Review of Hullabaloo Over Georgie and Bonnie's Pictures (1978) by Michael T — 11 May 2010

Made for TV back in the days when Merchant-Ivory were still eastward-looking independents rather than a globally renowned heritage industry, this slight but appealing drama details the selling-off of an empire.

.. There's less of a hullabaloo than a mild fuss as characters who arrive in India expecting no more than an extended shopping expedition match wits over the snooker table or bowls lawn, then leave with more than they bargained for.

In cinematic terms, it now seems somewhat modest and clunky: the grandeur we'd come to associate with these filmmakers is still some years away, and the whole rarely feels pressing. What's evident, though, is its generosity towards all the participants, and a true engagement with Indian culture and heritage, as signalled by the expert eye Ivory's camera casts over the paintings in question.

A useful sketch for the East-meets-West business of "Heat and Dust" four years later; fans of Olivier Assayas's more recent "Summer Hours" - which played a similar game en francais - might find something to shell out for, too.