The Mahabharata (1989 film)
The Mahabharata | |
---|---|
Directed by | Peter Brook |
Written by | Peter Brook Jean-Claude Carrière Marie-Hélène Estienne |
Starring | Robert Langton-Lloyd Antonin Stahly-Vishwanadan Bruce Myers Vittorio Mezzogiorno Andrzej Seweryn Georges Corraface |
Cinematography | William Lubtchansky |
Music by | Tsuchitori Toshiyuki Rabindranath Tagore |
Release date |
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Running time | Film: 171 minutes TV Mini Series: 6 x 55 minutes |
Country | U.K. / Japan / Denmark / France / Belgium / U.S.A. / Australia / Ireland / Iceland / Sweden / Portugal / Norway / Netherlands / Finland |
Language | English |
Budget | $5 million |
The Mahabharata is a 1989 film version of the
Plot
In general terms, the story involves epic incidents between two warring families, the
Cast
- Robert Langdon Lloyd as Vyasa
- Antonin Stahly-Vishwanadan as Boy
- Bruce Myers as Ganesha/Krishna
- Vittorio Mezzogiorno as Arjuna
- Andrzej Seweryn as Yudhishthira
- Mamadou Dioumé as Bhima
- Georges Corraface as Duryodhana
- Jean-Paul Denizon as Nakula
- Mahmoud Tabrizi-Zadeh as Sahadeva
- Mallika Sarabhai as Draupadi
- Miriam Goldschmidt as Kunti
- Ryszard Cieslak as Dhritarashtra
- Gandhari
- Myriam Tadesse as Gandhari's servant
- Urs Bihler as Dushasana
- Lou Elias Bihler as Young Karna
- Jeffrey Kissoon as Karna
- Kitchaka
- Yoshi Oida as Drona
- Sotigui Kouyaté as Parashurama / Bhishma
- Tuncel Kurtiz as Shakuni
- Ciarán Hinds as Ashwatthama
- Erika Alexander as Madri / Hidimbi
- Bakary Sangaré as The Sun / Rakshasa / Ghatotkacha
- Tapa Sudana as Pandu/Shiva
- Akram Khan as Ekalavya
- Nolan Hemmings as Abhimanyu
- Hapsari Hardjito as Utari (Abhimanyu's wife)
- Mas Soegeng as Virata
- Yumi Nara as Virata's wife
- Amba Bihler as Virata's daughter
- Urvasi
- Lutfi Jakfar as Uttara
- Gisèle Hogard as 1st princess
- Julie Romanus as 2nd princess
- Abbi Patrix as Salvi
- Ken Higelinas Deathless boy
- Sikhandin
- Dhristadyumna
- Clément Masdongar as Gazelle
- Leela Mayor as Satyavati
- Velu Vishwananan as The hermit
Production
The French and eventual English version of the Mahabharata took several years for Brook and Carrière to write and bring to the stage. Three years before the film version was made, Peter Brook staged their adaptation in
"It’s quite impossible to ‘forget’ the Mahabharata. The poem says it itself: ‘Everything which is in the Mahabharata is elsewhere; which is not in the Mahabharata is nowhere.'"
Jean-Claude Carrière, co-writer
Using an
While working on the adaptation, Marie-Hélène Estienne travelled across Nepal and India, journeying from Manipur to Kanchipuram, in order to learn of the many different forms of the ancient epic from "Brahmins and writers and dancers and theatre people" across the subcontinent. Music composer Tsuchitori Toshiyuki remained in India for months on request from Brook make sure the play would "not use the music which everybody knows". Musicians from Iran, Turkey, and Denmark joined the production in order to score musical elements discovered by Tsuchitori, who was particularly influenced by Rabindra Sangeet.[3]
Reception
The film version of the Mahabharata received a 20-minute standing ovation at the
Awards
In 1990, the film won the award for Performing Arts of the International Emmy Awards and the Audience Award for Best Feature at the São Paulo International Film Festival.[citation needed]
References
- ^ a b c Sharma, Sanjukta (14 June 2018). "'Mahabharata' doesn't belong to one country or race – Peter Brook's nine-hour play is proof of that". scroll.in. Retrieved 21 October 2019.
- ISBN 0333937201.
- ^ a b Ancheri, Saumya (15 February 2016). "'The Mahabharata does not leave you': Notes from Peter Brook's third play about the epic". scroll.in. Retrieved 21 October 2019.
External links
- The Mahabharata at IMDb
- The Mahabharata at AllMovie
- The Mahabharata at miracosta.cc.ca.us Archived 1 September 2015 at the Wayback Machine
- Mahabharata film notes at web.cocc.edu
- Review of Brook's Mahabharata in Caravan Magazine
- The Mahabharata at Discogs (list of releases)