The Film
Set in 1856 in northern India, the film moves as slowly as a game of chess. Two upper-middle-class men are obsessed with chess, ignoring their wives, the deaths of their acquaintances, and political machinations.
The film's set during the run-up to the the British annexation of the Indian State of Awadh (or Oudh) and the subsequent Indian rebellion of 1857.
The response
The slow, dated (1977) style of this film was too much for some of us; at least two people fell asleep before the end. But, the discussion revealed lots of interest in the subjects it explored. The obsession with a game - was this appropriate, at a time of social turmoil? The two wives' responses (one weeping with frustration, the other conducting an affair with a nephew...) seemed extreme from today's perspective (just leave him!). General Outram of the East India Company, mildly troubled but determined to pursue power; and Captain Weston, the Anglo-Indian who loves Urdu poetry. The fey prince who refused to defend his status - the end of the film suggested he avoided massive violence against his people; but we know that the events were, in fact, followed by long and bloody conflict, and ultimately led to the downfall of the East India Company.
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