cameo worked within the structure of the film" - you are absolute right, WG. Intentionally or not, Lean's decision has worked pretty well in the favour of the film's tone

[@oscarstainton]

This intriguing analysis, and the cyclical theme of birth, life, death and rebirth introduced by the film, has encouraged me to give A Passage to India another watch with this observation in mind. Excellent video!

[@tellable]

Very happy to hear that! Reinforces the intent of the analysis - to encourage people to climb down this film and notice Lean's understanding and reflection of a foreign culture. Thank you very much for sharing your thoughts, Oscar! Happy to meet you :)

[@oscarstainton]

@@tellable Very nice to meet you, thank you for such a warm welcome!! :) I’m looking forward to seeing the next few videos on David Lean’s visual storytelling.

[@tellable]

Hi, here is the second and final part of our analysis of this film: kzbin.info/www/bejne/pIuchWlnabKXeaM We delve into themes and symbols in this. We hope you would find this interesting as well.

[@mathildedlihtam382]

Really excellent analysis! Found this while searching for primary video sources for a research project on David Lean. Your other videos are interesting too! Looking forward to more. (-:

[@tellable]

Thank you, Mathilde! Means a lot... and it is very nice to meet a fellow Lean-enthusiast. All the very best to your research and let me know if I can help you anyhow.

[@mathildedlihtam382]

@@tellable There's some interesting analysis from Antoinette Burton in her biography of Santha Rama Rau and by Salman Rushdie in his essay 'Outside the Whale' - much more critical from a postcolonial POV, but the artistic quality of the film is undeniable.

[@tellable]

Hi, here is the second and final part of our analysis of this film: kzbin.info/www/bejne/pIuchWlnabKXeaM We delve into themes and symbols in this. We hope you would find this interesting as well.

[@gregoryh3270]

I too was intrigued by the explanation of the birth-death-rebirth cycle. The timeline is really useful for this.

[@tellable]

Thank you, Gregory :) Happy the theory resonated with you.

[@shvndrrana8038]

Serisously appreciate ur analysis of the movie was remarkable... but as a movie i am still dissappointed with it. a viewer should not have to listen to somebody's analysis to understand the movie, it should do it on its own. I enjoyed ur analysis more than the movie itself.

[@tellable]

We agree with you there. But some material are too dense, too intricate that it requires audience participation to unravel them together. We are very eager to know what excited Lean and his team to make this film. To each his own. :)

[@scronx]

It's perfectly all right to find the ending unsatisfactory. Seems totally phony to be honest -- we thought the English finally got their comeuppance but then it goes all nicey-nicey! Thank you for taking up this fantastic film and sharing your many insights into it.

[@gerardoherrera9265]

Great analysis! Greetings from Peru

[@tellable]

Thank you, Gerardo, very happy you found this analysis useful. Great to e-meet you too!

[@myblueandme]

The author cautioned about it to not to reproduce it as it might misrepresent the actual sense for both Indian and English audiences. But David Lean did it.

[@jearnott]

An interesting analysis, especially the cyclical nature of events. I hadn’t noticed the significance of the date 1892 - l wonder what that was about.

[@tellable]

Hey JA! Thanks for your feedback, and yes, we didn't notice the cyclical pattern until after watching several times :) The date - we wonder too! Hopefully we will crack in our next episode...

[@Caperhere]

@@tellable Mrs. Moore had two husbands. She remarried after her first husband died. Ronnie is the son of her first husband. In the book, which is being read live everyday, then uploaded to KZbin, by Fireside Reading, she mentions a ghost. Aziz has also lost his wife to death After Mrs. Moore mentions a ghost, Adela questions her about it when they are playing cards. She feigns ignorance. The card game Mrs. Moore is playing is a form of Solitaire, but it is called “ Demons” in the book. The placing of cards may be significant? This movie is exceptionally difficult for the Western mind to comprehend, as is the book. Also, I don’t know if the movie tried to pay homage to the earlier play, or the original book. 🙂Perhaps it doesn’t matter?🙂 The Indian Councils Act came to be in 1892.

