Heat and Dust is a delicate, well-mounted adaptation,
but it never quite engages as much as it should. Perhaps this is because its
central plot – a white woman is fascinated by India – is a familiar trope in both
novels and films of the Raj. It does take a different approach by intercutting
between the present and the 1920s. This presents intriguing opportunities to
show ways India has changed physically (the homes of the British Raj have
become offices) but also ways it has remained the same culturally.
This carries across in the contrasting stories of two women,
both of whom become intrigued by their surroundings and romantically entangled
with Indian men. While Olivia is (eventually) disgraced and ostracised by her
community, Anne has the freedom to make her own choices. Both women find
themselves drifting into life-changes through male seduction. Perhaps this is
one of the points of the film in the end – that women, no matter the timeline,
are people that things (or men) happen to, rather than being the true owners of
their own lives?
It seems the case with Olivia, who never feels in full control
her own life, but instead moves inexorably towards a destiny she can’t really
influence. Charmingly played, with a sparkle and playful innocence by Greta
Scacchi in her film debut, Olivia’s motivations are almost deliberately
obscured. Although Ivory uses a device at first of Olivia’s letters being
dramatised by Scacchi addressing the camera, this device is swiftly dropped. The
letters remain a presence, but we never hear from them. Instead most of
Olivia’s actions are narrated by her friend Harry (Nickolas Grace), now an old
man. It places a distance between the viewer and Olivia, making her actions
harder to understand.
But then that is part of the enigma. India is a land of heat
and dust, where normal rules don’t apply and people (particularly those from
the West) find themselves reformed by. Olivia has no time for the stuffy,
racist British population (especially the frightful woman). But she’s drawn to
the Nawab partly because he’s a fusion of East and West, an Indian exotic with
the charm of an English gentleman. For his part the Nawab, very well played by
Shashi Kapoor, plans a seduction but his motives are as hard to read as Olivia.
Is it attraction or revenge on the British for their contempt?
Perhaps it’s a film where we look for deep meaning and
motivations, but it is in fact about how we don’t necessarily make grand
decisions about our lives, but make a series of in-the-moment decisions. Both
Anne and Olivia never seem to proactively make decisions, but instead events
largely occur to them. Although this can make for a film sometimes lacking in
energy, it does avoid making things obvious for the audience. Even if that can
be frustrating when characters remain almost deliberately oblique.
What’s also oddly frustrating about the film is its more
modern section. The commentary comparing the present and the past promises much
but actually adds little. Anne is a curiously uninvolving character, played with
a sweet tenderness by Julie Christie. Anne is hardly proactive and there is
very little narrative drive behind her exploration of the past. Strangely the
issues the more modern section deals with – including digs at Western cultural
tourists – end up feeling less relevant than the issues of race and empire in
the 1920s.
And its unfortunate that the 1920s plot line, although well
staged and managed, seems extremelt familiar – with echoes of A Passage to
India and The Jewel in the Crown for starters. While it’s well acted
(as well as those mentioned, Christopher Cazenove is very good) and creates an enigmatic
atmosphere, you often feel you’re seeing something done better elsewhere. It
starts as an investigation into the past, but becomes something more freeform,
as if in the heat and dust of India, plans come to nothing. But its air of
enigma and portrayal of characters buffeted by small events doesn’t come
together into a compelling story or a rich insight into India.
No comments:
Post a Comment
Note: only a member of this blog may post a comment.