Heat and Dust is a Merchant Ivory production and stars Julie Christie, Shashi Kapoor, Greta Scacchi, Christoper Cazenove, Madhur Jaffrey, Zakhir Hussain, Charles McCaughan, Nickolas Grace, Julian Glover, Susan Fleetwood, Patrick Godfrey, Jennifer Kendal and Barry Foster.
Produced by Ismail Merchant and directed by James Ivory this film was released in 1983 and is rated as a 15 (as there some sex scenes not suitable for younger viewers). The film is based on a novel by Ruth Prawer Jhabvala and runs for 130 minutes. The photography was by Walter Lassally with music direction by Richard Robbins.
PLOT TEASER
Anne (Christie) goes to India to find out more about her great aunt Olivia's (Scacchi) disgraced past in India. She moves in with an Indian family and get alongs with them all, especially the man of the house, Inderpal (Hussain). Anne reads over and over long and detailed letters that Olivia had written to her sister Maggie, who was Anne's grandmother.
Olivia was married to Douglas Rivers (Cazenove), the Assistant Collector, and went to India six months after their marriage. Very much in love with her husband, she is not content to mix with the other English wives as she finds them boring. She soon meets the Nawab (Kapoor) and is very taken with him, much to his mother, the Begum's (Jaffrey), distaste. She befriends Harry (Grace), a guest of the Nawab and starts to spend a lot of time with him, to disguise the fact that she wants to see the Nawab. Olivia craves excitement and refuses to go away with the other wives to Simla when the summer heat becomes too much for them to bear.
In the meantime her husband is plotting with Crawford (Glover), the District Collector, to bring the Nawab down, as they believe he is in collusion with bandits who are terrorising villages. Olivia refuses to believe that the Nawab is involved in such activities and gets closer to him whilst becoming somewhat distant from her husband. Then she finds out she is pregnant, which is the last thing she wants.
What does Olivia do about her pregnancy? Will she betray her husband to the Nawab? How does history repeat itself with Anne? Did Olivia ever find true happiness? Will Anne find true happiness?
WHAT DID I THINK?
Starting off in glorious colour whilst the initial credits roll, we're introduced to the main characters. I just adored the way we are introduced to the characters in the film - lovely black and white scenic pictures and the characters' pictures in vibrant colours with their screen and real names.
The film is told in both past and present mode jumping back and forth as the story unfolds. It's all done quite cleverly and, as we're introduced to the characters at the start of the film, there's no confusion as to which era we're watching.
I found the acting of all the main characters to be quite superb. Julie Christie is somewhat unsure of herself, has low self-esteem due to a failed affair and portrays her character's vulnerability extremely well. She also shows that she is not one to follow the norm and speaks up for herself when the local women keep hounding her about getting married. Greta Scacchi played a very different role to any I've seen her in before. She plays the innocent, excitement-craving newlywed with ease and is quite gullible and very easily led by the men in her life. Christopher Cazanove was suitably handsome and gallant in his role and very "British", stiff upper lip and all that! Shashi Kapoor was quite funny in his role, playing the very pompous and somewhat mysterious prince who always gets his own way like a natural. I have to mention Nickolas Grace too, as the only character to be present in both past and present in the film, he plays a very likeable character and you can see why both Olivia and the Nawab both adore him. Madhur Jaffrey was brilliant as the Nawab's chain-smoking mother who totally objects to her son's "relationship" with Olivia and holds court as regally as one would expect of someone of that time.
There was one scene in the film which was really amusing for me, when Olivia goes out for the day with the Nawab and various others and they play "musical chairs" - except in this case the music is live music played by the Nawab's courtiers and the chairs are actually just cushions on the ground!
The title of the film refers to the overpowering heat in India during key parts of the film and the dust storms which were the setting for some of the aforementioned scenes. Olivia's husband keeps trying to send her away to a cooler part of India during this excessively hot time of year but she refuses to go, saying she'd be bored with the other wives and does not want to be apart from him. He says the heat makes people mad and irritable. Perhaps it's this madness that drives her into another man's arms, but it's more likely due to her husband spending so much time at work and leaving her alone at home all day.
It isn't made clear in the film if the Nawab, in fact, had the bandits working on his behalf. It's all left up to you to decide but this isn't a major part of the story so it's pretty irrelevant whether or not he was guilty. The story was mostly about 2 English women from different generations who were seduced by India…
The one thing which slightly confused me was that the story jumps back and forth between the 1920s and 1982. You get deeply involved in one part of the story and then suddenly it jumps to another period, which was probably the director's intention for this double edged drama. Saying that, I thoroughly enjoyed the film and was left feeling quite empty when it finished. It was if as I didn't want it to finish! A high 9 out of 10 from me for this one.
DVD EXTRAS
The DVD version I have includes scene selection and Ismail Merchant introducing the Merchant Ivory collection, which includes films such as Shakespeare Wallah, Bombay Talkie, The Perfect Murder, The Householder, A Room With A View, The Deceivers, Howards End, Maurice and The Bostonians. 5 second trailers are shown for many of the productions.
Ismail Merchant then discusses several of these, saying how he felt about choosing people to play the various parts. He states how they had a budget of $2 million to make Heat and Dust and it was one of Merchant Ivory's most successful films. He also says how their films are "of the mind, heart and intelligence".
As DVD extras go, there weren't many, but what there were, were interesting to view.
WHERE TO BUY
You can pick up a copy of the DVD from SelectCheaper.com for £5.99 or from 101cd.com for £10.99, or even from sendit.com for £14.99. I'm pretty sure you can get it even cheaper on ebay if you hunt around. It's also available from amazon.co.uk from £11.99.
ABOUT MERCHANT IVORY PRODUCTIONS
Merchant Ivory is a collaboration of three people from different cultures: Ismail Merchant, the producer who was born in India, James Ivory, the director, who was born in the United States and Ruth Prawer Jhabvala, the screenwriter, born in Germany and educated in England.
Merchant Ivory films are mostly known for their visual beauty and splendid locations used for filming. They have always been very careful to ensure excellent casting and using intelligent and mature themes.
Ismail Merchant died in May 2005, which sadly ended a very long partnership with James Ivory - a collaboration which earned them a place in the Guinness Book of Records for the longest partnership in independent cinema.
SOME FACTS ABOUT HEAT AND DUST
It won Best Screenplay at the British Academy Awards in 1984 and was nominated for a further 8 awards.
The novel from which it was adapted won the Booker Prize in 1975.
Simon Callow was originally offered a major part in the film but had to decline as he was committed to appearing in a West End play at the time.
This was Greta Scacchi's debut film.
Madhur Jaffrey (you might recognise her as a TV cook and author), who played Shashi Kapoor's mother in the film, was actually the same age as him and had played his mistress in a previous film!
Thanks for reading.
p.s. Gentlemen, please note: you get to see Greta Scacchi's rear end naked in this film! p.p.s. Ladies, please note: you get to see Cristopher Cazenove's rear end naked too! p.p.p.s. EVERYONE, please note: it's all done very tastefully…
More details
Soundtrack
Good
How does it compare to others by the same director?
Good
Value for Money
Excellent
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DVD
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