The Jewel in the Crown

Product Description

The New York Times called it Superb! and Time found it Ultimately rewarding...with a sterling cast.This acclaimed adaptation of Paul Scot's masterpiece, The Raj Quartet, won over 20 international awards, including a Golden Globe and an Emmy. Filmed on location, it re-creates the turbulent period when British colonial rule in India came crashing down. The memorable cast includes Dame Peggy Ashcroft and Charles Dance.Finally available on DVD, it comes to life like never before, making this the ultimate version for collectors and new fans of the classic saga alike! 4 DVDs.

Format: DVD MOVIE

Amazon.com

The Jewel in the Crown, adapted from Paul Scott's Raj Quartet novels, tells the story of the final years before India gained independence in 1947. It is rare for a filmed adaptation to successfully preserve the richness and complexity of a great novel, but this epic miniseries succeeds both as personal drama and historical panorama.

In 1942 Daphne Manners, a naive young woman newly arrived in the town of Mayapore, befriends Hari Kumar, an Indian-born journalist who has spent most of his life in England. With his dark skin and educated English accent, Hari feels like an outsider wherever he goes, but Daphne understands his plight and they become romantically involved. Their developing relationship is jealously observed by local police chief Ronald Merrick, a man haunted by his own demons. When the lovers are attacked in the gardens of the ruined Bibighar palace and Daphne is raped, Merrick seizes his opportunity, pins the crime on Hari, and has the young man jailed. Distraught, Daphne flees to her aunt's home in Kashmir, where she dies giving birth to a half-caste child. The focus then shifts to Sarah Layton, a young Englishwoman who becomes fascinated by the story of Daphne and Hari, and who will have her own encounter with Ronald Merrick.

The events in the Bibighar gardens become a symbol of the violent struggle for Indian independence, and other symbols--Daphne's bicycle, a length of butterfly lace, a picture of Queen Victoria on an Indian throne--appear and reappear, linking people and events. This helps to give coherence to the plot even as it spans five years and expands to include many characters whose lives intersect in complex and unexpected ways.

With a huge cast and breathtaking location photography, The Jewel in the Crown was an enormous undertaking when it was made in the early 1980s. Twenty years later it has lost none of its power, and it remains one of the best films ever made for television. --Simon Leake

Customer Reviews:

It's the "unfulfilled promise.".......2007-08-27

Watch it and have a good laugh with the acting... Judy Parfitt is always in her classic mood. Peggy Ashcroft is such a camp and a half. And everyone is an alcoholic, practically. No wonder, it's not drag-ing. But could you PLEASE explain to me the meaning of the Jewel in the Crown (for the billionth time)??? All kidding aside, it's extremely entertaining and informative, "indeed."

A new perspective.......2007-07-28

Admittedly, I'm not a history buff and probably, like most Americans, what I do know about WWII is solely from the American perspective. The Jewel in the Crown was highly recommended, but I honestly wasn't enthused about getting a history lesson of the British occupation in India. I'm happy to report, however, that this series had me hooked. Not only was it brilliantly written and acted, but I came away with such respect for Paul Scott, the author of The Raj Quartet on which this series was based. A virtual lifetime of work went into this project, all gained from his experiences in India. There is so much detail, so many interesting, fully developed characters and intriguing, interwining plots, it's absolutely unbelievable how all of it blended so well. After watching 12 hours of these DVD's I had to read all four novels of The Raj Quartet. The DVDs were wonderfully satisfying, but getting more character background from the books was a treat. Like most A&E & BBC productions, there's always a wealth of remarkably trained British actors in this series. We get to see a very young Charles Dance-who was recently in "Bleak House" as the unmerciful Mr. Tulkinghorn. I do have to say though that I was most impressed with Tim Pigot-Smith as Ronald Merrick and Eric Porter as Count Bronowsky. Smith gives a very layered performance of Merrick who is so intensly disturbing. The payoff is finally understanding what makes him tick. This doesn't happen till the end, but all the pieces fall into place. Count Bronowsky is a very interesting character. He seems to be a delightful man and oddly seems to know everything about anybody. I've watched the series in full a few times and each time I hear or see something new from Bronowsky. Fortunately he's played by an actor who doesn't squander the time he's given. After reading the novels and viewing the DVD's I'm glad I finally have a general understanding of the British and Indian experiences during WWII. It's interesting to watch these cultures interact, their general distrust of one another, and how vastly different they can view a single, shared incident. It's heartbreaking, too, to see the damage that was done to India, not only from the War, but the toll British (and some Indian) extravagance had on the land, it's animals, the subjugation of the Indians and it's lasting effects on their government and justice system.

