Customer Reviews

The Perfect Murder - The Merchant Ivory Collection

5 star:		(1)
4 star:		(0)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Inspector Ghote (Naseeruddin Shah), the famous Bombay detective created by H. R. F. Keating, is called in to investigate an assault on an old retainer in a wealthy Bombay household. He's told this is top priority. He also is charged with discovering a diamond smuggling ring which, he's told, is top priority. And he is assigned to escort a visiting Swedish criminologist (Stellan Skarsgard) and to demonstrate the high quality of Bombay's police activities. Making a good impression on the Swede, he is told, is top priority.

The Inspector Ghote in Keating's mysteries is a mild-mannered, intelligent, persistent and dedicated cop. He has an overbearing boss and a wife who loves him but who also knows what she wants. Naseeruddin Shah, a famous Indian actor, does an excellent job as the Inspector. Skarsgard plays the young Swede as enthusiastic, brave and a little callow. He and Ghote eventually develop mutual respect and liking. Some of the crooks involved with the diamonds come to believe that Skarsgard is a diamond thief, too, which causes a number of complications, some amusing and some dangerous.

The plot lines eventually come together in a reasonably satisfying way. The Perfect Murder is a pleasant mystery, interesting because of the local color (it was shot in Bombay and a good deal of the action takes place in Bombay neighborhoods and streets) and the performances of the actors.

This is one of the releases under the "Merchant-Ivory Productions" name. Ismail Merchant was the executive producer. The DVD is better than average, but the image and audio are both a little soft.

I was hoping for better in this film by Merchant Ivory. I have liked some of their work and others not so much. However, this mystery set in India with an Indian police detective looking for diamond smugglers/thieves is definitely not one of their best and if a series was planned, I trust better was thought of the idea. The Indian detective who is the central figure is supposed to be intelligent but long-suffering and appealingly maladroit with his superiors and his wife at home. However, I found him boring and colorless, and at times downright sappy. Stellen Starsgaard, who looked very young here, plays an almost superfluous character, a visiting Swedish criminologist, who is even more inept than the detective. The plot, in addition to being slow-moving, is rather inane and jerky and overall not very involving. I don't know if the book from which this was derived was good but if so, I would have to say that it was not done justice in this film adaptation.

HRF Keating is an amazingly accurate author who set his detective stories in Bombay and other parts of India, without ever having visited India! He finally made a trip to Bombay when this film was being made. Objectively rating the film, its between a 3-4 star, the ending is a bit weak, and could have been more exciting with a touch of menace. It never felt like a true detective story which is always a thriller. I found the Indian English used here true to form and very delightful to hear again (as I grew up in India). The actors are some of India's finest, and delivered solid performances, albeit with a trace of comedy, as in the books. In order to appreciate the film, one MUST READ THE BOOKS!! Without the background on this hard-working, under-appreciated, Indian cop with great integrity, who gets his man despite great setbacks and no support from his high-handed boss or irate wife, one cannot understand the movie in depth. The books fill in the background. The books take great pains to show Indian life in great detail, like the truth-telling bull, and the Goan wedding procession. Ghote is a dedicated cop. He is from Bombay in the state of Maharashtra, where his name is as common as 'Smith' in the UK. His wife Protima, hails from Calcutta, West Bengal. In the movie, the actress Ratna Pathak could have sounded more Bengali, and spoken with a Bengali accent, but she did not. In real life, the actors who played Ghote(Naseeruddin Shah), and Protima Ratna Pathak Shah, are married to each other. Minor actors like Pearl Padamsee who played the nurse, have been acting on the Bombay theatre circuit for years. She did a Goan accent very well (from Goa, south of Bombay). This is a detective story, as well as a window into India. It must be judged on this basis, and not simply as a thriller. Hurrah for Ghote and Keating!!