Adapted from Ruth Prawer Jhabvala’s 1975 Booker prize-winning novel, Heat and Dust intertwines two narratives that detail female awakening.
Anne (Julie Christie), is drawn to India by her desire to unravel a mysterious family scandal, and, in a flashback to the 1920s, the events surrounding the seduction of her great-aunt Olivia (Greta Scacchi) by a handsome and charismatic, if not entirely scrupulous, Indian prince (Shashi Kapoor). Anne’s quest proves to be a journey of self-discovery – like Olivia, she is immersed in the allure of an India that, in a different way, has remained as sensual and romantic as it was half a century before. India is portrayed with seductive imagery juxtaposed alongside British colonial traditions. As with so many films by Merchant Ivory productions (–Room with a View_, The Remains of the Day), the rapturous cinematography captures a languor and authenticity that reflects the character’s journeys.
