Cheap The Mystic Masseur [Region 2] (DVD) (Ismail Merchant) Price

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Customer Reviews of The Mystic Masseur [Region 2]

disappointing
I watched it twice, almost in a row. The accents put me off. The way the Indians and British Indians tried to get the Trinidad accent at times seems to be mocking. And while I suppose there aren't a whole lot of big Indo Caribbean actors, there is something offputting about an entire cast and not one single Indo Caribbean actor in a major role. Not unlike some people's impatience with Chinese leads in the Speilberg Geisha movie. <
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>And Ismail Merchant as director is no James Ivory. The film is just too artificial in its lighting, in its flowing wardrobe. The main guy, Ganesh, played by Aasif Mandvi, gets better as the film progresses. I think it was a pretty good job, in fact. Every time I see Om Puri in an English-speaking role, I get more tired of him. <
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>I haven't read the novel in ages. I don't doubt that the dialogue in this movie is much worse. A woman named Caryl Phillips did the screenplay, and there are too many W.Indian cliches that I don't recall in Naipaul's work. Also, Naipaul paints Trinidadian poverty in an uglier way. It's not the kind of squalor that makes up "poverty porn" literature, but there's something else, in the way he distinguishes urban poor children (pants with no shirts) and rural poor children (frocks with no pants). An allusion to bad toilets and the like that is fully missing from the film. It's just too pretty for my tastes. <
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>The "humor" in this film is very different from Naipaul's. People criticize Naipaul as sort of demeaning and ridiculing the third world or something like that, but most of the times when you read him, you see that there is a complexity involved, an impatient inescapable sympathy and interest. Here, it's more minstrel show a simple exercise in Watch the ingnorants act like fools. <
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Disappointing overall
I saw the "Mystic Massuer" recently. As a Trinidadian I eagerly looked forward to seeing a cinematographic presentation of a work by one of our finest writers. I was sorely disappointed. The acting fell far below what I'd expected - with the actors seeming to merely go through the motions. The story dragged and lacked development (what about Ganesh's wife not being able to have a baby!!) and, after all that, the film ended too abruptly. Costuming was unreal, historical facts were distorted (steelpan music on the radio!!), and accents seemed to come and go. I look forward to seeing a cinema showing this part of the world using Caribbean actors. Please do something about making the story move - just because pundit meanders through his life, doesn't mean I want to feel like I'm spending a lifetime meandering through this film. The best thing I can say is: Thanks for paying tribute to writer V. S. Naipaul. Had some nice scenery.

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THE RISE AND DEVELOPMENT OF A PUNDIT...
This is an unusual Merchant/Ivory film that focuses on the Indian community of Trinidad from 1943 to about 1954. It focuses in particular upon a young teacher, who takes a wife, outfoxes her wily, grasping father, and lives in the country, desiring only to write books. Still, he has to earn a living, so he becomes a masseur, which is not a masseuse, but rather, a healer. He also writes a books on Hinduism, which he publishes himself. He becomes known as the Mystic Masseur and develops a country wide following.

His book and those books that follow are quickly bought up by a now adoring public who revere him as a Pundit. A brief career in politics soon follows, only for him to discover that an adoring public can turn fickle. The film meanders along, as does this pundit's life. With first rate cinematography and stellar performances by the entire cast, this is a very good, though unusual, film. Those who are interested in other cultures will find this film of some interest. If you are not so inclined, deduct one star from my review.