Jennifer Kendal Movies
Two women, related but separated by one generation and 60 years, have parallel experiences in the evocative mystical environment of India in this period drama from producer Ismail Merchant and director James Ivory. Although a little slow-paced for some, and slightly confusing because the stories of the two women are intercut, the scenery and script evoke a time and place that mesmerize. Based on the 1975 novel by Ruth Prawer Jhabvala, a long-time collaborator in Merchant-Ivory Productions, the story begins with Ann (Julie Christie) who discovers some letters written by her grandfather's first wife Olivia (Greta Scacchi) that open up a whole new world as Ann travels to India to continue researching her grandmother's past. The letters reveal that when she was young, the free-spirited grandmother fell in love with an Indian nobleman (Shashi Kapoor) and left her husband -- an administrator in the British colonial government -- for her lover. After Ann arrives in India, her life and the modern rush of cars and people are played off against flashbacks to Olivia's life in a colonial setting. When the environment of each woman is compared and the nature of their momentous decisions placed side-by-side, their rites of passage and the society that dominated their choices stand out in high relief. Ruth Prawer Jhabvala won "Best Adapted Screenplay" at the 1983 British Academy Awards for her script of Heat And Dust. ~ Eleanor Mannikka, Rovi
- Starring:
- Julie Christie, Christopher Cazenove, (more)
An older woman teaches Shakespeare in a girls' school, but events conspire to get her down-graded to an entry-level position. Just as that misfortune occurs, her only remaining family member -- a brother in an institution -- dies. Bereft on these personal and professional levels, she is especially grateful for the friendship of a couple she has met and has generously invited to share her apartment. The couple move out when they marry, and the woman goes to their wedding, continuing her acts of generosity to her newfound friends. Some time goes by before she realizes that the couple had been friends as long as they needed her apartment, and now that they no longer need it, they are not that interested in keeping up a relationship with her. When she does not hear from them any longer, she is at a loss as to how to recuperate some sort of balance in her life. ~ Eleanor Mannikka, Rovi
- Starring:
- Jennifer Kendal, Dhritiman Chatterjee, (more)
During one of the many violent uprisings against the English colonial overlords in India, a church filled with people is massacred. The only people to survive are three generations of women in one family, hidden by a friendly Indian. They are then kidnapped by a Muslim (Sashi Kapoor), who wants to keep the youngest woman as his second wife, despite the objections of his first wife who despises the women for their Englishness. Also, the girl he is enamored of finds him frightening. He goes off to join the fighting and eventually comes back to a much-changed situation. ~ Clarke Fountain, Rovi
- Starring:
- Shashi Kapoor, Shabana Azmi, (more)
Bombay Talkie was, together with Shakespeare Wallah, the property that brought worldwide recognition to the Merchant-Ivory filmmaking team. Jennifer Kendal plays a British writer, seeking out new adventures in India. The writer comes across actor Shashi Kapoor and his director Zia Mohyeddin and has romantic relations with both, thereby opening up a culture-clash can of worms. The script is by Merchant-Ivory perennial Ruth Prawer Jhabvala. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi
- Starring:
- Jennifer Kendal, Shashi Kapoor, (more)
