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Released by: Twilight Time Releasing
Released on: January, 2015.
Director: Shekhar Kapur
Cast: Seema Biswas, Nirmal Pandey, Rajesh Vivek
Year: 1994
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The Movie:
Shekhar Kapur is probably best known to western audiences for directing Elizabeth in 1998 and The Four Feathers in 2002 but his 1994 is a far more interesting and challenging film than those big studio productions. Based on actual events, the film tells the story a woman named Phoolan Devi (Seema Biswas), a woman who led a gang of bandits in India. She became a celebrity in her native land and is a great subject for a movie.
As you'd expect, it charts her rise and fall beginning with her childhood where we see her married off at eleven years old, her parents only too happy to trade her off to a male villager in exchange for a cow and a bicycle. Her husband would become abusive and she would be taunted by the higher caste citizens of her village and eventually her husband would force her to consummate their marriage despite the fact that she's still way too young to handle that. Not surprisingly, she flees and tries to return home to her parents but they will not take her, it would not be proper to remove her from her husband's home. When she manages to get a divorce, she's reduced to an even lower level on the caste system than before and is eventually framed for a robbery. Her incarceration doesn't last long though - a rich man puts up her bail, but expects payback from her in the bedroom.
As Phoolan grows up, it becomes more and more obvious that her scars run deep. When she's kidnapped by a gang of roaming bandits, this actually works in her favor. She and one of the men, Vikram (Nirmal Pandey), develop a mutual respect for one another and soon they fall in love. When they take things to the next level physical, Phoolan can't help but lash out and try to defend herself, despite the fact that she wants a tenderness to exist between them in this regard. Again, those scars run deep, but Vikram can at least understand why she is the way she is. From here, she manages to become respected by many of the other (all male) bandits to the point where she's allowed to take charge of a group of her own. She does this and proves a natural, waging a series of cunning raids and becoming a cause-celebre in the Indian press.
The film ran afoul of Indian censors in its homeland and the real life Phoolan Devi at one point attempted to block the picture's release with a law suit - the graphic rape in the film being the big stickling point for both parties. As these things tend to go, however, her luck does not last. Vikram winds up murdered by jealous men and Phoolan soon finds her influence waning. Her actions will have consequences.
This is a tough watch and a frequently unpleasant film that many will no doubt dismiss as exploitation simply because of the rape in the film. That wouldn't be fair to the picture, however, as in no way does it glorify these events or even remotely try to justify the actions of those who commit them. It does, however, use rape as a plot device in the sense that it effectively gets the audience to not only sympathize with Phoolan Devi's plight but understand why she would act and then subsequently react to Indian society the way that she does. The film is quite damning in its depiction of Indian men, only Vikram seems to be able to treat women as anything other than property, and so too is it damning in its depiction of Indian society's acceptance of this. The ruffled some serious feathers in 1994 (it was refused a certificate in India) and would likely have the same effect today. So be it.
Performance wise, this is Seema Biswas' show pretty much all the way. Her portrayal of Phoolan Devi is remarkable. We feel sorry for her, as we should given what she goes through, but as she makes her rise to power her ferocious manner and forceful nature becomes inspiring. While she operates outside the law, Devi does manage to rise above her circumstances and Biswas brings this character to life with guts and with remarkable screen presence. Director Kapur goes more for gritty realism here than for fancy arthouse style, and it's an approach that suits the dark and violent material quite well. The end result is a movie that is equal parts revolting and impressive but never less than gripping.
Video/Audio/Extras:
Bandit Queen arrives on Blu-ray from Twilight Time in an impressive AVC encoded 1080p high definition transfer framed at 1.78.1 widescreen. Clarity is typically quite nice, though some of the night time scenes aren't as sharp as those shot in daylight - likely due to the conditions under which the movie way shot rather than the elements used for the transfer. Detail is strong here, while texture and depth definitely exceed what you'd get out of a DVD offering. Skin tones look nice, there isn't much in the way of serious print damage outside of a few minor specks, and the film grain evident throughout playback would seem to indicate that there's no serious noise reduction employed here. All in all, this is quite a nice looking picture.
Audio chores are handled by a DTS-HD 2.0 track (primarily) in Hindi with forced English subtitles. Levels are nicely balanced here and there are no problems to note with any hiss or distortion. Dialogue is clear and the score has nice balance and range to it.
The main extra on the disc is a commentary track with director Shekhar Kapur and it's quite an interesting listen. Here he discusses the events that inspired the film, casting the actors and actresses that are used in the picture, shooting on location and quite a bit more. This is a nicely paced and informative track that does a really nice job of delivering what is essentially a crash course in the making of the picture.
Outside of that we get an isolated score option in DTS-HD, menus and chapter selection. Inside the keepcase is a full color insert booklet of liner notes written by Julie Kirgo that are quite interesting. Not only do they offer up a bit of history in regards to the film and its production but they also fill us in on what happened to some of the real life characters that the movie was based on.
The Final Word:
Bandit Queen isn't always an easy film to watch given both its subject matter and the way in which it graphically depicts certain events, but it's a remarkable film deserving of a wider audience. The direction is strong and the lead performance from Seema Biswas is remarkable. Twilight Time brings this underappreciated gem of Indian cinema to Blu-ray with a nice HD transfer, fine audio and a few choice extras as well.
Click on the images below for full sized Blu-ray screen caps!
