A
new Winterbottom movie is always something that I really look forward too with
great anticipation, partly because it’s almost impossible to predict what genre
he will choose let alone the subject matter.
After last year’s wonderfully funny ‘The Trip’ Mr Winterbottom, one of
the UK‘s most versatile and prolific directors, has gone back to the 19th
Century novels of Thomas Hardy for the third time (‘Jude’ based on Jude The
Obscure, ‘The Claim’ from The Mayor of Castlebridge) and turned ‘Tess of the D’Urbervilles’
into ‘Trishna’. He’s transported the
story from rural England to modern-day India, adapted the facts to make the
story tighter, and ditched the whole religious part which I think is no bad
thing.
Tess
is now Trishna, an intelligent Indian peasant girl and the daughter of an
auto-rickshaw owner who throws his whole livelihood into jeopardy when he
‘totals’ the vehicle in an accident.
Trishna is now the breadwinner of the large family and is encouraged to
accept a job offer in a hotel in far away Jaipur that had been made by a
wealthy young man who recently met her when visiting the countryside with his
mates.
is now Trishna, an intelligent Indian peasant girl and the daughter of an
auto-rickshaw owner who throws his whole livelihood into jeopardy when he
‘totals’ the vehicle in an accident.
Trishna is now the breadwinner of the large family and is encouraged to
accept a job offer in a hotel in far away Jaipur that had been made by a
wealthy young man who recently met her when visiting the countryside with his
mates.
Jay
is far more interested in Trishna than in running his father’s hotel and she
eventually succumbs to his amorous advances (she is after all a ‘pure woman’ as
Hardy insisted Tess was). She gets
pregnant and without telling Jay runs back home to her distraught family who
insist on an abortion. Now back leading
a rough rural life and working in her Uncle’s factory she is an easy target when Jay eventually tracks her
down and persuades her to go live with him in Mumbai. They set up home together
and for a time they enjoy a rather romantic and privileged life. And then Jay’s ailing father
instructs his son to takeover the big country hotel that is not too far from
Trishna’s family home and they both accept that as their relationship will be
not approved of by anyone, then she will have to take a job as a Maid there
just so that they can still sort of be together.
is far more interested in Trishna than in running his father’s hotel and she
eventually succumbs to his amorous advances (she is after all a ‘pure woman’ as
Hardy insisted Tess was). She gets
pregnant and without telling Jay runs back home to her distraught family who
insist on an abortion. Now back leading
a rough rural life and working in her Uncle’s factory she is an easy target when Jay eventually tracks her
down and persuades her to go live with him in Mumbai. They set up home together
and for a time they enjoy a rather romantic and privileged life. And then Jay’s ailing father
instructs his son to takeover the big country hotel that is not too far from
Trishna’s family home and they both accept that as their relationship will be
not approved of by anyone, then she will have to take a job as a Maid there
just so that they can still sort of be together.
Its
an arrangement that Trishna is agreeable too at first, until Jay really starts playing
the lord of the manor and treats her more like a servant and a sex object
rather than the love of his life. And if
you know your Hardy, you will know that action makes for a very bloody end for
the young man.
an arrangement that Trishna is agreeable too at first, until Jay really starts playing
the lord of the manor and treats her more like a servant and a sex object
rather than the love of his life. And if
you know your Hardy, you will know that action makes for a very bloody end for
the young man.
This
is not Mr Winterbottom’s first movie set in Asia (‘In This World’, ‘A Might
Heart’) so he handles the settings and cultures like a native. He found himself a beautiful talent in
Friedo Pinto to play Trishna, and this was a great role for her after her
breakout performance in ‘Slumdog Millionaire’. Riz Ahmed in his second
Winterbottom movie (although better known for the wonderful farcical jihadist black comedy ‘Four Lions’) made a convincing and menacing Jay. The other cast member that caught my
attention was Roshan Seth who played Jay’s father who I remembered from ‘Monsoon
Wedding’, but importantly IMDB jogged my memory later when I re-discovered that
he played a father in Stephen Frear’s ground-breaking ‘My Beautiful Launderette’
back in 1985.
is not Mr Winterbottom’s first movie set in Asia (‘In This World’, ‘A Might
Heart’) so he handles the settings and cultures like a native. He found himself a beautiful talent in
Friedo Pinto to play Trishna, and this was a great role for her after her
breakout performance in ‘Slumdog Millionaire’. Riz Ahmed in his second
Winterbottom movie (although better known for the wonderful farcical jihadist black comedy ‘Four Lions’) made a convincing and menacing Jay. The other cast member that caught my
attention was Roshan Seth who played Jay’s father who I remembered from ‘Monsoon
Wedding’, but importantly IMDB jogged my memory later when I re-discovered that
he played a father in Stephen Frear’s ground-breaking ‘My Beautiful Launderette’
back in 1985.
Anyway
this tale of love not conquering all is another splendid piece of movie making
from one of my favourite designers. The
one ‘but’ , and it’s a fairly large one, relates to the film’s middle section
when the young couple are establishing themselves as a couple in Mumbai, and
suddenly you have this overwhelming sense that Mr Winterbottom has handed over
the reigns to a Soap Opera Director.
It’s not only a very stilted passage but it is more than a tad annoying.
this tale of love not conquering all is another splendid piece of movie making
from one of my favourite designers. The
one ‘but’ , and it’s a fairly large one, relates to the film’s middle section
when the young couple are establishing themselves as a couple in Mumbai, and
suddenly you have this overwhelming sense that Mr Winterbottom has handed over
the reigns to a Soap Opera Director.
It’s not only a very stilted passage but it is more than a tad annoying.
Nevertheless, still highly recommended.
(Due
to be released in the US in July …. but readers in Russia and Australia will get a
chance to see it in May.)
to be released in the US in July …. but readers in Russia and Australia will get a
chance to see it in May.)
★★★★★★★★
