Deepa Mehta

Midnight’s Children

screen adaptation of his Booker-winning novel Midnight’s Children. Alongside the narration provided by Rushdie is an extended journey, part non-fiction/part fantasy, through the birth of India’s independence and its partition. With its blend of personal family history, national history and fantasy elements, this is as fine an adaptation of a ‘great novel’ as you could hope for. Rushdie’s original novel is so highly regarded however that it’s almost impossible to expect anything near the same level of praise for the film. But what Mehta has brought

As one of the most eminent living novelists, Salman Rushdie’s extensive collection of novels and writings has repeatedly attracted rumour of, including failed attempts at, filmed adaptations. For many reasons the work of one of the finest literary minds has never quite found its way to the screen. That is until the collaborative effort of director Deepa Mehta and Rushdie himself have produced a

Words ByJack Jones

‘this is as fine an adaptation of a ‘great novel’

as you could hope for’

‘this is as fine an adaptation of a ‘great novel’

to the film is a visual elegance and richness that perfectly compliments Rushdie’s unique wit and finely crafted story. Stretching from the birth of a nation and its new generation, through its formative and often tumultuous years, to the eventual reconciliation of past wrongs and fulfilment of free independence. Like Rushdie’s novel this story is allegori-cally told through Saleem Sinai and

a group of children who are tele-pathically connected thanks to their birth on the stroke of midnight and the moment of India’s independence. From childhood to adulthood, the growing pains of a new country are felt through these characters in heartbreaking and tragic ways.Thanks to an astute scripting from Rushdie, the film ideally balances both the dramatic and historical arcs of the

story with its romantic core. Crucially the themes that are drawn on so heavily and profoundly in the book are maintained. Salim’s feud with nemesis Shiva is a wonderfully played battle that embodies Rushdie’s analogy how life can so easily be very different depending on circumstance. This adaptation also possesses some of the year’s finest cinematography. Composed in large

with natural lighting, Giles Nutgens’ photography evokes the work of Wally Pfister with a similarly simplistic elegance. And in that style is exactly what typifies Deepa Mehta’s envisaging of Midnight’s Children. There is little that is brash oroverwrought about the film’s style or direction. Just a free and calmingair for this extraordinary story to be allowed to breath.