The Jewel in the Crown

1984

Seasons & Episodes

  • 1
8.4| NA| en| More Info
Released: 09 January 1984 Ended
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Country: United Kingdom
Budget: 0
Revenue: 0
Official Website:
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The Jewel in the Crown, based upon the Raj Quartet novels by Paul Scott, is a British television serial about the final days of the British Raj in India during World War II. The story begins with an unjust arrest for rape. The consequences of this echo through the series. Questions of identity and personal responsibility are explored against a background of war and personal intrigue. The series was produced by Granada Television for the ITV network.

Genre

Drama

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The Jewel in the Crown Audience Reviews

BootDigest Such a frustrating disappointment
Pluskylang Great Film overall
TaryBiggBall It was OK. I don't see why everyone loves it so much. It wasn't very smart or deep or well-directed.
Erica Derrick By the time the dramatic fireworks start popping off, each one feels earned.
didi-5 This mammoth series does a beautiful job of bringing Paul Scott's novels 'The Raj Quartet' to the screen.The scene is the period of time at the end of the British Raj, the characters are well drawn and believable (particularly Tim Pigott-Smith as the racist and intolerant Captain Merrick, a complex character, and Art Malik as the intellectual Indian Hari Kumar). Scott's novel was an engrossing read and 'Jewel' does it proud.One of those series which goes in all sorts of different directions before it comes to its moving and surprising conclusion. One of the great pieces of British TV drama.
pekinman It was brave of Yorkshire Television to take on a filmed adaptation of Paul Scott's massive novel 'The Jewel in the Crown'. All-in-all they did a good job of it. Wisely the script focuses in on the personal relationships within the context of a changing India. The jarring complexities of "old" India rubbing up against the modernizing influences of the British Raj is vividly conveyed, mostly in the smaller, quieter moments, as when Harry Kumar takes Daphne Manners to visit his aunt and the behavior of the servants and the Rajput princess with whom Daphne is living.It's true that there is a great deal of dialog, in a soap opera-ish sense. There are times in some of the later episodes when I thought I was watching some bit of trash on TV on a Wednesday afternoon, but then I'd focus in on what the characters were saying and realize that it was deep and important stuff. You have to pay attention to 'The Jewel in the Crown' or it does indeed become a muddle and a bore. If you lose the train of thought you will not be rescued by brilliant cinematography or sound-track because both are inferior, which is a big shame. Perhaps it is the awful A&E dvds that are the problem, something that could be rectified with a remastering of the original films and sound- track. As it stands the sound is execrable, oftentimes the music and background rumble drowning out the speaking voices of the main characters. The musical score itself is wonderful and the actual camera-work is very good, which makes the loss of a good picture and decent sound-track all the more frustrating. As for the acting, the thing is chocked-full of fine performances. Some of the characters are indeed a little too clichéd and, in the case of Ronald Merrick, completely over the top, but Merrick's character works, as a dramatic contrivance, to add to the melodrama of the story... something which may or may not have been the purpose of Scott's creation in the first place. But that's entertainment!My favorite performances were Eric Portman's crafty old Russian emigré, Count Bronowsky. Porter was a great actor and is greatly missed. I savor his every appearance in 'The Jewel in the Crown' because he evokes the old Northern world of honor and good breeding, now extinct. His character makes me wish for a great film of the true story of the White Russians who had to flee the Bolsheviks in the first two decades of the 20th century, for such disparate places as India, Paris and Manchuria. Susan Wooldridge is superb as Daphne Manners, ditto Art Malik as Harry Kumar. I enjoyed Charles Dance's upper-crust but manly Sergeant and found Derrick Branche's Ahmed Kasim a fascinating and seductive person. Peggy Ashcroft's old missionary lady is heart-breaking in the loss of her simple faith in God, conveying, in the end, a powerful and sibylline persona. It is good to see Rachel Kempson (Mrs Michael Redgrave) in one of her last roles on film. Tim Pigot-Smith manages to make an unbelievable character, Ronald Merrick, human, well, almost. He's a monster of bigotry, jealousy and class envy, and Pigot-Smith plays him so convincingly that it is difficult to imagine a more effective portrayal of pure evil by anyone else. Pigot-Smith steals the show, on the whole.This TV series is definitely worth owning on DVD; if only A&E hadn't tossed it off in such a haphazard manner. Still, it's better 'n nuttin'.
snu_grad This miniseries is compelling, well-told, beautifully filmed, and superbly acted. With a powerfully moving script, it tells the story of the complex relationship between the British and Indian people at the end of British rule of the subcontinent. It has history, romance, action, mystery, and even a mild dose of sex and violence. ;-) It definitely has something for everyone.I cried, laughed, was amazed, and said "Oh my God!" and "I knew it!" several times. I was glued to the screen and later watched my favorite scenes a second or third time.Absolutely its only shortcoming was that there were no subtitles. Being as old as it is and with the many accents, it's sometimes a bit hard to make out the exact lines. But it's so easy to follow (yet never dull) that I was never lost. If A&E ever re-releases this with enhanced sound and subtitles, I'll snag it up in a New York minute! Even my husband (who normally hates British films) really enjoyed this. He hated to miss a minute; by Chapter 3, he was utterly hooked.See this wonderful piece of work if you can. It's well worth every hour.
jle2 Very disappointing series that had some potential. As the series continues, it increasingly becomes a forum for homosexual politics. Also, largely a woman's movie, in the the first half at least. The whole series revolves around a man you are encouraged to hate, then feel sorry for and then hate again. Even his demise, which you are hoping for by the end of the first of 15 episodes, is disappointing. The British are made out to be thoroughly disagreeable throughout most of the series. Very little history, geography and politics of India, which I had hoped to see. The black and white documentary interjections are out of place and several don't make any sense at all, for example, D-Day - this is a movie about India, not about the invasion of Normandy! It is a loathsome and ponderous work with little redeeming qualities. Stay away in droves.