The final Viceroy of India, Louis Francis Albert Victor Nicholas Mountbatten, 1st Earl Mountbatten of Burma (Hugh Bonneville), is tasked with overseeing the transition of British India to in... Read allThe final Viceroy of India, Louis Francis Albert Victor Nicholas Mountbatten, 1st Earl Mountbatten of Burma (Hugh Bonneville), is tasked with overseeing the transition of British India to independence, but meets with conflict as different sides clash in the face of monumental cha... Read allThe final Viceroy of India, Louis Francis Albert Victor Nicholas Mountbatten, 1st Earl Mountbatten of Burma (Hugh Bonneville), is tasked with overseeing the transition of British India to independence, but meets with conflict as different sides clash in the face of monumental change.
- Awards
- 1 win total
- Duleep Singh
- (as Jaskiranjit Deol)
Featured reviews
The film tells the story of love between Jeet and Aalia set against the historical scenes surrounding partition of India in 1947. Their differing religious backgrounds become a source of conflict as the colonial rule terminates and India gets divided into Muslim Pakistan and secular India.
Queen Victoria's great-grandson Lord Mountbatten arrives to Delhi as the last viceroy; he has the task of trying to make the smooth transition of power. The film broaches serious problems and is a skillful examination of the political turmoil of that time.
The picture is shot in a dynamic fashion, has good camera-work and even has some humor. The film shows well the everyday life of the last viceroy of India, many interesting details create the unique atmosphere which is complimented by the soft sense of humor. It is a lavish production, features many impressive crowd scenes, beautiful interiors and exteriors as well as costumes.
Some flaws of the film include that the romantic subplot was less developed than the historical narrative, which was shown in a more interesting way. Bonneville's acting as Lord Mountbatten is very convincing.
Read more at: http://indie-cinema.com/2017/02/viceroys-house/
Gillian Anderson gives a vivid portrayal of Lady Edwina Mountbatten, terribly 'posh' but genuinely concerned for the displaced natives during the violent transition. Hugh Bonneville, still trapped in his Downtown Abbey character, is rather wooden as Lord 'Dickie' (who was probably a bit wooden too). There is no hint of the much-gossiped- about affair between Lady M and Mr Nehru and likewise no hint that his lordship may have been an acquaintance (if not quite a Friend) of Dorothy. We see enough of Nehru and Jinnah to understand what was at stake in 1947 but for some reason Gandhi is largely written out of this screenplay.
To give the movie a bit more box-office appeal there is a Mills & Boon romance between two of the staff in the Viceroy's House, a beautiful Muslim secretary and a Hindu valet (also rather lovely). This soap-opera element brings unavoidable echoes of the (enormously superior) Jewel in the Crown and a dash of Upstairs, Downstairs which was one of the many addictive pleasures of Downton.
There's not a lot that's wrong with Viceroy's House and much to enjoy: the costumes, the spectacle, the splendour that is colonial Delhi. The movie does offer a 'History-lite' version of the birth of a nation. I remind myself that this is exactly what GONE WITH THE WIND did with the American Civil War - but (forgive me, please) I've never been a great admirer of GWTW.
I had heard some ropy reviews, particularly from BBC radio 3. also a suggestion of being over reaching and 'Downtonesque' from the film 2017 cast. Thankfully this didn't put me off.
Just back from seeing this film.
I am not disappointed, in fact my expectations were far exceeded. one of the features of her films is always love. She has the ability to convey the emotion of utterly horrible things without doing the cliché showing and perpetuating violence.
The highlights for me. the portrayal of the involvement and point of view of his wife, unexpectedly well played by Gillian Anderson ( not that I don't like her, I just couldn't imagine her in this role. The portrayal of the viewpoint shared by the staff - which is of course the point of view of the Indians so roughly treated by the raj and how she puts us in their position so we really see it from their eyes, I felt like I was peeping through doors with them. The history was told clearly and unflinchingly without the violence being centre stage - that's been done and done again. Gurinder showed us the effect on people. All this was made almost palatable and certainly accessible by the device of the young lovers, cruelly torn apart by the partition.
Why 9 points and not ten? well despite illustrating that there was skulduggery afoot amongst the government I do think Dicky was painted a little too upright, straightforward and honest and I just don't believe that. However, I do not profess to know the history so well and may be wrong.
Did you know
- TriviaThis is the first movie released in British cinemas (different screens and different film prints) in two languages: English and Hindi.
- GoofsA huge red carpet is rolled down a stone staircase just as the Viceroy's carriage is arriving. It would have been done much earlier, due to the time it takes to fold the heavy carpet into each step.
- ConnectionsFeatured in Film '72: Episode #46.7 (2017)
- How long is Viceroy's House?Powered by Alexa
Details
- Release date
- Countries of origin
- Official sites
- Languages
- Also known as
- 亂世傷痕:末代總督的秘密
- Filming locations
- Rashtrapati Bhavan, Delhi, India(Viceroy's House)
- Production companies
- See more company credits at IMDbPro
Box office
- Budget
- $8,500,000 (estimated)
- Gross US & Canada
- $1,105,717
- Opening weekend US & Canada
- $48,134
- Sep 3, 2017
- Gross worldwide
- $11,568,633
- Runtime
- 1h 46m(106 min)
- Color
- Sound mix
- Aspect ratio
- 2.35 : 1