A fundamentally mild & decent, docile/earnest Indian man under British occupation and his new British occupiers attempt to push back social barriers to become equals and friends. Dr. Aziz goes to great lengths to please them and make their visit special, and his kindness is repaid by with British hauteur; utilizing their entitlement mindset to knock him down a few pegs, and humiliating him with a rape-trial that takes as its foundation, his utter inferiority and baseness. The movie has the usual things to say about international friendships. The peace of the world depends on sending thoughtful people abroad, who can never again treat the cultures and peoples they oppress as anything less than human.
I'm a fan of Lean's early work, but not his epics. Even so, this has compositions that are not merely pretty, but extraordinarily difficult to get on film. (plain old 'pretty' is easy.) A shot of Aziz (Bannerjee) frantically running from one excavated cave opening to another as an eagle lofts over his head (like a bad omen) is astonishing. An interior residential composition features a cricket game being played in the distance, out the back window. These shots are very difficult, and to be appreciated.
The main problem I have with the movie is that it's extremely difficult to relate to a Brit so high-strung she can't tell the difference between a loud noise and her own rape. And it is not so elaborate that it needs to be almost three hours long.
I'm a fan of Lean's early work, but not his epics. Even so, this has compositions that are not merely pretty, but extraordinarily difficult to get on film. (plain old 'pretty' is easy.) A shot of Aziz (Bannerjee) frantically running from one excavated cave opening to another as an eagle lofts over his head (like a bad omen) is astonishing. An interior residential composition features a cricket game being played in the distance, out the back window. These shots are very difficult, and to be appreciated.
The main problem I have with the movie is that it's extremely difficult to relate to a Brit so high-strung she can't tell the difference between a loud noise and her own rape. And it is not so elaborate that it needs to be almost three hours long.