Bhowani Junction

<body topmargin=0 leftmargin=0 marginheight=0 marginwidth=0> <table cellpadding=0 cellspacing=0 border=0><tr> <td valign="top" colspan=2 height=80 BGCOLOR="#000000" TEXT="#F7F7FF" bgproperties="fixed" background="04000500dvldtc.png"> <div> <FONT SIZE="5" COLOR="#FFCC66" FACE="Arial" ><B>Reel Movie Critic.com</B></FONT><B>     |     </B><A HREF="index.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Reel Movie Critic.com"><U><B>home</B></U></A></div> <div> <A HREF="id1956.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs"><U>Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs</U></A>   |   <A HREF="id1951.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Titanic"><U>Titanic</U></A>   |   <A HREF="id1955.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Terminator: Special Edition"><U>Terminator: Special Edition</U></A>   |   <A HREF="id1953.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Voyager"><U>Voyager</U></A>   |   <A HREF="id1947.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Topsy Turvy"><U>Topsy Turvy</U></A>   |   <A HREF="id1954.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Soul Food"><U>Soul Food</U></A>   |   <A HREF="id1952.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Strictly Ballroom"><U>Strictly Ballroom</U></A>   |   <A HREF="id1957.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="When We Were Kings"><U>When We Were Kings</U></A>   |   <A HREF="id1949.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Tumbleweeds"><U>Tumbleweeds</U></A>   |   <A HREF="id1950.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="The Talented Mr. Ripley"><U>The Talented Mr. Ripley</U></A>   |   <A HREF="id1932.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="A Map Of The World"><U>A Map Of The World</U></A>   |   <A HREF="id1939.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Angelas Ashes"><U>Angela's Ashes</U></A>   |   <A HREF="id1941.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Big Night"><U>Big Night</U></A>   |   <B>Bhowani Junction</B>   |   <A HREF="id1933.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Boys Dont Cry"><U>Boys Don't Cry</U></A>   |   <A HREF="id1936.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Bringing Out The Dead"><U>Bringing Out The Dead</U></A>   |   <A HREF="id1942.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Bound"><U>Bound</U></A>   |   <A HREF="id1940.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Castle"><U>Castle</U></A>   |   <A HREF="id1944.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Citizen Kane"><U>Citizen Kane</U></A>   |   <A HREF="id1935.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Cookies Fortune"><U>Cookies Fortune</U></A>   |   <A HREF="id1934.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Deep Blue Sea"><U>Deep Blue Sea</U></A>   |   <A HREF="id1945.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Dirty Harry Collection"><U>Dirty Harry Collection</U></A>   |   <A HREF="id1937.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Double Jeopardy"><U>Double Jeopardy</U></A>   |   <A HREF="id1938.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="End of Days"><U>End of Days</U></A>   |   <A HREF="id1960.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="The Diary of Anne Frank"><U>The Diary of Anne Frank</U></A>   |   <A HREF="id1963.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Best Films of 2002 Brenda Sexton "><U>Best Films of 2002 - Brenda Sexton </U></A>   |   <A HREF="id1964.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Mean Streets"><U>Mean Streets</U></A>   |   <A HREF="id1965.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Taxi Driver"><U>Taxi Driver</U></A>   |   <A HREF="id1967.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Goodfellas"><U>Goodfellas</U></A>   |   <A HREF="id1980.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Best Films of 2002 Cathy Edsey Collins"><U>Best Films of 2002 - Cathy Edsey Collins</U></A>   |   <A HREF="id1982.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Max"><U>Max</U></A></div> <div> </div> </td> </tr><tr> <td valign="top" width=210 BGCOLOR="#000000" TEXT="#F7F7FF" background="041d2c00dvldtc.png"> <div> <B>Home Page for</B></div> <div> <B>      </B><A HREF="http://newbookdiscounts.com/" TARGET="_top" TITLE="http://newbookdiscounts.com/"><U><B>Books</B></U></A></div> <div> <B>           </B><A HREF="http://www.reelmoviecritic.com/travelforless/id364.