Siddhartha

Conrad Rooks' SIDDHARTHA

Milestone Film & Video has recently acquired the rights to Conrad Rooks' SIDDHARTHA, the 1972 English-language classic based on the best-selling novel by the Nobel Prize winner Herman Hesse and with cinematography by the great Sven Nykvist. Unavailable in North America in any format since 1985, Milestone will celebrate the 125th anniversary of Hesse's birth with brand-new 35mm prints from the restored negative. A Silver Lion winner at the Venice International Film Festival, SIDDHARTHA was filmed entirely on location in Northern India, the holy city of Rishikesh, and the private estates as well as in the palaces of His Highness the Maharajah of Bharatpur.

SIDDHARTHA is the disarmingly simple story of a young Brahmin, and his search for a meaningful way of life. This search takes him through periods of harsh asceticism, sensual pleasures, material wealth, then self-revulsion and eventually to the oneness and harmony with himself that he had been seeking. Siddhartha learns that the secret of life cannot be passed on from one person to another, but must be achieved through inner experience.

The famed Shashi Kapoor plays Siddhartha. Kapoor is a member of India's most famous show business family, and starred in three James Ivory films, Bombay Talkie, The Householder, and Shakespeare Wallah - as well as the films of Satyajit Ray.

Simi Garewal (Kamala), by the time of the film and at the age of 25, had already appeared in 22 films with such directors as Satyajit Ray and Raj Kapoor. Her appearance in the film is legendary, for she was the first Indian actress to perform a nude scene - in a country where before that, even kissing was banned from the screen. The film will be opening around the country in September.

For Information on SIDDHARTHA, visit the Milestone Film & Video web site.

When Conrad Rooks' film adaptation of Hermann Hesse's SIDDHARTHA was originally released in 1974, it provided a soothing tonic to a public that was still reeling from a seemingly endless barrage of both domestic turbulence and Vietnam war coverage. Hermann Hesse himself was an active pacifist who attacked blind nationalism to such an extent that at the outbreak of World War I he was even branded a traitor by his own country of Germany. With this in mind, and given the current malaise affecting our times, it seems apropos that acclaimed art-film distributors Milestone Film & Video have released a newly restored 35mm CinemaScope print of SIDDHARTHA.

Siddhartha's story begins with his departure as a young man (played by Shashi Kapoor) from an established home to pursue knowledge and an ascetic lifestyle. This ends up being only the first of many steps on the path to enlightenment, and along the way we meet a host of other characters ranging from the Buddha, a boatman, a beautiful young woman, a greedy merchant, and more. It's worth pointing out that Kamala, the beautiful young woman (played by Simi Garewal) teaches Siddhartha in the art of lovemaking - sensuous scenes the like of which had never been done before in Indian cinema (the press notes observe that Kamala and Siddhartha's embrace was the first screen kiss filmed on the subcontinent).

The real stars of the film, however, are the location, location, and location. Even the poster goes out of its way to let you know that SIDDHARTHA was "filmed entirely on location in Northern India, the holy city of Rishikesh and on the private estates of His Highness the Maharajah of Bharatpur." And who better to film these exotic locations than Ingmar Bergman's regular (and Oscar winning) cinematographer Sven Nykvist? Lest you think this was just one big scenic picnic, keep in mind that the Indian government was hesitant to allow Westerners to film there and that the Indo-Pakistani War was in full tilt within India's borders. Thankfully, Rooks was eventually permitted access after help from friends in high places (ie: Indira Gandhi and the Maharajah of Bharatpur himself). It's also pleasing to note that aside for some shrapnel raining down on the crew members hotels, and some time delays, the war was unable to stop this contemplative classic from being faithfully put to film.

SIDDHARTHA is currently playing selected cities across the United States and is available for theatrical bookings from Milestone Film & Video. There are plans for a DVD release in January 2003 through Image Entertainment, Inc..

by Pablo Kjolseth