Comments on: Ismail Merchant passes away (updated)

By: ashvin

ashvin — Thu, 02 Jun 2005 00:43:21 +0000

Here's Terry Gross's interview with Merchant from 1987. He briefly mentions Sabu and Hollywood's depiction of India before he got there.

By: Sal

Sal — Mon, 30 May 2005 05:59:30 +0000

Merchant refused to discuss his relationship with Ivory with the media. He wanted to keep his private life private. The media has respected his wishes.

By: jagg

jagg — Sun, 29 May 2005 17:32:08 +0000

“Maybe it’s a respect thing– was he out and vocal about it?”

Well, they lived together in the same apartment and house for 40 years, very publicly – which several reports mentioned. Being from a generation which predated gay lib, I suppose he didn’t go about shouting ‘I’m gay, I’m gay’. Nor should he have had to. And indeed, I find it unnatural to mention in an obituary that a person was gay – we do not, usually, read ‘The deceased was straight’. Nonetheless, it seemed odd to me that a 40-year relationship can be ignored by the media simply because it isn’t heterosexual. What the New York Times did was exactly right – it didn’t need to mention sexuality, but accorded the relationship exactly the same status/respect as it would a heterosexual one of similar standing. No need for a ‘coded wink’ – surely it’s time we moved beyond treating gay relationships as something that needs to be ‘hinted’ at or ‘winked about’?

Just a thought (or two).

By: Manish Vij

Manish Vij — Fri, 27 May 2005 20:44:02 +0000

either you didn't know, or didn't care to mention, the fact that james ivory and ismail merchant were both creative/business and life partners.

The former. Fixed, thanks.

... the media has pretty much studiously ignored this...

Maybe it's a respect thing-- was he out and vocal about it? Btw, CNN had quite the coded wink:

Merchant, whose seamless 44-year filmmaking partnership with James Ivory defined the period-piece genre...

By: jagg

jagg — Fri, 27 May 2005 20:36:02 +0000

either you didn’t know, or didn’t care to mention, the fact that james ivory and ismail merchant were both creative/business and life partners. strangely, the media has pretty much studiously ignored this, except for the LA Times, which says ‘… who was also his life partner’ and the new york times, which tastefully says that merchant is ‘survived by james ivory and three sisters…’, a low-key way of acknowledging what was, for all intents and purposes, a 40-year marriage. if this had been a heterosexual couple, married or not, there would have been paragraphs about the endurance of their relationship and how much they loved each other. this kind of selective blindness is offensive to people in non-heterosexual relationships, and doubly problematic because the indian media will, of course, totally eulogize merchant while treating his sexuality as something unmentionable, which does a great disservice both to merchant and to a lot of gay indians, who are made to feel both invisible and somehow ‘un-indian’ for being themselves. perhaps sepia mutiny could remedy this?

By: mocho

mocho — Thu, 26 May 2005 16:51:21 +0000

It is sad he passed away, he will be missed by everyone who has seen his films and seen through the sumptuous production values (and everything else that seemed to irritate so many of Merchant Ivory critics) to realise how very modern all these ‘period dramas’ were – for they almost always dealt with the fate of being an outsider, about crossing cultural boundaries, about the struggle to fit in, and about being rootless.

He, James Ivory, and Ruth Prawer Jhabvala – by using the very particular authors and books – created beautiful, touching, humane films about these experiences that are now becoming common to many more people throughout the world and his legacy should be that, not just a maker of pretty films.

By: sd

sd — Thu, 26 May 2005 01:54:16 +0000

but also directed one of my favorite films, Muhafiz (In Custody)

One of the best...

By: MD

MD — Thu, 26 May 2005 00:31:04 +0000

Oh, how sad. Room with a View was a film that made such an impression on me as a teenager.

What a talent.

RIP

By: Salil Maniktahla

Salil Maniktahla — Thu, 26 May 2005 00:22:53 +0000

We were hoping to have him at SALTAF this year. He’d expressed interest…ach. I’m very very bummed out by this. We’ve lost an icon and an excellent filmmaker…

By: DesiDancer

DesiDancer — Wed, 25 May 2005 22:45:04 +0000

what a terrible loss. peace be with his family and loved ones…