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="http://www.reelmoviecritic.com/travelfor"><U><B>Travel</B></U></A></div> <div> <B>                </B><A HREF="http://www.reelmoviecritic.com/" TARGET="_top" TITLE="http://www.reelmoviecritic.com/"><U><B>Movies</B></U></A></div> <DIV ALIGN="LEFT"></DIV> <div> <B>                   </B><A HREF="http://www.reelmoviecritic.com/travelforless/id361.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="http://www.reelmoviecritic.com/travelfor"><U><B>Great Web Sites</B></U></A></div> </td> <td valign="top" height=400 BGCOLOR="#000000" TEXT="#F7F7FF"> <div> Bhowani Junction</div> <div>  <iframe marginwidth="0" marginheight="0" width="120" height="240" scrolling="no" frameborder="0" src="http://rcm.amazon.com/e/cm?o=1&l=as1&f=ifr&t=reelmoviecriticc&p=8&asins=6302224306&IS2=1&lt1=_blank"><MAP NAME="boxmap-p8"><AREA SHAPE="RECT" COORDS="14, 200, 103, 207" HREF="http://rcm.amazon.com/e/cm/privacy-policy.html?o=1" ><AREA COORDS="0,0,10000,10000" HREF="http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/redirect-home/reelmoviecriticc" ></MAP><img src="http://rcm-images.amazon.com/images/G/01/rcm/120x240.gif" width="120" height="240" border="0" usemap="#boxmap-p8" alt="Shop at Amazon.com"></iframe>  </div> <div> <TABLE BORDER="0" CELLPADDING="2" CELLSPACING="1" WIDTH="501" BORDERCOLORLIGHT="#C0C0C0" BORDERCOLORDARK="#808080" FRAME="BOX" RULES="ALL" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0" > <tR> <tD VALIGN=TOP HEIGHT= 146 WIDTH="495"><div> <IMG SRC="13bb4d8c0.jpg" border=0 width="77" height="140" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0"></div> </tD> </tR> </TABLE></div> <div> <TABLE BORDER="0" CELLPADDING="1" CELLSPACING="1" WIDTH="640" BORDERCOLORLIGHT="#C0C0C0" BORDERCOLORDARK="#808080" FRAME="BOX" RULES="ALL" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0" > <tR> <tD VALIGN=TOP HEIGHT= 20 WIDTH="636"><div> <B>Bhowani Junction ***</B></div> </tD> </tR> <tR> <tD VALIGN=TOP HEIGHT= 20 WIDTH="636"><div> Reviewed by Brenda Sexton</div> </tD> </tR> <tR> <tD VALIGN=TOP HEIGHT= 19 WIDTH="636"><IMG BORDER="0" SRC="1x1.gif" HEIGHT="19" ALIGN="bottom" WIDTH="636" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0"></tD> </tR> <tR> <tD VALIGN=TOP HEIGHT= 20 WIDTH="636"><div> <B>Race For Freedom</B></div> </tD> </tR> </TABLE></div> <bR> <div> <TABLE BORDER="0" CELLPADDING="1" CELLSPACING="1" WIDTH="641" BORDERCOLORLIGHT="#C0C0C0" BORDERCOLORDARK="#808080" FRAME="BOX" RULES="ALL" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0" > <tR> <tD VALIGN=TOP HEIGHT= 20 WIDTH="317"><div> Victoria Jones:  Ava Gardner</div> </tD> <tD VALIGN=TOP><NOBR><div> Col. Rodney Savage:  Stewart Granger</div> </NOBR></tD> </tR> <tR> <tD VALIGN=TOP HEIGHT= 20 WIDTH="317"><div> Patrick Taylor:  Bill Travers</div> </tD> <tD VALIGN=TOP WIDTH="317"><div> Surabhai:  Abraham Sofaer</div> </tD> </tR> <tR> <tD VALIGN=TOP HEIGHT= 20 WIDTH="317"><div> Ranjit Kasel:  Francis Mathers</div> </tD> <tD VALIGN=TOP WIDTH="317"><div> Director:  George Cukor</div> </tD> </tR> </TABLE></div> <div>                        </div> <div>  <B>        </B></div> <div> <B>30 Second Bottom Line:</B>  An epic film depicting turbulent times in 1947 India as the British are disengaging from control and Indians are demanding their freedom.  Ava Gardner stars as Victoria Jones, half-Indian, half-English, struggling with her own racial identity and freedom.</div> <div>  </div> <div> <B>Story Line: </B> Ava Gardner delivers a stellar performance of a ravishing nurse in the English army in India in 1947.  She is pursued by many men yet struggles with identifying which racial group is most suited to her.  She initially is romantically involved with another "chi-chi" (half-breed), Patrick Taylor (Bill Travers).  Victoria quickly breaks up with him though because he seems too accepting of the prejudices he faces in his life as a half-breed.  She is too strong-willed to accept any barriers.</div> <div>  </div> <div> Though she may not easily fit into any one category or segment of her society, her beauty makes her attractive to men of every race.  She is the victim of an attempted rape by her brutal co-worker, Lt. McDaniel (Lionel Jeffries), which sends her into the safe and strict arms of a traditional Indian, Ranjit Kasel (Francis Mathews).  