''India Song'' is a 1975 French drama film directed by

Marguerite Duras Marguerite Germaine Marie Donnadieu (, 4 April 1914 – 3 March 1996), known as Marguerite Duras (), was a French novelist, playwright, screenwriter, essayist, and experimental filmmaker. Her script for the film '' Hiroshima mon amour'' (1959) e ...

. ''India Song'' stars

Delphine Seyrig Delphine Claire Beltiane Seyrig (; 10 April 1932 – 15 October 1990) was a Lebanese-born French actress and film director. She came to prominence in Alain Resnais's 1961 film ''Last Year at Marienbad'', and later acted in films by Francois ...

, Michael Lonsdale,

Mathieu Carrière Mathieu Carrière (; born 2 August 1950) is a German actor. Life Carrière grew up in Berlin and Lübeck; he attended the Jesuit boarding school in Vannes, France, a school which had previously been attended by the director of Carrière's fir ...

, Claude Mann,

Vernon Dobtcheff Vernon Dobtcheff (born 14 August 1934) is a British actor, best known for his roles on television and film, he has acted in numerous stage productions. Biography Dobtcheff was born in Nîmes, France, of Russian descent. He attended Ascham Pre ...

and

Didier Flamand Didier Flamand (born 12 March 1947) is a French actor and theatre director. He has appeared in more than 200 films and television shows since 1973. He starred in Raúl Ruiz's 1978 film '' The Suspended Vocation''. Theater Filmography Actor ...

. The film centres on Anne-Marie (Seyrig), the promiscuous wife of the French ambassador in India, and was based on an unproduced play written by Duras (which itself was based on her published novel ''Le Vice-Consul''). Although set in India, the film was shot mostly on location at the

Château Rothschild The Château Rothschild is an historic château in Boulogne-Billancourt near Paris, France. History The château was built in 1855 for banker James Mayer de Rothschild. It was designed by architect Joseph-Armand Berthelin. Guests included Presid ...

. A sequel with the title '' Son nom de Venise dans Calcutta désert'' was released in 1976.

Plot

Anne-Marie Stretter (

) is the wife of the French ambassador in India in the 1930s. With the full knowledge of the French ambassador, Anne-Marie has many affairs while the world they inhabit decays from the inside out. The Vice-Consul of Lahore ( Michael Lonsdale) discusses a love affair with her, one that is impossible due to an earlier scandal where he fired on lepers, mirrors and himself. Anne-Marie finally succeeds in the suicide they'd initially attempted many years before.

Production

The script for ''India Song'' was based on an unproduced play which

finished in July 1972. The play had been commissioned for the Royal National Theatre by Peter Hall. Duras had only visited India briefly in her teens, but chose to not consult any photographs from Calcutta while she worked on ''India Song'', preferring to imagine it all. The film cost 254,542

franc The franc is any of various units of currency. One franc is typically divided into 100 centimes. The name is said to derive from the Latin inscription ''francorum rex'' (King of the Franks) used on early French coins and until the 18th centu ...

s to produce, of which 250,000 came from the

CNC Numerical control (also computer numerical control, and commonly called CNC) is the automated control of machining tools (such as drills, lathes, mills, grinders, routers and 3D printers) by means of a computer. A CNC machine processes a p ...

Dominique Sanda Dominique Marie-Françoise Renée Varaigne (born 11 March 1951), professionally known as Dominique Sanda, is a French actress and former fashion model. Life and career Sanda was born in Paris, to Lucienne (née Pichon) and Gérard Varaigne. She ...

was the first choice for the leading role, but dropped out and was replaced by Seyrig. Finding the main location took several months; eventually Duras chose the

in Boulogne, which she had seen during a walk and which had impressed her. The Rothschild family had abandoned the building after

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposing ...

and it had started to dilapidate. Other scenes were shot at the

Grand Trianon The Grand Trianon () is a French Baroque style château situated in the northwestern part of the Domain of Versailles in Versailles, France. It was built at the request of King Louis XIV of France as a retreat for himself and his '' maîtresse- ...

in Versailles, and in two Paris apartments which were about to be demolished. Filming started May 13, 1974 and lasted two months. The voices were pre-recorded.

Release

''India Song'' was shown as part of the 1975

New York Film Festival The New York Film Festival (NYFF) is a film festival held every fall in New York City, presented by Film at Lincoln Center (FLC). Founded in 1963 by Richard Roud and Amos Vogel with the support of Lincoln Center president William Schuman, i ...

, and, out of competition, at the

1975 Cannes Film Festival The 28th Cannes Film Festival was held from 9 to 23 May 1975. The Palme d'Or went to the '' Chronique des Années de Braise'' by Mohammed Lakhdar-Hamina. In 1975, a new section, "Les Yeux fertiles", which was non-competitive, was introduced. This ...

. It was released in France on June 4, 1975.

Reception

Vincent Canby, writing for ''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid d ...

'', reviewed the film in a negative light, finding that it was aesthetically pleasing but shallow. Canby described ''India Song'' as "no content and all style", although he felt that Seyrig's portrayal of Anne-Marie was "marvelous to contemplate". Clarke Fountain, reviewing the film for

Allrovi RhythmOne , previously known as Blinkx, and also known as RhythmOne Group, is an American digital advertising technology company that owns and operates the web properties AllMusic, AllMovie, and SideReel. Blinkx was founded in 2004, went publ ...

, rated it four out of five stars. ''India Song'' was nominated for three César Awards in 1976— Best Music Written for a Film for Carlos d'Alessio, Best Sound for Michel Vionnet, and

Best Actress Best Actress is the name of an award which is presented by various film, television and theatre organisations, festivals, and people's awards to leading actresses in a film, television series, television film or play. The first Best Actress aw ...

for Delphine Seyrig. However, the film did not win in any of the nominated categories. Site does not support direct linking to search results. Search "India Song" for results. It was France's submission for

Best Foreign Language Film This is a list of categories of awards commonly awarded through organizations that bestow film awards, including those presented by various film, festivals, and people's awards. Best Actor/Best Actress *See Best Actor#Film awards, Best Actress#F ...

at the

48th Academy Awards The 48th Academy Awards were presented Monday, March 29, 1976, at the Dorothy Chandler Pavilion in Los Angeles, California. The ceremonies were presided over by Walter Matthau, Robert Shaw, George Segal, Goldie Hawn, and Gene Kelly. This yea ...

, but did not receive a nomination. Today the film is seen more favourably by critics and it is included in the book '' 1001 Movies You Must See Before You Die'', where Travis Crawford cites it as the director's best film, describing the film as "fascinating" in its use of language and sound in contrast to imagery, and calling it an "elliptical dream poem rather than linear narrative". However, he acknowledges that opinions are markedly divided on the film and that viewers will either find it "hypnotically seductive or maddeningly pretentious". Michael Lonsdale considered his part to be his "most favorite role", adding that "it helped me exorcise the suffering I was going through at the time in my personal life".

References

;Notes ;Bibliography *

External links