[@physiatristonline]

We cant figure 1892 cause we are trying to analyze through the lens of western concept of "linear time" ...if instead of linear concept of time is event .......then dates recur two separate event cant be exacted by a singular date ...linear time muddles hence not a part of Indian mystery .

[@northitsera8600]

Well thought out analysis. EMFoerster was a troubled person with mysteries of his own. But this structure is certainly a good fit. I wonder if Lean ever talked about it.

[@MargaretPinard]

Great analysis! I thought about the birth in the caves in the book, but the movie's direction really pulls all the corners straight to make it clearer. :)

[@tellable]

Absolutely! The different phases of the cycle of life are not explored in the book, but in the movie, yes. That makes the movie more immediately structured and meaningful. (You have a great BookTube :) )

[@MargaretPinard]

@@tellable Thank you! :D

[@tellable]

Hi, here is the second and final part of our analysis of this film: kzbin.info/www/bejne/pIuchWlnabKXeaM We delve into themes and symbols in this. We hope you would find this interesting as well.

[@Cloudbusterpress]

I like this reincarnation analysis, especially since it jibes with the "return" of Mrs. Moore at the end when Fielding reveals he's married her daughter.

[@brentbeacham9691]

That was very interesting. And your production quality is very good 👍

[@tellable]

Thank you, Brent! Happy to hear :)

[@Xernya-b5c]

Where’s the other part :(

[@tellable]

Hi Guillermo, it is very nice to see that cinephiles like you are expecting our next video in this series! Thank you very much. We realize this is long overdue, sadly COVID and a few other factors delayed it for so long. We are working on it next and you can expect to watch it in the next month :)

[@tellable]

Hi Guillermo, here is the second and final part of our analysis of this film: kzbin.info/www/bejne/pIuchWlnabKXeaM We delve into themes and symbols in this. We hope you would find this interesting as well.

[@Xernya-b5c]

Thank you very much!!

[@laurenceesposito3393]

Well done!

[@tellable]

Thank you, Laurence :) Very glad you enjoyed!

[@j.2185]

Thank you, very informative

[@asadrahmanpriyo6802]

Could it be possible that her(Mrs moore) husband died on 1892?

[@tellable]

That's our hunch too, Asad. It cannot be herself because the film happens in 1917, so should be one of her two ex-husbands.

[@sinkhole_of_happiness]

@@tellable Walt Whitman died in 1892, who wrote the original poem 'a passage to india' that inspired Forster to write his book.

[@tellable]

@@sinkhole_of_happiness Woah! That suddenly makes sense, thanks for sharing! Now I am curious to know if Forster designed this date into this book (I have not read it yet).

[@mohitdandekar7947]

Great video

[@earlgray7003]

Good analysis. But I don't think there's anything special about Lean's use of circular narrative from end to beginning. Lean used it on "Lawrence of Arabia" and "Doctor Zhivago" too. In LOA, Lawrence's death by motorcycle in England is premonition-ed at the end of the film. There Lawrence hints at an interest in motorbikes when a passing motorcyclist passes him, just as he's making his exit out of Arabia. Then too in "Zhivago" we see the good doctor as a young boy at the burial of his mother. It foreshadows Zhivago's own death at the end of the film. Lean employed philosophical messaging in his other films too. Certainly in LOA. But also in "The Bridge on the River Kwai". In fact Kwai has similar philosophical themes as in "A Passage to India". Themes like one's purpose in the life, and the realization of one's smallness in a grand, seemingly purposeless universe.

[@tellable]

Oh, that's very interesting. Did not realize these - going to check these films out again through this perspective :)

[@josephcieplak8920]

What did she see inside that cave that make her cried?

[@vivekrbs]

good one.

[@tellable]

Thank you, Vivek :) It is nice to meet you!

[@SamSung-nf6tr]

Read about the author's childhood & read the book.