Adventures of a Brown Man in Search of Civilization

Adventures of a Brown Man in Search of Civilization
Screenshot
Directed by	James Ivory
Written by	James Ivory
Produced by	Anthony Korner Ismail Merchant
Starring	Nirad C. Chaudhuri Barry Foster
Cinematography	Walter Lassally
Edited by	Kent McKinney
Release date	1 April 1972 (1972-04-01)
Running time	54 minutes
Country	United Kingdom
Language	English

Adventures of a Brown Man in Search of Civilization (also known as Nirad Chaudhuri Adventures of a Brown Man in Search of Civilisation) is a 1972 color documentary film directed by James Ivory and narrated by Barry Foster. ^{[1] [2]} The film covers the life and thoughts of Indian writer Nirad C. Chaudhuri.

Scenario

Chaudhuri (then based in London and Oxford) expounds his views on culture, history, religion and society from a comparative perspective.

Reception

Sight and Sound wrote: "However barbed the comment, it is uttered with disarming sweetness of manner, and in a tone suggesting that its truth must be self-evident to all reasonable people. Chaudhuri, in fact, is one of those compulsive talkers who turn conversation into monologue. Boredom threatens; then, repeatedly, a phrase in his beautifully academic English or another waspish aphorism rivets the attention with its sense and sanity. Ivory patiently captures all the maddening and beguiling aspects of this forceful personality, watching him being measured for a suit and later dressing up in Regency ruffles for an Oxford dinner party, over which he reigns supreme like some elderly latter-day Beau. ... Ivory's cool, unstressed style, and Chaudhuri's apparent unconcern for the camera eye, combine to build up a portrait of a living, thinking human being; and there's a sense of a shared, ironically romantic reaction to Oxford by the American filmmaker and the Indian writer." ^[3]

Home media

The film is available in the DVD sets of several Merchant Ivory films. ^{[4] [5]}

References

1. "Adventures of a Brown Man in Search of Civilization". British Film Institute Collections Search. Retrieved 7 December 2025.
2. "Adventures of a Brown Man in Search of Civilization (1972)". Movies & TV Dept. The New York Times. Archived from the original on 10 July 2012. Retrieved 29 May 2012.
3. Gillett, John (Spring 1973). "Merchant-Ivory". Sight and Sound . 42 (2): 95 – via ProQuest.
4. "Adventures of a Brown Man in Search of Civilization". Merchant Ivory Productions. Retrieved 29 May 2012.
5. "The Adventures of a Brown Man in Search of Civilization". TCM. Retrieved 29 May 2012.

External links

• Adventures of a Brown Man in Search of Civilization at IMDb