Cinema and literature: mysticism in colonial India
Colonial India, with its contradictions and profound spirituality, has been an inexhaustible source of inspiration for both Western literature and cinema. While the British Empire ruled with an iron fist, an undercurrent of indigenous mysticism, philosophy, and spirituality captivated and often disoriented European artists. Through literary and cinematic works, this mysticism became not just an exotic backdrop but a protagonist in its own right, often used as a tool to explore universal themes of identity, colonialism, and the search for oneself.
Literature: a window into the sacred and the profane
Literature provided the first complex and at times distorted glimpses into Indian mysticism. Authors like E. M. Forster in “A Passage to India”, while focusing on the social tensions between Indians and the English, could not ignore the spiritual element. The journey of Mrs. Moore and Adela Quested is, in a sense, a search for a spiritual truth they cannot find in their own civilization. The mysterious echo in the Marabar Caves, which answers “boum” to every question, symbolizes the existential void that Indian mysticism seems to promise to fill but ultimately remains indecipherable.
Another example is the aforementioned Pierre Loti in “L’Inde (sans les Anglais)”, who idealizes and attempts to penetrate a mystical and distant India, a spiritual utopia for his tormented soul. Loti is not interested in social problems but in the charm of ascetics, temples, and rituals, using them as a reflection of his own disillusionment with the West. These authors created an archetype of India as a land of incomprehensible spirituality, a place where European rationality clashes with an ancient and elusive wisdom.
Cinema: between aesthetics and interpretation
With the advent of cinema, Indian mysticism gained a new visual and aural dimension. Atmospheres became more palpable, and rituals more evocative. Although many films relegated mysticism to a simple exotic backdrop, some directors sought to explore its complexity.
“Black Narcissus” (1947), directed by Michael Powell and Emeric Pressburger, is a striking example. The film, set in a convent of English nuns among the Himalayan peaks, uses the mystical environment and wild nature to explore repression and temptation. The sound of bells, the saturated colors, and the wind blowing over the peaks all combine to create a spiritual force that threatens the nuns’ rigidity. Indian mysticism here is not benevolent or comforting but a dark and seductive force leading to madness and spiritual failure. The film shows how India, with its energies, lays bare Western weaknesses and hypocrisies.
Another notable film is “The River” by Jean Renoir, shot in India in 1951. The story, although centered on an English family, is imbued with the cycle of life and death, rituals, and spirituality that flow with the Ganges. The river itself becomes a character, a symbol of eternal life and the flow of time, which are central concepts in Indian philosophy. Renoir, with an empathetic and non-judgmental eye, integrates mysticism into the daily narrative, showing how spiritual life is intrinsic to and inseparable from Indian reality.
A bridge between cultures
In both literature and cinema, mysticism in colonial India represented both a bridge and a barrier between cultures. For Western artists, it was a way to reflect on the crises of their own civilization, their disillusionment, and their search for deeper meaning. While some works idealized India through a purely exotic lens, others, more mature ones, used its mysticism as a way to explore the complexity of human nature, the tensions of colonialism, and the difficulty of understanding between different worlds. Indian mysticism was ultimately a powerful mirror in which the West could see its own questions reflected and, in some cases, its own answers.