Cotton Mary
Synopsis
Post-colonial India of 1950's, and Cotton Mary, (Madhur Jeffrey) an Anglo-Indian nurse befriends expatriate Lily Macintosh (Greta Scacchi) at the premature birth of her baby. Lily's husband John, (James Wilby) a BBC correspondent, is away working, and she is exhausted and emotional after the birth, and further devastated after realising she is unable to breast feed her child.
Mary provides a vital lifeline by taking the baby on daily trips to her crippled sister, Blossom, a wet nurse who provides milk for the infant.
The success that Mary has in arranging for the feeding of the baby makes her indispensable to Lily, who offers her a permanent position in her home as a Nanny working with her family. Mary's relationship to the baby and her burgeoning friendship with Lily gives her a unique position to operate.
Mary abuses this relationship, and deviously does everything she can to gain control of the house and achieve the prestige of being both associated with, and of extreme importance to a British family.
Cotton Mary offers a thought provoking insight into the ambitions of an Anglo-Indian woman trapped in a class-ridden, status conscious society.
Details
- Year
- 2000
- Type of film
- Features
- Running Time
- 126 mins
- Format
- 35mm Fuji
- Director
- Ismail Merchant
- Producer
- Paul Bradley
- Executive Producer
- Paul Bradley
- Editor
- John Allen
- Screenwriter
- Alexandra Viets
- Director of Photography
- Pierre Lhomme
- Sound
- Giovanni Desimone
- Music
- Richard Robbins
- Principal Cast
- Greta Scacchi, Madhur Jaffrey, James Wilby
Production status
Complete
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Last updated 26th November 2005
