Jinnah

While I can't comment on the absolute historical accuracy, this film certainly taught me a lot more about the founding of Pakistan and explained many things I had wondered about in the conflict. Christopher Lee's excellent performance goes a long way towards making Jinnah a sympathetic character despite the controversial decisions he takes; I would say that this is some of his finest acting and I found the final scenes very moving indeed.

The flashback technique works well most of the time, although it's not always clear where some scenes are set (England, India, Pakistan or the imagination). This device packs a lot more information into scenes between the characters than a more realistic timeline would and sets the questions of the founding of Pakistan in the context of ongoing conflicts rather than leaving it as historical curiosity. The cinematography is excellent and you wouldn't know this wasn't a Hollywood film except for the thought-provoking treatment and lack of easy answers. One to look out for.

This is a high-quality biopic on the life of Jinnah, and an excellent film in general. It is a great character portrayal of a key figure in the history of the Indian subcontinent, and it peels away layers of Jinnah's life in the context of the events that shaped the independence struggle and the partition into India and Pakistan. The pace of the movie is unhurried and yet engaging; all the key actors have done a superb job of portraying their characters well and lent them credibility and depth. Lee, Fox, Kapoor, and Lintern were especially notable.

Being from India, I especially appreciated the opportunity to learn more about the life and persona of Mohammed Ali Jinnah, who no doubt was among the most important historic figures of the time that shaped the history of the two countries. I liked the form of the film where Jinnah is challenged and questioned on many of the events in his personal life and on his political ideology. I feel that the film does an honest job of addressing and delving into those issues from his perspective and taking the viewer on an intimate journey into his motivations.

The partition is a sensitive, politically charged, and often divisive issue for the people of India and Pakistan; the scars on either side are deep and not too distant. However, films like Jinnah and also Gandhi to some extent offer a critical glimpse into the human aspects of the leaders of those times and what made them Quaid-e-Azam or Mahatma for the people then and also for the generations that followed.

I thoroughly enjoyed Jinnah and it told the truth unlike Ghandi. The film never got the distribution it deserved in the USA nor surprisingly in England. Why is it that Christopher Lee, the most underrated actor of all time, was never nominated for an award for his superb portrayal of Jinnah? Why was it that this excellent film was passed over? I found it compulsive and once I got used to the strange beginning (angel debating whether Jinnah goes to Heaven or Hell)I was hooked. I would have given it 10 but for the silly scene (location in between Heaven and Hell) with Nehru and Ghandi looking at computer screens..... The trial of Mountbatten. however, was very interesting and clever. If you haven't seen this movie you need to and it is now available on DVD in UK and USA.

I tried to do as much research on the man, Mr. Ali jinnah, before i wrote this review. and even though i was not very well versed with the history of Pakistan, (in fact i wasn't even sure where Pakistan was exactly before seeing this movie), what i found was a series of reports by great biographers and historians, who have instead of being factual have decided to be emotional to the point of being ridiculously biased. i still, do not, know the reason why jinnah was hated by so many, because frankly no one seems to be able to prove a valid point, its all just bickering and bitterness.

However, i have gained respect for the man, in his unflinchingness, and "man of steel" attitude, a man who would bow to no one, and would never stoop below his standards and principles, if that made him cold and calculated, fine, at least he had fiber. Mountbatten is quoted as saying about Jinnah; "...That son of a Bit--, could turn you to stone with one look..." sounds like he was scared?

but its much easier to praise a movie like "gandhi" whose hero is such a simple case study, perfect in his nature and morals..etc etc... thats not a very hard case to sell, no wonder people liked it, it appealed to their sensibilities. Jinnah, may have been a man of steel, cold, unflinching, calculated, but how much do we really know of the man? we have on one hand reports by British journalists like Mr. Payne, whose "eyewitness" was just a bunch of idle thoughts and gut feelings with no real substance, but tainted by the inherent fear of the man (Jinnah), and on the other hand by embittered Indian writers who saw this man break up their country for an ideology they could never even hope to understand.

Jinnah was much deeper, i believe, a man who refused treatment for chronic tuberculosis, cause he believed that the Moslem's would never get their homeland, if he was viewed as weak, therefore he kept on going, steadfast, strong, like a locomotive, and in the end he died for it. No one knows the real Jinnah, but many have formed opinions based on 'stories' with no real truth behind them.

i read a excerpt from an article written by an Indian author, who wrote that in a rally held in 1930's, Jinnah was giving a speech in English and almost no one in the predominantly Hindi speaking crowd understood what he was saying, but when a British journalist queried a bystander on this he replied; "Its Mohammed Ali Jinnah, we trust him, whatever he says is right"

i don't think a man described in an unkind and biased history, as something close to Hitler, would command such respect and admiration from his people. He was, passionate, unflinching, upright, in short... a Great Man.

Matthew Davison New Jersey.

As a Westerner, I was only exhibited to one person in recent South Asian history, and that was Gandhi. Call it a media bias but M.A. Jinnah was never mentioned, let alone portrayed in a good or bad light. This film, beautifully pictured as well acted by the honorable Christopher Lee, embellishes historical facts that the West and India ignores. The scenery is excellent, as well as certain key points in the film exclaiming award worthy. A great scene is when Jinnah is talking to a little girl near the end. The humanity is simply awe inspiring. This is a factual portrayal of M.A. Jinnah. You will see others on this site praise or malign M.A. Jinnah, which is obvious of the hatred between some Indians and Pakistanis. Watch this film and read history and be the judge of it yourself.