Partition (2007)

Critic Reviews

• Jennie Punter, Globe and Mail

  Where the film stumbles is the script, overcrowded with bits of business and scenes that lean heavily on the symbolic.

• Susan Walker, Toronto Star

  [Director] Sarin was aiming for an epic and arrived at episodic. That might have been okay if the episodes weren't so partitioned from each other, the flashbacks failing to illuminate the present action.

• Rich Cline, Shadows on the Wall

  Set in the years surrounding independence in India, this slightly melodramatic film has a strong emotional kick that manages to bring both the romance and the religious-political situation vividly to life.

• Matthew Turner, ViewLondon

  In short, Partition is a watchable slice of melodrama that's worth seeing for the performances of the three leads.

• Derek Malcolm, This is London

  It is, however, watchable throughout as a document about the individual human tragedies that the advent of Partition threw up.

• Anthony Quinn, Independent

  If feeling alone were the benchmark of great art, Vic Sarin's film would be considerable, but the screenplay is desperately poor and the direction leaden.

• Nigel Andrews, Financial Times

  The film is breathless, big-canvased and scored for big emotions: a pavilion of the heart and senses threatened only when characters open a flap to let in anachronistic dialogue or the giveaways of cross-culture casting.

• Naman Ramachandran, Total Film

  Sarin acts as his own DoP and the lensing is unsurprisingly ace, but he's at a loss when it comes to injecting pace and tension. Bollywood's Gadar told the same story better in 2001...

• Tim Evans, Sky Movies

  Mistry and the Canadian-born Kreuk deliver workmanlike performances even if the film has the feel of the Sunday night TV movie.

• Tim Robey, Daily Telegraph

  Dull historical epic set during the Indian massacres of 1947.

• Cath Clarke, Guardian [UK]

  But this is a film that lumbers under its epic ambitions and at nearly two hours long - with some awkward plotting to boot - scenes drag, grand and momentous, but crushing anything so fragile as human feelings.

• James Christopher, Times [UK]

  It's the taboo and tender romance between Mistry and Kreuk that will shift the serious tickets.

• Daniel Etherington, Film4

  A brave if earnest attempt to articulate historical issues that remain pertinent.

• Wally Hammond, Time Out

  The period reconstructions are impressive but the script and direction are a little pedestrian.

• David Parkinson, Empire Magazine

  More melodramatic than momentous.

• David Chute, L.A. Weekly

  Partition doesn't add many new ideas to the mix, but the deep colors and complex textures supplied by Indian-born cinematographer-turned-director Vic Sarin seem to embody the intensity of his boyhood memories.

• Ryan Cracknell, Calgary Movies

  Since the story didn't draw me in too much I frequently found myself admiring the intricate scenery instead.

• Brian Webster, Apollo Guide

  This impressive-looking film is provided on DVD in its original widescreen format.

• Brian Webster, Apollo Guide

  Disappointing simply because it is so close to being outstanding; we're left with a sense that some key scenes explaining the characters' motivations are missing.

• Angela Baldassarre, Sympatico.ca

  Bloated, melodramatic and unbearably tedious.

Read all 20 critic reviews