Introduction

The 1984 film 'A Passage To India' was director David Lean's last film. There are many sites and articles on the Internet that explain or critique this film much better than I could. This page, and its sub-pages make no attempt to discuss the whys and wherefores of the book or the film. I love both of them. I also love India, so what better than to combine the book, the film, and the country by collecting some photos of the locations used in the film and presenting them in a way that makes them accessible to actual or armchair travellers.

To the Marabar Caves

These pages contain notes, maps, and photographs about these locations, and assorted historical notes that might be of interest to you. This is an on-going work, and will only be completed when I stop visiting India: something that I hope will not happen for many years to come. If you can help me with any notes, photos, or anecdotes about the film, cast, crew, or locations, then please send them along and I will try to include them here on these pages.

Jhelum River, Srinagar

For a full description of the plot, visit the 'Plot' page. Briefly though, the film begins in London then quickly moves via Bombay and a journey on the Imperial Indian Mail to the fictional city of Chandrapore and its Civil Lines, where the British Community live. Visits are made to the Club, and Mr Fielding's house. A small trip is taken to some abandoned erotic temples nearby. Back in Chandrapore, an expedition by metre-gauge railway is arranged to the Marabar Caves, which were based on the real Barabar Caves near Gaya, in the state of Bihar. An 'incident' occurs at the caves that beings the film back to the court in Chandrapore. The film ends in the city of Srinagar, in the Kashmir Valley.

Feb 2008 - Exciting News - New Edition to be released !!
Yes that's right. The following information was spotted on the DVD Review website by P2I reader Andy Smith - thanks, Andy! Here is an edited extract from that page:

A Passage To India comes as a Special Edition in April
David Lean’s often-overlooked gem A Passage To India comes to DVD and is making its Blu-Ray Disc debut also in April, complete with new special features. ...This new Special Edition version of the film will come with a Commentary Track with producer Richard Goodwin among many other extras. Look for a number of Featurettes, such as “E.M. Forster: A Profile of an Author”, covering elements of Forster's life and some of the main themes within the book are covered. In “An Epic Takes Shape” the cast and crew talk about the genesis of the project, while “An Indian Affair” covers the main period of production over in India.
“Only Connect: A Vision of India” is a featurette covering the whole area of Post Production and also includes the final days of shooting in the studios at Shepperton, while “Casting a Classic” gives viewers a look at the casting the film and the challenges of bringing characters from the book to life.
The disc’s highlights will be “David Lean: Shooting with the Master” a featurette that takes a look at Lean as a Director with emphasis on this film being the last of his career, and "Reflections of David Lean" a featurette on David Lean that appeared on the last DVD release of the film already.
The Blu-Ray version will also contain Enhanced Graphics and a Trivia Track. The journey begins on April 15 and you can get your ticket for only $24.96 on DVD and $28.95 on Blu-Ray.

2/6/2008 10:30:19 AM, by Guido Henkel

A page on this site was last updated: 13th March 2008