Autobiographie einer Prinzessin (1975)

Autobiographie einer Prinzessin: Directed by James Ivory. With James Mason, Madhur Jaffrey, Keith Varnier, Diane Fletcher. On the anniversary of her father’s death, an Indian princess (Madhur Jaffrey) celebrates his memory in her London apartment by having tea and showing a selection of home movies to her guest, her father’s old tutor Cyril Sahib (James Mason).

“Sometimes it can take three, four or even several hours for a film-maker to tell their tale or sometimes just several minutes and sometimes a director will make a feature that is the cinematic equivalent of a short story. u0026quot;Autobiography of a Princessu0026quot; falls very much into this category. Itu0026#39;s a Merchant/Ivory picture, again with a screenplay by Ruth Prawer Jhabvala and made in 1975. It lasts less than an hour and is basically a two-hander in which an Indian princess living in London, (Madhur Jaffrey) and her fatheru0026#39;s former tutor, (James Mason), spend an afternoon drinking tea and watching home movies of life in a past India.u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eItu0026#39;s no masterpiece but itu0026#39;s superbly acted, particularly by Mason who underplays beautifully and, of course, in very little time it says a great deal about Indiau0026#39;s past and Englandu0026#39;s present, the class system in both countries and the psychological makeup of the two participants in this annual orgy of nostalgia for bygone days. Itu0026#39;s clear the team making this film have no real fondness for the events we see but Merchant/Ivory are too clever to simply attack them. This is a very subtle demolition job captured in Jaffreyu0026#39;s prattling on and in Masonu0026#39;s pained expressions. It makes a perfect companion piece to the later u0026quot;Heat and Dustu0026quot; and is an essential part of the Merchant/Ivory canon.”