P.S. Try and avoid reading Amazon's product description for this DVD series. It reveals way too much of the plot. Also, there's several complaints about the sound & picture quality. True, it's not the quality that that I'm used to, but it didn't interfere with my enjoyment. When I'm watching a story this good, the picture quality is the least of my cares.

Bad Sound; Cheap DVD; but Great Story .......2007-03-23

I have read "The Raj Quartet" (i.e. "Jewel in the Crown) twice -- all 2,000 pages of it -- and I love the story. The novel and this DVD paint a fascinating and exhaustive look of the English in the last days of their rule of India.

The story is circular. It centers around the rape of an English girl in the Biribigar gardens in 1942. Seen through the lens of that event we go on to a picture of the British in India during World War II, the growing movement toward independence, and finally the consequences of Muslim-Hindu animosity aroused by independence. Most of the cast is superb and the number of characters is enormous: a tortured, lower-class policeman of chilling efficiency, a sensible English girl with a malevolent mother and a madly incompetent sister, several admirable but ineffective missionaries, befuddled soldiers, a Cambridge scholar, a demented but appealing Russian political advisor, Muslim and Indian politicians, and Hari Kumar -- the Indian boy who was English at heart and served as the scapegoat for all the English failings in India.

It's long, slow-moving, majestic, educational, sometimes a bit unlikely, inconclusive, but compelling -- a soap opera in the exotic and explosive setting of the British Raj. There are elements of Kipling here, and "Passage to India" and Mother Teresa -- a whole melange of not-so-original ideas and scenes. But nobody has ever taken such a meticulously close look at British India in its death throes as has author Paul Scott in the novel and this DVD.

"The Raj Quartet" in my opinion is one of the very greatest novels of the 20th century and "Jewel in the Crown" one of the very greatest of television dramas. That being said neither the color nor the sound of this DVD is of even average quality. The story deserves better.

Smallchief

Fascinating, complex story.......2007-01-16

I knew the Jewel in the Crown was about India, but somehow I always assumed it was 19th century India, not WWII. So this was a complete surprise to me. I also had no idea how dark this series was, so I was shocked as worse and worse things kept happening to the characters. Nonetheless, I couldn't stop watching because I had to know what was going to happen next. The story is very complex, and the ending not as satisfying as I would have liked, but now that it's over I can't stop thinking about it. As painful as some parts were, it was very worthwhile and really made me think. I don't know much about the DVD quality as some people mentioned, but it would have been nice to have some commentary or bonus features.

Jewel in the Crown.......2006-11-28

This is an amazing and very worthwhile production, but the sound recording reproduction leaves MUCH to be desired. The sound is EXTREMELY variable - exceedingly loud then too soft to be heard. This set really needs to have a good sound reproduction company work on it.

Historic Travel US - San Francisco - A Jewel in California¿s Crown DVD

Average customer rating:

Beautiful Travel Clips
Good Rough Footage

Historic Travel US - San Francisco - A Jewel in California¿s Crown DVD

Manufacturer: www.TravelVideoStore.com
ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: DVD

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ASIN: B0009F4YXK
Release Date: 2005-04-14

amazon.com

The Golden Gate Bridge remains one of the most photographed tourist attractions in the world, and has come to symbolize San Francisco. Yet, the glamorous city has many other fascinating attractions that are as alluring as the Bridge itself. For instance, San Francisco's Chinatown is one of the world's biggest oriental settlements outside of China and few places in the world are better known than the Fisherman's Wharf. Walk through San Francisco's crowded Market Street, take a rare peek at the United States coin-making mint, gape in wonder at the amazing Golden Gate Bridge and visit the biggest Chinese settlement outside of China in the '40s! This fabulous and historic DVD from a2zcds has all this and more!

Customer Reviews:

Beautiful Travel Clips.......2006-11-28

This DVD is a collection of tourist films and newsreel footage of San Fransisco shot in the first third of the 20th century. It's almost all black and white and has some silent footage with a musical score.

It's interesting because I know the city very well and I liked being able to see what has changed over they years and what has remained the same.

