Alas,
Tony Buckingham is on the wrong side of both a generational divide and a
cultural divide. There was a time when Indian audiences flocked to see his
traveling Shakespearean company, but they find themselves out of favor in the
mid-1960s. At least they will scuffle with class and culture in the freshly 2K
restored early Merchant-Ivory production, Shakespeare
Wallah (trailer
here), which
opens this Friday in New York.
Lizzie
Buckingham was born in India, straight into her father’s acting troupe. Over
the years, she has graduated from stagehand work to featured roles, like Ophelia.
Unlike her parents, she has no memory of those salad days, so performing in any
old venue feels natural to her. They represent an end of an era, just like the
maharajah, for whom they give a private command performance in the opening
scenes.
Fatefully,
engine trouble while on the road to their next gig introduces the Buckinghams
to their sort of rescuer, Sanju, a well-heeled playboy. He rather makes an
impression on Lizzie and vice versa. However, she makes it clear she will not
tolerate his usual gamesmanship. Indeed, he is rather impressed with her spirit
and dazzled by the high culture she represents. Eventually, Manjula, his
Bollywood star cousin, back-handedly acknowledges Ms. Buckingham could be a
threat to the stake she claimed in Sanju.
Wallah is directly
inspired by the experiences of Geoffrey Kendal’s thespian family, who
essentially play fictionalized versions of themselves. In the years prior, they
extensively toured the subcontinent, happily performing Shakespeare for
appreciative audiences. This was the screen debut of his daughter, British TV
star Felicity Kendal, who is probably most recognizable to American audiences
for playing the wife of the bulky sweater-wearing Richard Briers on the 1970s
Britcom Good Neighbors, which was in
regular rotation on 1980s PBS stations. Although it probably helped type-cast
her in “cute” roles, she is in fact, quite forceful and nuanced as Lizzie
Buckingham.
Ironically,
Kendal’s close friend Madhur Jaffrey portrayed her arrogant rival Manjula with
flamboyant cattiness. It is a wonderful Bette Davis-kind of turn that heralded
the start of a long association with Merchant and Ivory. Shashi Kapoor flashes
the charm as Sanju, but he is more memorable for darker, more chauvinistic
moments. Of course, it is Geoffrey Kendal and his off-screen wife Laura Liddell
who supply the film’s bedrock grace and dignity as Tony and Carla Buckingham.
There
is a free-and-easy vibe to Wallah that
does not seem very Merchant-Ivory, but it is definitely in keeping with the
swinging sixties. The black-and-white cinematography also stands in stark
contrast to the lush look of their 1980s breakout films. In a weird way, it
would make a fitting double bill with such radically dissimilar films as
Olivier’s The Entertainer and A Hard Day’s Night. Highly recommended, Shakespeare Wallah opens this Friday
(11/10) in New York, at the Quad Cinema.
