The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel

Directed by John Madden.

Screenplay written by Ol Parker

Based on the 2004 novel These Foolish Things, by Deborah Moggach,

Produced by Participant Media and Blueprint Pictures

Movie Review: The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel: Care Home For the Elderly and Beautiful

From Director John Madden of Shakespeare in Love comes a British comedy-drama that is witty, touching, heart-warming, truthful, and full of wisdom on aging! A movie about celebrating life in the midst of conflicting ideas and realities, as it tackles the personal issues of the protagonists in an exotic land quite different from where they come from, and where each of them has to expect the unexpected. It entertains as it also teaches, for in the end, no one is really too old to learn the lessons of life!

Synopsis:

Based on 2004 novel These Foolish Things by Deborah Moggach, The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel tells the story of seven retired people from Great Britain who responded to the enticing internet advertisement of a Home for the Elderly and Beautiful in India, and relates the life of the struggling hotel manager Sonny, a young Indian who has to defy his mother’s wishes to follow the dictate of his heart. When these English folks arrived, they were surprised to see that the seemingly exotic hotel turned out to be “a great hotel in-the-making.” Left with no choice but to make the best of their time in India staying in this hotel, each of them went on with his own personal business:

Muriel (Maggie Smith), a fragile old lady who trusts no one but English doctors, has to find and trust this Indian doctor to operate her hip;

Evelyn (Judi Dench), a widower who was so dependent with her late  husband, has to find a job, reinvent herself, and assert her independence;

Graham (Tom Wilkinson), a retired judge who had been in India 40 years ago, has to find the love of his life and confront the guilt he has been carrying since they parted ways;

Douglas (Bill Nighy) and Jean (Penelope Wilton), a couple whose relationship is in the brink of falling apart, must face the reality with all honesty and sincerity in order to remain free and loving people;

Norman (Ronal Pickup) and Madge (Celia Imrie)  who are both looking for a partner must prove to the world that at their age, it is never too late to find that special someone; and,

Sonny (Dev Patel), a young, ambitious entrepreneur must challenge his mother’s dream for him and prove to her and his lover that he is capable of fulfilling his own dream.

Each character has a personality that either attracts or repels one another. Moreover, as they go about doing their own things, they are also confronted with the culture and the people who think and do things quite differently from them. The cultural shocks started when they have the ride of their life with a bus and the Tuktuk (a motorcycle taxi which is a common means of transportation in urban India) to reach the hotel. One can’t help but notice the excitement and the fear in the faces of these strangers as the bus and the Tuktuk pushed their way along the busy streets of India! And when Muriel was offered an Aloo Paratha (potato stuffed Indian bread) by Douglas, all she could say is, “If I can’t pronounce it, I don’t wanna eat it!” Awkward and funny moments like this are common all throughout the film as each of them battles with their own insecurities and prejudices. And the moving, yet, very awkward scene in the film was the meeting of Graham with the love of his life.  

As the life story of each character unfolds, one feels empathy with them, laugh with them, cry with them, and learn about life with them. One gets an insight as to how life is filled with unfulfilled dreams and unresolved issues. The movie then, through the insightful narrative by Evelyn, reveals the ways and means to which these dreams and issues are resolved and brought to conclusion so that, in the end, one can appreciate that life never really stops giving us surprises, as long as one opens his heart to receive them with gratitude and accept one truth that, as Evelyn says, “We get up in the morning, we do our best. Nothing else matters.”

Cultural clash

The movie really shines on its dealing with cultural prejudices through the eyes of the outsiders. Maggie Smith as Muriel is an epitome of a person who appreciates nothing but her own culture. She wanted an English doctor, bring her own English food, and in one scene when she entered her room in the hotel and saw this Indian doctor waiting for her inside, she went out and, in a low voice, said: “There’s an Indian in there.” It sounded so funny and derogatory at the same time, and Maggie did it effortlessly. However, her character transforms into a more sensitive being as she learns to value friendship and embrace differences through an Indian servant lady.

Another embodiment of a prejudiced person is Jean, the wife of Douglas.  She is all-complaints about the place, hardly goes out of the hotel, disliking the smell and the chaos outside, and even dared to ask Graham one day: “How can you bear this country? What do you see that I don’t?” To which Graham answered poignantly: “The light, colours, smiles. And the way people see life as a privilege and not right. It teaches me something.”

It is this cultural clash that adds flavour to the already tasteful adventures of the protagonists. And the learning one gets from it. India, as the setting, provides a venue for psychological nakedness of the characters where each of them bares her own soul unwittingly. The film also allows the audience to get a taste of the richness of the Indian culture and how different it is from where the actors come from.

The ensemble

I was hooked to the screen and couldn’t help but laugh and be amused by the conversations and reactions of the characters in various incidents. At times, I had to rewind the video a little bit if I could not get what they were saying. British accents could be difficult to understand at times. One has to listen carefully to the dialogue in order to appreciate more the brilliance of the actors. I found the casts of this movie to be brilliant, versatile, and flawless. No wonder why at their age, they remain to be among the great British actors still giving the world of cinema superb and incredible acting.

Judy Dench, Maggie Smith, Bill Nighy and Tom Wilkinson just give remarkable performances one scene after another, bringing their characters into the screen in full flesh and blood. Of course, the 2012 Olivier Award nominee for Noises Celia Imrie as Madge, a woman looking for her Mr. Right, proves that her theatrical experience is something to look up to. The two other veterans in British cinema, Penelope Wilton as Jean, and Ronald Pickup as Norman, are equally great. Dev Patel, the British-Indian actor who shone first in Slumdog Millionaire must have felt so lucky to be part of this dream cast, proving to himself that he is ready to be part of such a star-studded film.

Director John Madden is indeed remarkable. He is able to hook into one string the various life stories of the characters and able to focus on their humanity. With some typical and at times stereotyping of first world - meets - third world reactions, the lighter side of life still shines. There is even one character in the movie who was silent all the time until towards the end of the movie. Madden is able to just put him on the background making me wonder what his part will be in the end. Yet, he came out to be an important character for the resolution of a conflict (between Sonny and his mom). Great directing.

Memorable Lines

As a surprise box office hit, this film does not fail to deliver lines that one remembers with much musing. I tried to listen carefully to those lines because I believe they invite us to reflect and be enriched by their wisdom. So, here they are:

“But it’s also true that the person who risks nothing, does nothing, has nothing.”

 “Patience is passion tamed.”

“The light, colours, smiles. And the way people see life as a privilege and not right. It teaches me something.”

“Have we travelled long enough that we can allow our tears to fall?”

“Nothing happens unless first we dream.”

“The only real failure is the failure to try.”

 “We get up in the morning, we do our best. Nothing else matters.”

“All we know about the future is that it will be different. Perhaps what we fear is that it will be the same. So, we must celebrate the changes. Because as someone once said, ‘Everything will be alright in the end. And if it’s not alright, then, trust me, it’s not yet the end.’ ”

Seldom can we see movies that make us laugh, cry, listen intently to the conversation, challenge us intellectually and culturally, show our vulnerabilities, and teach us lessons about life. This film does it all. It’s like a “blissful union of biscuit and tea combined” when you dunk your biscuit into the tea, and savouring its taste slowly and reverently. Awesome! I highly recommend this movie to all who love to live life daily with gratitude, appreciation, and risk!

My rating for this movie: 4 stars!