India Song Blu-ray Movie

Rating summary

Movie		3.0
Video		3.5
Audio		4.5
Extras		2.5
Overall		3.0

India Song Blu-ray Movie Review

House of the setting sun.

Reviewed by Randy Miller III February 14, 2023

Marguerite Duras dabbled in countless artistic endeavors during a writing and filmmaking career that lasted more than four decades, but is perhaps best known for writing the screenplay to Alan Resnais' Hiroshima mon amour and for her autobiographical novel The Lover, which was adapted into a 1992 film directed by Jean-Jacques Annaud. Her own films are a different beast: static and slow-moving, they prioritize experimental imagery over plot and dialogue, which is a diplomatic way of saying they're often as fun as watching paint dry. A pair of her mid-1970s films, India Song and Baxter, Vera Baxter, are available from Criterion in the forthcoming set Two Films by Marguerite Duras.

India Song is an eventful film by Duras standards, though still not for all tastes. This slow-burning drama concerns Anne-Marie (Delphine Seyrig, a frequent collaborator), the wife of a French ambassador whose frequent affairs mirror the crumbling world outside their palatial estate in India. Her behavior seems to be a direct result of the boredom of a stagnant life: in earlier years, she traveled extensively with her first husband and, until recently, ventured to various places throughout Asia. Though her current husband is tolerant of Anne-Marie's affairs, India Song is thankfully not some sort of melodramatic examination of marriage: it's actually more of a fractured ghost story in which the key characters retell past events --exclusively through voice-over -- in such a way as to thematically coincide with Dumas' abstract narrative. It's not a seamless effort but certainly interesting in its construction, yet those not immediately intrigued by its story and characters will be turned off by the slow pace and extremely sporadic dialogue.

Interestingly enough, a quasi-sequel was made in 1976 entitled Her Venetian Name in Deserted Calcutta; it's simply the original film's audio re-edited to fit different imagery along with a totally new ending. Perhaps unsurprisingly, Criterion has not included it as a supplement but an English subtitled version can easily be found online.

India Song Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

For my thoughts on this Blu-ray's 1080p transfer, which is sourced from a recent 2K restoration that includes new color grading, please read my review of Two Films by Marguerite Duras.

India Song Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

For my thoughts on this Blu-ray's LPCM mono track, please read my review of Two Films by Marguerite Duras.

India Song Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

As part of Two Films by Marguerite Duras, India Song includes these extras on the movie disc:

• Shooting "India Song": A Story in Four Voices (46:56) - Produced in 2020, this features assistant director Benoît Jacquot, cinematographer Bruno Nuytten, script supervisor Geneviéve Dufour, and producer Stéphane Tchal Gadjieff sharing their memories of working with director Marguerite Duras on India Song. It also includes archival interviews with Duras and actor Delphine Seyrig. In French, with optional English subtitles.

• Delphine Seyrig (6:36) - This short English-language excerpt from the 1977 documentary Portrait of Actress Delphine Seyrig was shot at the actor's Paris home by Katja Raganelli. In it, Seyrig discusses Marguerite Duras' films La Musica and India Song, as well as the director's filmmaking style.

India Song Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

India Song might be Marguerite Duras' most celebrated film... but as a general non-fan of her static and ponderous movie-making style, it's far from an accessible classic though not without some interesting experimentation. In any case, it's clearly the better half of Criterion's Two Films by Marguerite Duras, which includes a few valuable extras and, as of this writing, is the only way to get it on Region A Blu-ray. Those only interested in this film -- and with region-free players -- may want to investigate the 2020 stand-alone Blu-ray of India Song from French film distribution outlet Tamasa Diffusion, which looks similar in overall detail and color values as seen in this promotional trailer.