I first saw this shortly after its TV release in 1984, but didn't ever get back to it again till this year; you can get it on DVD of decent quality and it's definitely worth the price. I really recommend it. The 1000-page epic novel by M.M.Kaye, set during the height of the British Raj (late 1800's India), is given lavish treatment though with some appropriate condensations to make it fit into the 5-hour run time. It was one of several big-budget historical miniseries with international casts produced at the time (e.g. Shogun, or The Jewel in the Crown).
Stories like this never go out of style. In terms of plot, The Far Pavilions is like a really high-level Harlequin romance -- forbidden love, heroes and villains, plot twists and coincidences, military adventure, intrigue and betrayal, daring rescues, lives lost and saved, and finally victory snatched from the jaws of defeat. What would an epic fantasy romance be without all of those? But at its most basic it's the Boy Meets Girl, Boy Loses Girl, Boy Gets Girl story (when in doubt, go with the classics!). Full credit to the production for using settings spotted throughout western India, which by themselves make this worth seeing: gorgeous palaces, ancient ruins, towns, citadels, massive processions and crowd scenes that are impressive and authentic - no special effects nonsense here.
So, the story is that English soldier Ash (the ruggedly handsome Ben Cross) and half-blood Indian princess Anjuli (Amy Irving, who is stunningly beautiful here) knew each other as young children in the northwest India palace of Gulkote, but tragic circumstances (what else?) carried them apart. While Ash grows up in England and trains for the military, Anjuli endures a rather sad and lonely upbringing as an unwanted 'half-caste' in her own home. Many years later fate brings them together again and they fall deeply in love, but (of course) must surmount apparently impossible obstacles having much to do with the Western/Indian cultural divide. Ben Cross is fine if unexceptional, playing Ash as a slightly hot-headed idealist. He gets most of the screen time and the military sections in which he features are all well done. But the true center of this epic is the love story, and that's controlled by Irving's character. She quietly dominates every scene she is in, giving Anjuli deep wells of emotion but also a kind of unshakable spiritual nobility that would do credit to an angel. In fact, she's too loyal and self-sacrificing for her own good, particularly in relation to her jealous half-sister Shushila (Sneh Gupta).
The middle section 'Journey to Bhithor', where the major characters and plot lines are drawn together, is excellent. But the final section of the story is the one that really sticks in the mind -- particularly the masterful staging of the suttee ritual, in which Ash must rescue Anjuli from being burned alive (or as it turns out, something even worse). The dramatic tension slowly ratchets up to excruciating levels as we see it played out from beginning to end (and I don't know of any other TV or movie production in which this horrific ceremony is shown so completely).
If this were filmed today we'd rightfully expect that all the many non-English roles would actually be filled by Indian actors. That wasn't so much the custom 30+ years ago for Western productions, so here we see name-value Westerners fill some of the prominent Indian parts (Omar Sharif, Christopher Lee, Rossano Brazzi, as well as Irving). Nevertheless, they all do pretty well with their roles.
The Far Pavilions has characters you want to root for who will ultimately win through to a happy ending -- just what we want out of an epic romance.
Stories like this never go out of style. In terms of plot, The Far Pavilions is like a really high-level Harlequin romance -- forbidden love, heroes and villains, plot twists and coincidences, military adventure, intrigue and betrayal, daring rescues, lives lost and saved, and finally victory snatched from the jaws of defeat. What would an epic fantasy romance be without all of those? But at its most basic it's the Boy Meets Girl, Boy Loses Girl, Boy Gets Girl story (when in doubt, go with the classics!). Full credit to the production for using settings spotted throughout western India, which by themselves make this worth seeing: gorgeous palaces, ancient ruins, towns, citadels, massive processions and crowd scenes that are impressive and authentic - no special effects nonsense here.
So, the story is that English soldier Ash (the ruggedly handsome Ben Cross) and half-blood Indian princess Anjuli (Amy Irving, who is stunningly beautiful here) knew each other as young children in the northwest India palace of Gulkote, but tragic circumstances (what else?) carried them apart. While Ash grows up in England and trains for the military, Anjuli endures a rather sad and lonely upbringing as an unwanted 'half-caste' in her own home. Many years later fate brings them together again and they fall deeply in love, but (of course) must surmount apparently impossible obstacles having much to do with the Western/Indian cultural divide. Ben Cross is fine if unexceptional, playing Ash as a slightly hot-headed idealist. He gets most of the screen time and the military sections in which he features are all well done. But the true center of this epic is the love story, and that's controlled by Irving's character. She quietly dominates every scene she is in, giving Anjuli deep wells of emotion but also a kind of unshakable spiritual nobility that would do credit to an angel. In fact, she's too loyal and self-sacrificing for her own good, particularly in relation to her jealous half-sister Shushila (Sneh Gupta).
The middle section 'Journey to Bhithor', where the major characters and plot lines are drawn together, is excellent. But the final section of the story is the one that really sticks in the mind -- particularly the masterful staging of the suttee ritual, in which Ash must rescue Anjuli from being burned alive (or as it turns out, something even worse). The dramatic tension slowly ratchets up to excruciating levels as we see it played out from beginning to end (and I don't know of any other TV or movie production in which this horrific ceremony is shown so completely).
If this were filmed today we'd rightfully expect that all the many non-English roles would actually be filled by Indian actors. That wasn't so much the custom 30+ years ago for Western productions, so here we see name-value Westerners fill some of the prominent Indian parts (Omar Sharif, Christopher Lee, Rossano Brazzi, as well as Irving). Nevertheless, they all do pretty well with their roles.
The Far Pavilions has characters you want to root for who will ultimately win through to a happy ending -- just what we want out of an epic romance.