Immaculate Conception is a 1992 film written and directed by British director Jamil Dehlavi with James Wilby, Melissa Leo and Shabana Azmi playing the lead roles.
| Immaculate Conception | |
|---|---|
_Film_Poster.jpg) | |
| Directed by | Jamil Dehlavi |
| Written by | Jamil Dehlavi |
| Produced by | Jamil Dehlavi |
| Starring | James Wilby Melissa Leo Shabana Azmi |
| Cinematography | Nicholas D. Knowland |
| Edited by | Chris Barnes |
| Music by | Richard Harvey |
Release date |
|
Running time | 120 min |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Language | English |
The film won the Special Jury prize at the Festival of British Cinema, Dinard.
Plot
editHannah, Jewish-American daughter of a US senator, and her British lover Alistair, working as an environmentalist in Pakistan, desperate for a child, visit the eunuch shrine of Gulab Shah which has a reputation for curing infertility. While Alistair is embroiled in a brief love affair with a Pakistani photographer, Hannah conceives and decides to convert to Islam, coaxing Alistair to do the same, causing a conflict with her family. Meanwhile, the eunuchs from the shrine develop an interest in Hannah's baby, leading to tension from the clash of cultures and religious beliefs.[1][2][3]
Cast
edit- James Wilby as Alistair
- Melissa Leo as Hannah
- Shabana Azmi as Samira
- Zia Mohyeddin as Shehzada
- James Cossins as Godfrey
- Shreeram Lagoo as Dadaji
- Ronny Jhutti as Kamal
- Tim Choate as David Schwartz
- Bill Bailey as American Consul
- Badi Uzzaman as Dadaji's Retainer
Critical response
editKim Newman reviewing the film in Empire Online wrote, "despite trying to shoehorn oodles of secondary themes into the brew, the psychological tug-of-war between Islam and Judaism, some nasty imperialist behaviour, and the downbeat ending make this well worth a look, if for no other reason than Western audiences rarely get a chance to see anything vaguely Asian."[2]
See also
editReferences
edit- ^ "Jamil Dehlavi – Immaculate Conception (1992)". Cinema of the world. 5 August 2015. Retrieved 13 August 2015.
- ^ a b "Immaculate Conception-Review". Empire Online. Retrieved 13 August 2015.
- ^ "Immaculate Conception-Synopsis". Fandango. Retrieved 13 August 2015.
External links
edit
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