Jeanskynebu the audience applauded

Moustroll Good movie but grossly overrated

Glucedee It's hard to see any effort in the film. There's no comedy to speak of, no real drama and, worst of all.

Curapedi I cannot think of one single thing that I would change about this film. The acting is incomparable, the directing deft, and the writing poignantly brilliant.

Ian (Flash Review)The movie opens up as if you are opening a text book as high doses of information are evenly parsed out. Only later does the text begin to fly off the page as the drama ratchets up. This tells the history, from the British perspective, of the state of India during the end of British rule over their land. A political debate revolves around if India will remain united or will it be "partitioned" or split up with Pakistan as its own country and the film focuses on the Viceroy's role in the process. (Viceroy = the British representative ruler over the Indian nation.) Everyone knows Pakistan is a country so the interesting part is seeing the tension and the high risk ramifications of various decisions. Such as a massive expanse of people and families being relocated as well as the cultural reshaping and restructuring with regard to Muslim and Indian cultures. The movie was nicely shot, well-acted, informative and the British do not appear to be truly hated by the Indian people. It was an easy watch with in-depth look into this slice of history. Yet didn't have the raw drama and for a full emotional involvement.

Kingslaay Viceroy's house was an excellent and powerful historical film. It is not easy to watch a film about such a tough and dramatic period in history. As a film it does a remarkable and accurate job of capturing the tense events and negotiations that took place before the independence of India and creation of Pakistan. It is sad to see some of ratings of this film as the historical significance and tension of this tense time would be lost on many. Not many would appreciate or even understand what a brutal and turning point in history this was and the great figures at the centre of it. For this reason the ratings are misguided. People who love their history and are well versed in historic events and their significance would use a proper lens to watch this film. For the rest and probably the majority on here it would be like showing a Spanish film to only English speaking people. The performances, especially Hugh Bonneville, are first class. The intensity, drama and danger was well captured by this cast who hit it out of the park and bring to life a period in history.The romance that involved a hindu and Muslim was also another master stroke that worked well.8/10

pacolopezpersonal-22057 Once again we can see the brightness of the British Empire, the Pomp and Circumstance. Essentially anglophile where the simple and human behavior of the upper social classes towards people (supposedly) of inferior class or of different culture or religion is a trait something difficult to find and therefore very appreciated when it is produced. The movies shows the last moments of the transfer of sovereignty to India, the process of the creation of Pakistan as a nation and the collateral victims of political intrigue represented here by the viceroy and his wife (officially designated to carry out the whole task) and that despite the efforts of both of them they turn out to be simply marionettes of the British government. To alleviate the great political content of the plot, we also have an insubstantial love story between a couple of lovers of different religion that possibly was not needed; and finally the conclusion that whatever happens in History England always wins.

jdesando "Our time frame for leaving won't work!" Lady Mountbatten (Gillian Anderson) Some would say the final partition of India creating Pakistan never worked, albeit a solution to the violence between Muslims, Hindus, and Sikhs was needed with the pending quitting of Britain from rule in 1947. The historical and humane Viceroy's House takes us nimbly yet sometimes brutally through the Solomon-like assignment of Lord Mountbatten (Hugh Bonneville) to bring peace and partition.Although this fascinating film could be accused of being more Masterpiece Theater than history, it brings home in the best period-piece fashion the almost insoluble task of stopping the fighting among factions and fairly apportioning the sub-continent. Mahatma Gandhi's (Neeraj Kabi) opposition, as he favored a unified continent, was the counterbalance to the raw pain of partition but unrealistic given the prevailing hostilities. The film does not oppressively dwell on the philosophy or the brutality: They are just there as if they always were.Helping the transition is A. R. Rahman's musical score appropriately classical and grave at times and then lightly Indian as the time draws near. Viceroy's House has a workman-like period piece feel to it. It also has a soap-opera like romance between Muslim Aalia (Huma Qureshi) and Hindu Jeet (Manish Dayal), an attempt to provide a figurative representation of the cultural clashes borne of tradition and the impending upending with Britain's leaving.The spiritual presence of Churchill, who ended up being the actual architect of the partition, left an independent Mountbatten to come to Churchill's solution without even knowing about it. The various bloody factions are well-perceived as unavoidable given the massive population and the complex challenges of partition.The oil and coastal-protecting motives are there in muted acknowledgment of the inevitable political background of the largest mass movement of human beings in history. Here is a history worth knowing if only to clarify the prevailing hostility between India and Pakistan and the allure Pakistan has for trouble-prone world powers.If for nothing else, enjoy the period costumes and settings. Downton Abbey would approve.