AshUnow This is a small, humorous movie in some ways, but it has a huge heart. What a nice experience.

Juana what a terribly boring film. I'm sorry but this is absolutely not deserving of best picture and will be forgotten quickly. Entertaining and engaging cinema? No. Nothing performances with flat faces and mistaking silence for subtlety.

Marva It is an exhilarating, distressing, funny and profound film, with one of the more memorable film scores in years,

Fleur Actress is magnificent and exudes a hypnotic screen presence in this affecting drama.

Vonna I really wanted to love this series, and at first, It drew me in for the first few episodes, but then after that and by the ending, I was left with a feeling of lack of tying in of the story. We begin the story with a set of characters that then changes. New characters are introduced, such as miss manners aunt, but then later on, there is really no tie in at the end. It didn't make sense to me. We also hear that Hari Kumar is released from jail eventually, but it is rather anticlimactic. We never know what ends up happening to miss manners aunt and the child of Miss manners and kumar. In the end the "bad guy" gets it, but again it's all rather anticlimactic. no justice really was done, and this story is begging for justice. I didn't read the novels, so I have no idea how true to the novels the series is, but I was completely let down by the second half and feel I wasted hours of my life watching it.

montferrato You do not see series like this anymore.The Plot is superb, the actors are fantastic, and the "Last Days of the Empire atmosphere" is actually very good.If you are looking for some action, this is not your TV serial. It is a drama, and it is slow. However, the characters are superbly developed, and are extremely real.The story goes very deep into issues like racism, elitism, and the fears of a crumbling and hypocritical society. For some reason, the story also touches sexual repression, homosexuality, and sadism. There are even some veiled hints of lesbianism. While sex is not really the main theme, it is a recurrent part of the atmosphere in the series. The story starts with the life of a young, eccentric and idealist white & aristocratic British woman who is raped by a gang of Indian thugs. As you can imagine, the British establishment does not take it well and soon a scapegoat is found and blamed. The Scapegoat is subjected to a sadistic torture by a psychopathic British policeman who later joins the military. Funny enough, the British torturer is a repressed homosexual who enjoys inflicting pain and gets relief having sex with young Indian guys "Bazaar Style".Terry Porter as the Russian Count is by far the best character of the whole series. I take my hat before such a superb actor. Again, the Russian Count is described in the series as an "European Pederast".However, as I have said before, it is not really about sex. It is just a portrait of British colonial society in the last days of the empire. Very good, highly recommendable.

Amy Adler Daphne Manners (Susan Wooldridge) is an orphan, having lost her father and brother in the early going of World War II. She travels to Mayapore, India to work in a local hospital and to visit her aunt who lives in a neighboring community. Unexpectedly, she meets Hari Kumar (Art Malik), an Indian gentleman who was raised in England from the age of two, at the best schools, but whose own father died and left him penniless. Although an alliance is strictly taboo at the time, the two of them fall in love. Soon after, Daphne is raped by hooligans and chief of police Ronald Merrick (Tim Pigott-Smith) wrongly arrests and tortures Kumar. With Gandhi already urging Indians to break away from Britain, the rape and bungled arrest serves as a lightning rod for acute trouble between the Brits and the Indian population. Meanwhile, Merrick becomes a rising star in the British army, two sisters, Sarah and Susan, search for personal happiness in the crumbling empire, a former missionary lady (Peggy Ashcroft) endures the loss of her greatest friend and, subsequently, her mind, because of prejudice, and Guy Perron (Charles Dance) becomes a witness to the lethal personality of Merrick. How will over "three hundred years" of British rule in India end? Did you say badly? This lengthy but outstanding series has really too many happenings to relate in a brief review. Yet, the relationship between Daphne and Hari is the springboard to everything else that occurs in this complex and lovely story. The British had, and still do have, much to offer the world as a civilization but its empire reached too far when it trampled under the basic rights of its conquered people and territories, as seen in this examination of India. All of the actors in this film are beyond compare, with Pigott-Smith a wonder as the evil and misguided police commander. The scenery is likewise breathtaking, the costumes are authentic to the times, and the cinematography is very beautiful. If you have any interest whatsoever in the history of the world, or in the basic struggle of the human race, you should make time for this monumental series, as soon as possible. It is a richly rewarding, touching and truthful look at a pivotal time in the history of mankind.

arybug Apologies but those above who have slated the series by rubbishing the acting I feel, are seriously mistaken. Those who have said that the British characters were too reserved and meandering are quite correct - it is how British people were and definitely how they were portrayed in Paul Scotts original book. The beauty of the piece lies in its tender subtlety which provides in itself enough drama without constant high adrenaline action so common to the Hollywood Blockbuster. Tim Pigott Smith was just beautiful with his sadistic menacing Ronald Merrick who definitely goes top on my list of all time favourites. The whole piece when watched one after the other definitely gives the sense of time and place which - living in modern times it is often easy to lose sight of. Thumbs up to all the cast I feel that the acting from all members was superb.As the show progresses the viewer gets gradually enveloped and involved in the lives of these people the thing to remember about this piece is that it is not necessarily the action which enhances the show but more importantly the psychological development of every single character ( maybe with the exception on Aunt Fenny - funny but was only there for convenience - to introduce Sarah to Jimmy the soldier)