FILM
The Mahabharata
Peter Brook
Great Britain / France/ Belgium/ Austria, 1989
Betacam (SP) PAL (35mm). 318min. Color20:30h
Instituto FrancésProduction: Michael Birkett
Photography: William Lubtchansky
Editor: Nicolas Gaster, Mechèle Hollander
Screenplay: Jean-Claude Carrière & Peter Brook
Music: Toshi Tsuchitori
Actors: Erika Alexander, Maurice Bénichou, Georges Corraface, Ciarán Hinds, Lou Bihler, Ryszard Cieslak, Jean-Paul Denizon, Mamadou Dioumé, Miriam GoldschmidtSinopsis: Brook's adaptation of one of the major Sanskrit epics of ancient India first appeared as a nine-hour stage version, but was shortened for the film adaptation. The story –impossible to summarise without glossing over most if not all of the plot– concerns the problems between two warring families, the Pandavas and the Kauravas. Brook wrote the film together with Jean-Claude Carrière and Marie-Helene Estienne, and uses a multinational cast to emphasise the nature of the epic as a universal story of humanity.
