Review of Far Pavilions, The

Introduction

The Far Pavilions is a mini-series made for HBO in 1984, which originally aired on Channel 4 in the UK.

Set in India at the end of the 19th Century and based on M. M. Kaye`s novel, The Far Pavilions is a romantic epic following the story of Ash (Ben Cross) and an Indian Princess called Anjuli (Amy Irving) whom he loves. Although brought up in India, Ash is a British Army Officer, and he finds that his love and understanding of the Indian people causes a conflict of interest with the no-compromise rules of the British army. Other stars include Omar Sharif, John Gielgud, Christopher Lee and Art Malik.

The story is spread across 6 episodes of approximately 52 minutes each, totalling 5 hours and 16 minutes (despite the box proclaiming "over six hours" – obviously someone at the artwork designers can`t count!)

Video

The video is presented in 4:3 full-frame is best described as being of slightly above average quality. The picture is relatively free of dirt and grain, but its early 1980s television origins lead to a lack of detail and slight over exposure on outdoor shots. A couple of the filler shots appear to use stock footage which is of considerably lower quality that the filmed footage.

Despite being an epic-scale production, at times the visuals look distinctly low budget, with some fairly appalling rear projection, matte paintings and odd lighting. However, for the most part, the series is shot on location and has a very genuine feel, with some very spectacular scenery on offer.

Audio

The soundtrack is presented in Dolby Digital 2.0 and is just one mono channel replayed through the left and right channels. The series was made before stereo television, let alone Dolby Pro-Logic, but the mono soundtrack is more than adequate to watch and enjoy the series.

Effects and dialogue are always clear and understandable, and there is an appropriate orchestral score to liven things up.

Features

The discs are packaged in a clear Amaray case, with a second internal tray and the reverse of the sleeve notes detail some other DVDs available from Acorn Video.

Conclusion

It`s a long time since I watched a TV mini-series (in fact, I don`t think I`ve seen one since Lace and Lace 2 many years ago) and to be honest I was a bit worried about watching over five hours of The Far Pavilions. However, the series was surprisingly enjoyable, and I spent my day off work today watching it all in one go with a slight sanity break between each disc.

The series is based on M. M. Kaye`s novel and has a very good story, characters and plot. There`s also plenty of action in between the romance to ensure that the pace is varied enough to hold viewer interest. As with many other very long TV originated programs, the editing is nowhere near as tight as mainstream movies, but there`s not much in the way of irrelevant material in the script and the characters and plot are developed well throughout the film.

A very strong cast also helps The Far Pavilions, with all of the main characters turning in excellent performances.

The video and sound are adequate – both are pretty much what you might expect given the television origins of the series. Extras are basic and add little extra value to the package.

The retail price is £19.99, but you are getting five and a quarter hours for your money, so it represents good value if this is your sort of thing.