Heat and Dust 1983

     Anne has traveled to Satipur Town in India of 1982 to investigate the past of her grandaunt Olivia.  Anne has the letters Olivia wrote about her experiences in India of the early 1920’s.  Olivia has recently married Douglas, a civil servant for the British Empire in the colonial administration.  While Douglas is busy with his duties, Olivia starts to spend her abundant free time with the Nawab, a local ruler.  There has recently been a lot of trouble in the region caused by bandits and there is opposition to the British community.  Anne is researching this period of history in Olivia’s life.

     I usually prefer films done in a chronological order.  This film always goes back and forth between the 1920’s and 1982.  The way to tell the difference is the scenes with Greta Scacchi are in the 1920’s and the scenes with Julie Christie are in 1982.  There is a mystery here too about the choices Olivia made and why.  I really enjoy films pertaining to the Raj rule in India.  4* (I liked this movie)

133 min, Drama directed by James Ivory and produced by Ismail Merchant with Julie Christie, Greta Scacchi, Christopher Cazenove, Julian Glover, Susan Fleetwood, Patrick Godfrey, Jennifer Kendal, Shashi Kapoor, Madhur Jaffrey, Nickolas Grace, Barry Foster, Zakir Hussain, Tatna Pathak, Tarla Mehta, Charles McCaughan.

Note:  Imdb 6.7 out of 10, 57% audience on Rotten Tomatoes, Roger 3*.

Special Note:  Merchant and Ivory spent 20 years working on films about the British in India.  On Wikipedia, there is a category of films set in the British Raj and an alphabetical listing of all the films pertaining to this subject.