Heat and Dust (1982)

80%

An interesting and quiet film about a romantic White Englishwoman abroad in British India who finds the sexual, social and racial snobbery stifling. Her affair with a nawab causes a scandal for others but happiness to herself; vindicating her decision to spend the rest of her days with the Indian governor.

The playing and writing are all subtle and tick all the right boxes even if the film is a little overlong. The underrated Greta SCACCHI, in particular, is excellent as the pretty young thing in love with all things Indian who is seen as vile by those who believe English women should be seen and not heard. The racism depicted borders on treating the Whites as stereotypes yet this manages to convey the strict self repression necessary when one considers oneself better (without evidence) than others. Any such chink in this self imposed emotional armor will always be noticed by someone; leading to immediately being labeled as a non pukka memsahib by revealing that you are just as human as anyone else. The emotional retardation caused by such an attitude is well presented in comic form as an obvious social falseness - especially well portrayed by Susan FLEETWOOD at her Joyce GRENFELL best.

Ultimately a movie about Whites being seduced by the apparent mystery of India - both literally and metaphorically - that implicitly evokes and explicitly critiques the superficial materialism of the Western world.

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