The golden gate bridge and chinatown shots are the best of the bunch on here, but it's all pretty good and I watched it several times.

Good Rough Footage.......2006-05-05

Wow. Some of the footage here is really rough and clearly shot by someone with a home camera. Not that that's a bad thing, it's just something that jumped out at me.

All of the films here are of San Francisco at the turn of the century when the city was trying to move from being a small gold rush city and become a real metropolis.

The city planners put a lot of effort inot growing the city and it shows here.

The rough footage is my favorite because it's free of the promotional aspects of the other clips and made me feel like I was really learning the truth about the city at the turn of the century.

Average customer rating:

the best thing about this dvd is the picture on the cover
An Unoffical Crown
Interesting....could be better.

The Jewel in the Crown: Unauthorized
Starring: Morrissey
Manufacturer: Mvd Visual
ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: DVD

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ASIN: B0002Z9W2K
Release Date: 2004-11-16

Description

This complete unathorized DVD biography includes exclusive and previously unseen film footage and in-depth interviews with those that worked closely with Morrissey during his career, including interviews with Stephen Street, Tony Wilson, Mark Nevin, Vini Reilly, Jonny Bridgwood and ex-smith Craig Gannon, amongst others. The Jewel In The Crown looks back on his career, and discloses the story of his life and music, and reveals what has inspired him to write some of the finest music of our time.

Customer Reviews:

the best thing about this dvd is the picture on the cover.......2007-02-05

I love Morrissey, obviously - or i wouldn't have watched this, but as a documentary this one is a sleeper.. Details from Morrissey's career are nice, but the reliance on the twitter-twatter of past producers and alienated bandsmen leaves us feeling that we are not seeing too much of the man Morrissey really is.. I do like the descriptions of how he lives his life - rearanging furniture to confuse guests and so forth - but with no actual footage or music from Morrissey - or at least interviews with him - we feel like we are learning nothing...

An Unoffical Crown.......2006-11-09

"Morrissey: The Jewel in the Crown" is a 108 minute unauthorized documentary on Morrissey's solo career, from "Viva Hate", album by album to "You Are The Quarry". It was a little rough in places, but it was a pretty interesting documentary.

Being an unauthorized documentary, there is no music from Morrissey or his former band the Smiths played in the film. Instead, there's some Smiths sound-a-like music that fills interludes here and there. It doesn't overwhelm the background, and isn't played all the time, which is all right. The interviews are pretty interesting, including producer Stephen Street, guitarist Craig Gannon, "Kill Uncle's" Mark Nevin, and a few music journalists and biographers. They discuss the making of albums and singles, various gigs, Morrissey's infamous "Union Jack" incident of 1992, and bandmember politics and legal woes. The discussions about that particular topic was a side to the British music scene, and of Britain itself, that I had never really thought about before. It's quite nasty in a subdued sort of way, all the bickering over who wrote what with Morrissey and how someone else is bending the truth. It's really hard to say who is, that's the strange thing.

It was curious the way the musicians talked about their encounters with Morrissey, too. Through their eyes, he is a man who is rather shy, whose prone to going red with embarassment when something unexpected happens. He's an unconventional songwriter, who doesn't do quite what his co-writers plan or would expect him to do. Morrissey's still really mysterious though, to me anyway. It's like there's always stuff that doesn't quite add up, and he's gone and hidden the calculators. There's an interview with Morrissey as well, taken from a British TV show around the time of promotion "You are the Quarry", but it's fairly short and at the end of the film. In it, he's pretty open and "mellow" (to quote Mark Nevin).

Special features include a Morrissey quiz and a discography, which is a little inaccurate ("You are the Quarry" is written in it as "I Am the Quarry", for instance).

It's worth a look for Morrissey fans, just keep in mind it is unauthorized. On that level, it's really pretty decent, great selection of interviews, even if they ramble on in that British way every now and then.

Interesting....could be better........2004-11-28

Firstly, there are no Smiths/Morrissey songs or music in this documentary. Afterall, it is an unauthorized piece.

Secondly, expect lots of interviews. Can be quite boring at times, ie when Stephen Street and Vini Reilly going back and forth arguing who has the rights to the songs blah blah blah.

Thirdly, this documentary does cover up til You Are the Quarry. But only in the last 10 mins of the show.

Overall, it's an interesting piece but could be better.

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