qazifaisal_a Reviews

Masterpiece Theatre: Lord Mountbatten - The Last Viceroy (1986)

Thoroughly entertaining & informative, but somewhat one-sided

[12 January 2003]

Lord Mountbatten:The Last Viceroy is no doubt a very good film by any standards. Seeing that it follows the career of Lord Louis Mountbatten of Burma,later selected as the last viceroy of British India, it has a number of both strengths and flaws as far as the storyline & picturisation is concerned.

STRENGTHS:

1) It portrays the character of Lord Louis from the political side, as far as all the world knows him. 2) Mentions the Nehru - Edwina affair as part of the complications surrounding the partition. 3) Shows the stubburnness of character which Mountbatten possessed.

WEAKNESSES:

1) If it is a film following the life of Lord Mountbatten, why does the story end after the partition. Surely there is much more to Lord Moundbatten's life than just the India-Pakistan partition e.g., his death, his campaign as Supreme Naval Commander of S.E.Asia, how he handled the post of 1st Governor General of India. 2) The cast is superb, yet I fail to understand why Vladek Sheybal (a french guy) was given the role of Jinnah, and why not Alique Padamsee (the guy who played Jinnah in 'Gandhi'. Sheybal has neither the height nor the resemblance of Jinnah. 3) Mountbatten was much more arrogant and hard hearted towards Jinnah and the concept of Pakistan, than this film portrays.

Overall, the story is otherwise well written. But if the script had been written on the basis of Philip Zeigler's biography of Mountbatten, then it would have been much better.

On the whole, its well worth keeping in your collection because as time is passing, there are very few movies depicting the glorious and colourful spleandour of the British Empire.

The Ten Commandments (1956)

No better Moses. No finer cast.Simply Outstanding.

[7 April 2000]

Nobody ever wants to see a movie more than once because the quality and charm of the movies of today are just not enough to coax you to. But every once in a while there comes a movie which, firstly never lets you take your eyes off the screen for the full length of its feature and secondly,makes you want to watch it over and over again without boring you. Not only that, the more times you watch it, you feel that you missed something the last time. Cecil B. DeMille's THE TEN COMMANDMENTS is that kind of a movie. There have been many movies made on the topic of this Hebrew born prince of Egypt, but none compare to the way in which it has been portrayed in THE TEN COMMANDMENTS. There are a number of reasons for that:

1. When casting the role of Moses, Charlton Heston was chosen above all others including Bert Lancaster, not because of his knowledge of the Bible, but of his striking Physical resemblance to Michelangelo's sculpture of Moses especially the facial structure not to mention the stout build of a prince.

2. The sets for the film were specially designed and the splendour of ancient Egypt in all its glory was recreated especially for this movie.

3. The role of Rameses II was given to Yul Brynner after DeMille observed his magnificent performance as the King of Siam in Rodgers & Hammerstein's THE KING AND I, confirming that he is well suited for a stubburn and malificent heir to the Egyptian throne.

It was not only Heston as Moses who made this movie a success, but all the elements that came together, the cast of thousands, the special effects,the costumes, the sets and most of all the simply unbelievable "parting of the red sea".

It is a wonder why this movie only received one oscar; that of the Special effects, yet I think it deserved alot more. It did not even strike at the box office. Even then it never fails to enchant millions, no matter what religion they follow. Movies like THE TEN COMMANDMENTS and it success in the hearts of millions, shows quite clearly that a movie, in order to be loved by millions the world over, does not necessarily have to strike gold at the box office.

To watch this film, you don't have to believe in God, but if you believe in good triumphing over evil and freedom from slavery of foreign masters, then this is the movie for you.