Draped in </div> <div> a sari, she makes bold political/racial statements by showing up at various military events dressed in traditional Indian attire.  But she seems to appear to her British colleagues to be trying too hard to claim her new ethnic identity.</div> <div>  </div> <div> Those around her seem less inclined to box her into a racial corner.  It is her internal struggles that compel her turmoil and conflicts.  During a Sikh religious ceremony with Ranjit, she experiences a crescendo of inner conflicts and is compelled to flee the ceremony, forsaking the strict adherence to a tradition Indian lifestyle. </div> <div>  </div> <div> Ultimately she has a romance with a stoic, brave Anglo-Saxon British</div> <div> Officer, Col. Rodney Savage (Stewart Granger).  It is in his arms she finds a sense of inner peace and love, though she realistically declines to return with him as his wife to live in England, certain she will be treated like a half-breed outsider in that society.</div> <div>  </div> <div> During her quest for personal peace and identity, we experience the drama of India in revolt.  The peaceful but persevering protesters as well as the insurgent Dubay both foster turmoil to achieve their political goals. The railway lines are portrayed as the backbone and lifelines of India, yet also as the manifestation of English control.  They are the central structure to this vast and unmanageable country and the setting for all the insurgents demonstrations and violence. </div> <div>  </div> <div> The lack of regard for individual human lives and the sense of the masses of </div> <div> people  in India is exceptionally well captured in this film.</div> <div>  </div> <div> <B>Tell Me More About it:</B> This is George Cukor's only completed epic film (he started "Gone With the Wind," but was replaced by producer David Selznick), and he achieves great success in capturing the feel of a foreign culture in revolt.</div> <div>  </div> <div> The classic scene of Indians laying their bodies down on the railroad tracks</div> <div> blocking a train from leaving the station, exemplifies the Indian's belief in a greater goal, their willingness to sacrifice their lives for their entitled freedom and control of their country.  Their Gandhi-like peaceful approach to revolt is captured in this drama and is juxtaposed with the violent guerrilla tactics of the extremist Dubay, who is at first protected by Victoria.  Later she comes to abhor his violent tactics and turns him in.</div> <div>  </div> <div> The only drawback to the film for me was its lack of depth in portraying the</div> <div> external prejudices in Victoria's racial conflict.  She is rather easily accepted in whichever racial category she chooses, leaving me to wonder whether her English colonel is truly her soul mate, or simply another culture for her to experiment with.  He seems most able to protect her from the violence, but is he really her match?  George Cukor portrays Victoria as a magnificently free and independent beautiful woman.  Ava Gardner sweeps us away with her beauty and enigmatic presence.  She does not fit easily into any one category perhaps because she is so stellar that she transcends them all.</div> <div>  </div> <div> After viewing this film, I felt I had been transported to India and had </div> <div> experienced this country first hand--an ideal achievement for an epic film.</div> <div>  </div> <div>  </div> <div> <TABLE BORDER="0" CELLPADDING="1" CELLSPACING="1" WIDTH="592" BORDERCOLORLIGHT="#C0C0C0" BORDERCOLORDARK="#808080" FRAME="BOX" RULES="ALL" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0" > <tR> <tD VALIGN=TOP HEIGHT= 19 WIDTH="588"><div> Brenda Sexton © 200</div> </tD> </tR> <tR> <tD VALIGN=TOP HEIGHT= 19 WIDTH="588"><div> <A HREF="mailto:info@reelmoviecritic.com" TARGET="_top" TITLE="mailto:info@reelmoviecritic.com"><U><U>Brenda@reelmoviecritic.com</U></U></A></div> </tD> </tR> </TABLE></div> <bR> <div> <B> </B></div> <div> <B>Mini Filmography:</B></div> <bR> <div> Ava Gardner:  The Night of the Iguana, The Barefoot Contessa, Mogambo</div> <bR> <div> Stewart Granger:  Beau Brummell, Moonfleet</div> <bR> <div> <B>George Cukor:  The Philadelphia Story, Adam's Rib, A Star is Born</B></div> </td> </tr></table></body>