Before the Rains Cornelia at 09:43 on 07 August 2008
This seems to be a remake of a 1994 film. The biggest surprise for me was Jennifer Ehle turning up as the washed-out colonial wife in India and I thought what a waste but there are some scenes that need a proper actress, and I won't say too much more about that. It's a shame they couldn't have given her a few more frocks considering it was 1937 and the wife in that one about cholera-ridden China was forever changing her clothes. She had more of the right shape, though. Still, what Jennifer had was very good guality, particularly the purple-trimmed satin with cup-cake sleeves for hosting dignitaries. Magenta, maybe.
Scenery was superb - a part Merchant-Ivory production so they've had plenty of practice. The McGuffin was the inter-racial romance interrupted by returning memsahib and its social consequences, but the real story was colonial exploitation fir profit. The post-colonial representation of Indians is what makes it a step on from Somerset Maugham. It's got plenty of suspense, too. Better than I expected.
Cornelia