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Audience Rating: NR (Not Rated) Binding: VHS Tape EAN: 9786303084091 Format: Box set, Color, NTSC ISBN: 6303084095 Label: A&E Home Video Manufacturer: A&E Home Video Number Of Items: 8 Publisher: A&E Home Video Release Date: April 24, 1997 Running Time: 778 minutes Studio: A&E Home Video Theatrical Release Date: 1984 Sales Rank: 8509
Description: The New York Times called it 'Superb!' and Time found it 'Ultimately rewarding...with a sterling cast.' This adaptation of Paul Scot's masterpiece, The Raj Quartet, won over 20 international awards, including a Golden Globe and an Emmy. Filmed on location, it re-creates the turbulent period when British colonial rule in India came crashing down. The memorable cast includes Dame Peggy Ashcroft and Charles Dance.
Amazon.com: The Jewel in the Crown, adapted from Paul Scott's Raj Quartet novels, tells the story of the final years before India gained independence in 1947. It is rare for a filmed adaptation to successfully preserve the richness and complexity of a great novel, but this epic miniseries succeeds both as personal drama and historical panorama.
In 1942 Daphne Manners, a naive young woman newly arrived in the town of Mayapore, befriends Hari Kumar, an Indian-born journalist who has spent most of his life in England. With his dark skin and educated English accent, Hari feels like an outsider wherever he goes, but Daphne understands his plight and they become romantically involved. Their developing relationship is jealously observed by local police chief Ronald Merrick, a man haunted by his own demons. When the lovers are attacked in the gardens of the ruined Bibighar palace and Daphne is raped, Merrick seizes his opportunity, pins the crime on Hari, and has the young man jailed. Distraught, Daphne flees to her aunt's home in Kashmir, where she dies giving birth to a half-caste child. The focus then shifts to Sarah Layton, a young Englishwoman who becomes fascinated by the story of Daphne and Hari, and who will have her own encounter with Ronald Merrick.
The events in the Bibighar gardens become a symbol of the violent struggle for Indian independence, and other symbols--Daphne's bicycle, a length of butterfly lace, a picture of Queen Victoria on an Indian throne--appear and reappear, linking people and events. This helps to give coherence to the plot even as it spans five years and expands to include many characters whose lives intersect in complex and unexpected ways.
With a huge cast and breathtaking location photography, The Jewel in the Crown was an enormous undertaking when it was made in the early 1980s. Twenty years later it has lost none of its power, and it remains one of the best films ever made for television. --Simon Leake
Customer Reviews
Average Rating:
Rating: - adjust your sets
Great great story and presentation. For those of you unhappy with the picture quality you have to adjust your sets...contrast, color saturation, sharpness etc etc. and the picture is very watchable.
I don't know why A&E didn't update the picture quality so you don't have to adjust your set...especially with their ballhoed ANNIVERSARY edition. The earlier DVD and this current version are the same...just repackaged.
I had the Videos but have forgotten how they looked.
Rating: - Jewel In The Crown
I watched the original presentation of Jewel In The Crown on PBS, subsequently purchased a VHS copy of the series, and have now replaced it with the updated DVD version. In addition, I purchased a copy of "The Raj - An Eyewitness History of the British In India" text edited by Roger Hudson with introduction by Raleigh Trevelyan on which the series is based. The production, direction and acting participants of the characters of the text were most excellently chosen, as was the editing condensation of the lengthy text on which the series is based. The series lends an excellent retrospective understanding for the viewer of today of the political, economic, social, and religious evolution of India under the "gift" of the British Raj or Rule.
Rating: - Terrible story
DO NOT BUY this series! After hearing for years about the vaunted "Jewel in the Crown" series, my wife and I checked out the tapes from the library and watched the whole thing. It was awful. The best DVD reproduction in the world couldn't save this film.
We thought maybe we'd learn a little history while getting caught up in the stories of the characters, but we were wrong on both counts. Maybe if you knew some of the history of India's emerging independence, the story would make sense to you, but to us, it was all muddled and obscure. And the characters and their stories were equally disappointing. About the only person you get to know is Merrick, and he's so reprehensible that you wish he would just go away.
We kept watching episode after episode, hoping that the endless mess of loose ends would get tied up in the end, but it never happened. Too often, at the end of a scene or an episode, we'd look at each other and say, "Huh?" That's probably not the reaction a filmmaker is looking for from his audience. Characters we cared about just disappeared from the story, with little or no explanation. Others who were thrown in for no apparent reason stayed on screen way too long. And what's with the author's obsession with homosexuality?
All in all, it was a huge waste of our time. Good thing we didn't pay any money for the experience.
Rating: - Nothing Compares
It's now 10:30 in the morning. I started watching The Jewel In The Crown via Amazon's Video On Demand around 8pm last night and I just finished up. I literally could not stop watching this fascinating story of India's independence and how the actions and reactions (and non-reactions) of a huge cast of characters are interwoven with beauty and dignity. The casting was superb, the filming was beautiful, and the stories were mesmerizing. To top it all off, I saved about $15 off the DVD price. You can read other people's reviews to find out more about the story and the cast...just, whatever you do, watch this series!
Rating: - I just was waiting for it
Back in 1982 I bought in Abu Dhabi the Jewel in the Crown in 12 VHS and I am happy I have seen it in only 4 DVDS at Amazon. The quality of the reproduction, so far, (who can see 4 x 3hrs each DVD in such a short time) is excellent and it is a pleasure hearing a good english speaking after so many american slang movies we see everyday at TV. Thanks.
Mauro
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