Viceroy's House (2017)

In other words,this film is a surreal ride.

A story that's too fascinating to pass by...

This movie feels like it was made purely to piss off people who want good shows

By the time the dramatic fireworks start popping off, each one feels earned.

Viceroy's House is the story of the end of British rule in India, and what ended up being the partition of India into India and Pakistan. The film opens with the arrival of Lord Moutnbatten (Bonneville) and his wife (Anderson) to India, and concludes just after India and Pakistan claim independence/nationhood. The bits that follow the drama of the handover of power are very well done. Bonneville and Anderson due a worthy job of making you feel that they care for what is going on and keep you invested. Scenes with the Indians working in the house show the tensions growing as the decision whether to keep India whole or divide it comes to be made. It's certainly a part of history not often touched upon, and I learned some stuff from it.However, there's a second main thread to the movie which hampers the much stronger historical side. That would be the love interest between the Hindu Jeet and Muslim Aalia. By the end of the movie these scenes felt rather forced, and I couldn't help but want the movie to go back to the far more interesting historical aspects.It's definitely a movie worth seeing, but there may be some eye-rolling involved.

A history lesson but a good one. Gurinder Chada's "Viceroy's House" is about the British withdrawl from India and the eventual partition of the country and it's a highly intelligent picture, full of good talk. In order to sell it to a wider market there's a 'Romeo and Juliet' style love story between two young Indians that makes up a fairly substantial subplot though it is the divisions that exist between the Hindu and Muslim staff that provides the film's real interest.Cast as Viceroy Lord Mountbatten, Hugh Bonneville brings more than a touch of Downton Abbey to the Viceroy's House though Gillian Anderson is outstanding as Lady Edwina while the entire supporting cast deserve kudos. Hardly likely to set the multiplexes alight on a Saturday night this is still well worth seeking out.

This is a story of the final days of British rule in India. The movie is pleasant with nice cinematography, but for me it is a 5 out of 10. It's not as though it doesn't try to tell the story, but falls so far short. Think of this movie when you see reviews of movies that try to tell a story in less than 2 hours that need at least 8 hours to tell. Like doing a 1 and a half hour telling of Gone With The Wind (it was cut down from over 7 hours of film footage) or a 1 and a half hour telling of the history of WWII. To make it worse they try to throw an unnecessary love story in there.At the end of the movie as the credits roll, there is a reference, to the fact that the movie is based on Freedom at Midnight, the classic book by Collins and LaPierre. If you can find this book, it is one of the best non fiction books I have ever read and in detail tells the story of Mountbattan and his wife and daughter's love for India and their people and what they went through with their impossible task. He was one of the most incredible men in the 20th century and you should also read about his entire life.

Once again we can see the brightness of the British Empire, the Pomp and Circumstance. Essentially anglophile where the simple and human behavior of the upper social classes towards people (supposedly) of inferior class or of different culture or religion is a trait something difficult to find and therefore very appreciated when it is produced. The movies shows the last moments of the transfer of sovereignty to India, the process of the creation of Pakistan as a nation and the collateral victims of political intrigue represented here by the viceroy and his wife (officially designated to carry out the whole task) and that despite the efforts of both of them they turn out to be simply marionettes of the British government. To alleviate the great political content of the plot, we also have an insubstantial love story between a couple of lovers of different religion that possibly was not needed; and finally the conclusion that whatever happens in History England always wins.