The Perfect Murder - The Merchant Ivory Collection | Naseeruddin Shah, Stellan Skarsgård |...

The Perfect Murder - The Merchant Ivory Collection | Naseeruddin Shah, Stellan Skarsgård | Slow-moving, Rather Silly Mystery

DVDs:

The Perfect Murder...

	The Perfect Murder - The Merchant Ivory Collection Naseeruddin Shah, Stellan Skarsgård Merchant Ivory, 2005 average customer review:based on 2 reviews view larger image
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Based on the CWA Gold Dagger Award-winning novel by H.R.F Keating, The Perfect Murder follows inspector Ghote (Naseeruddin Shah) of the Bombay police as he pursues his most perplexing case: a savage attack on a rich industrialist's private secretary. With the help of a visiting Swedish criminologist (Stellan Skarsgård), Ghote edges closer to the truth, and soon discovers he may not be dealing with murder at all, but something far more complex and profitable.

Pleasant Mystery; Great Bombay Setting

Inspector Ghote (Naseeruddin Shah), the famous Bombay detective created by H. R. F. Keating, is called in to investigate an assault on an old retainer in a wealthy Bombay household. He's told this is top priority. He also is charged with discovering a diamond smuggling ring which, he's told, is top priority. And he is assigned to escort a visiting Swedish criminologist (Stellan Skarsgard) and to demonstrate the high quality of Bombay's police activities. Making a good impression on the Swede, he is told, is top priority.

The Inspector Ghote in Keating's mysteries is a mild-mannered, intelligent, persistent and dedicated cop. He has an overbearing boss and a wife who loves him but who also knows what she wants. Naseeruddin Shah, a famous Indian actor, does an excellent job as the Inspector. Skarsgard plays the young Swede as enthusiastic, brave and a little callow. He and Ghote eventually develop mutual respect and liking. Some of the crooks involved with the diamonds come to believe that Skarsgard is a diamond thief, too, which causes a number of complications, some amusing and some dangerous.

The plot lines eventually come together in a reasonably satisfying way. The Perfect Murder is a pleasant mystery, interesting because of the local color (it was shot in Bombay and a good deal of the action takes place in Bombay neighborhoods and streets) and the performances of the actors.

This is one of the releases under the "Merchant-Ivory Productions" name. Ismail Merchant was the executive producer. The DVD is better than average, but the image and audio are both a little soft.

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Slow-moving, Rather Silly Mystery

I was hoping for better in this film by Merchant Ivory. I have liked some of their work and others not so much. However, this mystery set in India with an Indian police detective looking for diamond smugglers/thieves is definitely not one of their best and if a series was planned, I trust better was thought of the idea. The Indian detective who is the central figure is supposed to be intelligent but long-suffering and appealingly maladroit with his superiors and his wife at home. However, I found him boring and colorless, and at times downright sappy. Stellen Starsgaard, who looked very young here, plays an almost superfluous character, a visiting Swedish criminologist, who is even more inept than the detective. The plot, in addition to being slow-moving, is rather inane and jerky and overall not very involving. I don't know if the book from which this was derived was good but if so, I would have to say that it was not done justice in this film adaptation.

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