Starring : James Mason, Madhur Jafrrey, Keith Varnier, Diane Fletcher, Timothy Bateson Johnny Stuart, Nazrul Rahman
Merchant Ivory Productions presents Director: James Ivory Screenplay: Ruth Prawer Jhabvala Photography: Walter Lassally Editor: Humphrey Dixon Music: VIC Flick Producer: Ismail Merchant
An Indian princess (Madhur Jaffrey), a long divorced and living in self-enforced exile in London, invites her Father’s ex-tutor, Cyril Sahib (James Mason), to an annual tea party, intended to celebrate a happier past, where the two watch old movie footage of royal India.
The Princess reviews her memories selectively: she sees their long-vanished, fun –filled world, dominated by his dazzling father, through a haze of nostalgia, and she tries to wheedle her guest into writing a book about it. Cyril Sahib has a different view both of their common past and of her father, the Maharaja. He recalls the ceremonial occasions, the weddings and funerals, the pig-sticking expeditions, the pranks and practical jokes with distaste, even horror at the surfeit and brutality. And he remembers the dashing Maharaja – to his adoring daughter almost a surrogate lover – as manipulative and often cruel, his later years soiled y a sordid sex scandal in London.
In this perfect, tightly written film of memory and character exploration, James Mason gives one of the finest portrayals of his career, almost a kind of valedictory performance as the articulate and self-aware Cyril Sahib. Madhur Jaffrey, a favourite Merchant Ivory actress, is no less affecting as the imperious but befuddled, and finally tragically isolated, Princess.
Special Features: About the Film Autobiographies Trailers Short Film: Sweet Sounds Colour Mode: Colour Disc format: DVD-9 Audio content: Dolby Digital Region Code: PAL Aspect ratio: 4:3 Genre: Drama
1. Opening Credits 2. The Wrong Place 3. Pig Sticking 4. Through Their Eyes 5. At The Beginning 6. More Tea 7. Getting Along 8. End Credits
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