A Passage to India (1984)

A Passage to India (1984)

Director: David Lean

Plot Synopsis[]

Cultural mistrust and false accusations doom a friendship in British colonial India between an Indian doctor (Victor Banerjee), an Englishwoman (Judy Davis) engaged to marry a city magistrate (Nigel Havers), and an English educator (James Fox).

Male Deaths[]

None

Female Deaths[]

Peggy Ashcroft [Mrs. Moore]

Gallery[]

Trivia[]

The relationship between writer and director Sir David Lean and Sir Alec Guinness deteriorated during the making of the movie. The final straw came for Guinness when he found out that a large chunk of his scenes had been left on the cutting room floor by Lean. Neither man ever met or spoke to the other again.
Writer and director Sir David Lean had frequent on-set clashes with Judy Davis, who accused him of having lost his touch, not having directed for fourteen years.
Sir Alec Guinness spent several weeks learning an intricate Hindu dance for a scene that ended up on the cutting room floor.
As well as several leading cast members, Sir David Lean steadily alienated most of his heads of department and their crew during production. The atmosphere on-set deteriorated to such an extent that producer John Brabourne had to eventually order the camera crew to, at least, say "good morning" to Lean each day.
This is David Lean's first and last movie after a 14-year hiatus from the industry. He was so devastated by the negative reviews of Ryan's Daughter (1970), he dropped out of the filmmaking scene.
Sir David Lean wanted Peter O'Toole for the role of Fielding.
Peggy Ashcroft was initially reluctant to take the role of Mrs. Moore. She told Sir David Lean, "Mr Lean, I'm 75 years old." "So am I", he replied. Although she had recently worked in India on The Jewel in the Crown (1984), she said, "I thought, 'Oh dear, I really don't want to do it', but it's very difficult to turn down a Lean film."
Satyajit Ray, who had hoped to direct his adaptation of the book, recommended Victor Banerjee for the role of Dr. Aziz. After some hesitation, Sir David Lean cast Banerjee, but Lean had to overcome the restrictions of British equity to employ an Indian actor. Lean got his way, and the casting made headlines in India. "It was a matter of national pride that an Indian was cast instead of an Asian from England", observed Banerjee.
Peggy Ashcroft's favorite scene was when she got to ride an elephant.
During 1982, Sir David Lean worked on the script. He spent six months in New Delhi, to have a close feeling of the country while writing. As he could not stay longer than that for tax reasons, he then moved to Zurich for three months finishing it there. Following the same method he had employed with Great Expectations (1946), he went through his copy of the novel, picking out the episodes that were indispensable, and passing over those that did not advance the plot. Lean typed out the whole screenplay, correcting it as he went along, following the principle that scripts are not written, but re-written.