Such a Long Journey

Director Sturla Gunnarson
UK/Canada 1998

It is unfortunate that most people outside of Canada think that the only things that Canada produces are snow, mounties and hockey players. The film, as might be expected, cannot capture all the complexities of the Rohinton Mistry book but this really is a fascinating and excellent film.

Our notes

Such a Long Journey, set in Bombay during 1971 and based on the novel by Rohinton Mistry, is a story of healing and reconciliation. The film is a faithful adaptation thanks to Icelandic director Sturla Gunnarson, and an outstanding Roshan Seth as Gustad Noble.

India is just about grappling with its defeat by China and beginning a new battle with Pakistan, this time over Bangladesh. In this fragile political climate is Gustad Noble, a middle-class Parsi bank employee, who lives with his family in Byculla. Gustad is an honest, hardworking, dedicated family man.

The film sometimes feels as crowded as the Bombay streets on which it was so beautifully filmed. Gustad's quiet petit-bourgeois life teems with incident and emotional complication. In addition to filial rebellion and rumours of war, he must contend with his wife's resentments, his daughter's malaria, the unpredictable behaviour of his mentally ill neighbour and the clownishness of a lecherous co-worker. On top of all this, the shadowy Bilimoria, an agent in a covert branch of the Indian military, has enlisted Gustad in a confusing scheme to funnel money to the Bangladeshi resistance.

It may help to know something about the recent political history of the Indian subcontinent and about the place of the Parsee minority in Bombay society. The Parsee are descendants of Zoroastrians who fled from Persia to India in the eighth century.

Like a good novel, the film imparts a great deal of fascinating information in the course of telling its story. It is rich in detail and character and soaked in the atmosphere of its time and place.

From dealing with paternal stresses stemming from his son's academic choices, Gustad progresses into dealing with political ones. One day he receives a letter from his close yet estranged friend, Jimmy Billimoria , who has become affiliated with Bangaldeshi revolutionaries and is in desperate need of Gustad's help. He needs Gustad to stash away 10 lakhs of rupees in his bank. Angry and mistrustful as Gustad is of Jimmy, loyalty always comes first, so he complies.

So begins his journey and brushes with shades of people that touch and affect his life. Each brings out a different emotion in him - fear and loyalty to Jimmy's aide, Ghulam Mohammed; disillusionment and devotion to Jimmy; gratitude, guilt and affection toward his colleague Dinshaw, who assists him with his dubious deposits; benevolence towards a pavement artist and an almost paternal protectiveness over Temul, a mentally retarded neighbour.

There is a tendency on the part of the screenwriter and the director to pack too much into this two-hour film, but the strongest theme of Gustad's journey from being a passive victim of hostile circumstances to a sub-consciously active contributor to harmony, is translated extremely well into the film.

In a telling flashback, Gustad claims that he will never shed tears because it is unmanly. The central theme of Such a Long Journey has to do with the need to embrace emotions, especially sadness, and not run away from them.

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