Main Cast: Robert Langton-Lloyd, Antonin Stahly-Vishwanadan, Bruce Myers, Vittorio Mezzogiorno, Andrzej Seweryn, Georges Corraface
Release Year: 1989
Country: US/UK/FR
Run Time: 318 minutes
Plot
Director Peter Brook collaborates with writer Jean-Claude Carriére for this screen adaptation of the epic, 100,000-stanza Sanskrit poem tracing mankind's quest for universal truth as explored through the ongoing conflict between two warring families - the Pandavas and the Kauravas. Originally a nine-hour stage production, the lengthy play was pared down to just over five hours for the screen. ~ Jason Buchanan, All Movie Guide
The Mahabharata is a 1989 film version of the Indianepic, Mahabharata, directed by Peter Brook. Brook's original 1985 stage play was 9 hours long, and toured around the world for four years. In 1989, it was reduced to under 6 hours for television (TV mini series). Later it was also reduced to about 3 hours for theatrical and DVD release. The screenplay was the result of eight years work by Peter Brook, Jean-Claude Carrière and Marie-Hélène Estienne. For the casting an international selection of actors was intentionally chosen, to show that the nature of the Indian epic is the story of all humanity.
In general terms, the story involves epic incidents between two warring families, the Pandavas (representing the good side) and the Kauravas (representing the bad side). Both sides, being the offspring of kings and gods, fight for dominion. They have both been advised by the god Krishna to live in harmony and abstain from the bloody lust for power. Yet their fights come to threaten the very order of the Universe. The plot is framed as a narrative between the Brahmin sage Vyasa and the Hindu deity Ganesha, and directed towards an unnamed Indian boy who comes to him inquiring about the story of the human race.
Reception
The production using an international cast caused heated intercultural debate. Negative criticism came from Indian scholar Pradip Bhattacharya who felt that Brook's interpretation "was not a portrayal of a titanic clash between the forces of good and evil, which is the stuff of the epic... [but] the story of the warring progeny of some rustic landlord".
