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Stars indicate the most critically-acclaimed movies.
Cotton Mary
EMAILPRINTArtistic License Films
Mixed or average reviews
Based on 18 critic reviews
How did we calculate this?
Based on 2 votes
Read user comments
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Movie Info
Genre(s): Drama
Written by: Alexandra Viets (play)
Directed by: Ismail Merchant
Release Date:
Theatrical: February 11, 2000
DVD: January 30, 2001
Running Time: 125 minutes, Color
Origin: France / UK / USA
Summary
RATING: R for a scene of sexuality
Starring Greta Scacchi, Madhur Jaffrey, James Wilby, and Neena Gupta
Set in post-colonial India of the 1950's, this is the story of Cotton Mary (Jaffrey), an Anglo-Indian (part English and part Indian) woman, and her tangled and complicated interactions with a British family. (Artistic License Films)
Also On The Web: Internet Movie Database Official Studio Site
What The Critics Said
All critic scores are converted to a 100-point scale. If a critic does not indicate a score, we assign a score based on the general impression given by the text of the review. Learn more...
Los Angeles Times Kevin Thomas
Not only is it Merchant's best directorial effort to date but also is among the finest films the Merchant Ivory company has ever made.
Read Full Review >USA Today Staff [Not Credited]
Increasingly piquant tale of culture clash in 1954 post-independence India.
Mr. Showbiz F. X. Feeney
Impeccably produced.
San Francisco Chronicle Peter Stack
Acted with almost maniacal force by Jaffrey, Mary is at once fascinating and despicable.
Read Full Review >Christian Science Monitor David Sterritt
Merchant brings keen insight and rich humanity to this culturally revealing tale of psychological unease in a tense postcolonial world.
Read Full Review >Washington Post Desson Thomson
Serves as a fascinating exploration of racial and social prejudice; and an indictment of cultural miscegenation.
Read Full Review >New York Post Lou Lumenick
Uncommonly well-acted and beautifully shot on location in southern India, but it's not exactly riveting.
Village Voice Leslie Camhi
Brought to life by the weirdness of its subject matter and the risks Madhur Jaffrey takes in her brilliant performance.
Read Full Review >New York Daily News Jami Bernard
An unsubtle allegory about a way of life withering on the vine.
Read Full Review >Chicago Sun-Times Roger Ebert
Wants to make larger points, but succeeds only in being a story of derangement.
Read Full Review >Seattle Post-Intelligencer William Arnold
Most of its characters come off as being one-dimensional and stereotypical, and the film's sensibility leaves a very bad taste in the mouth.
Read Full Review >LA Weekly John Patterson
Richer and cleverer than any Merchant Ivory movie in memory.
Read Full Review >The New York Times A.O. Scott
Forlorn melodrama, which is low on drama and high on mellow.
Read Full Review >What Our Users Said
The average user rating for this movie is 5.0 (out of 10) based on 2 User Votes
Note: User votes are NOT included in the Metascore calculation.
Mohan P. gave it a2:
Ignorant attitude, I told Merchant had he made this about muslims they would have burnt the cinema down. Also why didnt he get an Anglo Indian to act the role when he had English and Indians for the other roles and Madur Jaffrey just used a slow North Indian accent with a lot of 'childs' thrown in to authenticate her awful accent. He said it was spot on! I explained that Anglo Indians in Kerala spoke English with a pronounced Malayalam accent. I lived there. The Actors were sympathetic and he asked me to leave since I hadn't seen his other movie. The actress called him a coward since I had made valid points. I left but the whole thing was published in the Indian Express just before I left for London.
