Cotton Mary (1999)

User Rating:

5.2/10   

Directors:

Ismail Merchant
Madhur Jaffrey (co-director)

Writer:

Alexandra Viets (written by)

Release Date:

17 December 1999 (UK)

Genre:

Drama

Plot:

A British family is trapped between culture, tradition, and the colonial sins of the past.

Plot Keywords:

British | India | Female Nudity | Nanny | Indo Pak

Cast

Greta Scacchi	...	Lily MacIntosh
Madhur Jaffrey	...	Cotton Mary
James Wilby	...	John MacIntosh
Sarah Badel	...	Mrs Evans
Riju Bajaj	...	Mugs
Gerson Da Cunha	...	Doctor Correa
Joanna David	...	Mrs Smythe
Neena Gupta	...	Blossom (Mary's sister)
Sakina Jaffrey	...	Rosie
Gemma Jones	...	Mrs Freda Davids
Firdausi Jussawalla	...	Mr. Panamal
Mahabanoo Mody-Kotwal	...	Matron
Nadira	...	Mattie
Prayag Raj	...	Abraham (as Prayag Raaj)
Captain Raju	...	Inspector Ramiji Raj

Also Known As:

Cotton Mary (France)

MPAA:

Rated R for a scene of sexuality.

Runtime:

124 min

Country:

France | UK | USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

Dolby SR

Certification:

Finland:K-11 | Iceland:L | Ireland:15 | Argentina:13 | Australia:M | Chile:14 | France:U | Germany:12 | Spain:T | UK:15 | USA:R

Filming Locations:

Fort Cochin, Kerala, India

Company:

Merchant Ivory Productions

Goofs:

Revealing mistakes: As Theresa is walking along with the procession she passes an Indian boy in the crowd who waves at the camera.

Movie Connections:

Features Aar-Paar (1954)

Soundtrack:

Aar Paar

Sensitive look at complexity of British colonialism

A sensitive look at the difficulties faced by a woman in colonial India, during the period when nationalism was starting to set in. The story opens with an India-born Englishwoman who goes into labour, is taken to the hospital, and gives birth to a sickly child. When it turns out that her milk doesn't come in, a nurse with mixed British/Indian heritage takes pity on her, finds a wet nurse, moves into her house, and begins to manipulate the situation to her own advantage.

As the story progresses, the husband's infidelity and disassociation is presented, as is the blindness of the wife, and the racist superiority of the expatriate British community. The Englishwoman's preteen daughter turns out to be the voice of reason who opens the woman's eyes to the situation as it is.

This is a slow-paced visually interesting story that focuses a great deal of attention on nurturing and nursing, and the complexity of a materially richer culture clashing and feeding on a materially poorer one.