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Films shot in Sri Lanka
Nalaka Gunawardene and Vindana Ariyawansa
Sri Lanka’s pre-eminence as a film location for international feature
films goes back to at least 1950, when world recognised British and
American film directors arrived in quick succession to make acclaimed
feature films that were either partly or wholly shot on the island.
British film maker Carol Reed, who was among the first, is credited
with the remark: “Ceylon is the most natural and complete outdoor set.”
Over the decades, many others of his kind have concurred with this
observation, and made good use of this reality. As the noted film
historian and writer Richard Boyle says: “The only unfortunate aspect
was that just one of the stories was actually set in Ceylon.
Nevertheless, in my opinion the 1950s was the golden decade of foreign
filmmaking in the country.”
Probably the best known among those early filmed shot on location in
Ceylon is The Bridge on the River Kwai, directed by David Lean, which
won seven Oscar awards in 1958. We have already asked some questions
about the movie (see Wiz Quiz 6 Sep 2011). Today, we turn our attention
to a few other foreign films that were filmed in Ceylon.
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Carol Reed |
Steven Spielberg |
Queen Elizabeth II |
Muammar Gaddafi |
Imran Khan |
Michael Jackson |
1. British film maker Carol Reed (knighted in 1953) directed
and also produced the 1951 movie Outcast of the Islands (102 mins,
black-and-white), which was partly filmed on location in Ceylon. The
story of a degenerate British expatriate who wanders aimlessly around a
Malayan island, it starred Trevor Howard, Ralph Richardson, Peter Morley
and Wendy Hiller. It was based on the 1896 novel of the same name
written by which author?
2. The Purple Plain (1954) was another film that was shot
almost entirely on location in Ceylon. It was based on the 1947 novel of
the same name by author H E Bates, and starred Gregory Peck, Bernard Lee
and Maurice Denham. The story was about a Canadian pilot serving in the
Royal Air Force in Burma in the closing months of the World War II, who
is battling with depression after having lost his wife. Most of the
filming was done in and around Sigiriya as well as in Elephant Pass,
Kitulgala and on the Kelani River. Name the American film editor,
director, writer and former actor who directed The Purple Plain.
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The Purple Plain (1954) |
The Bridge on the River Kwai |
3. When filming the British TV mini series Mountbatten: The
Last Viceroy on location in Sri Lanka, everything had to appear Indian
as the story takes place in India. Working with Sri Lanka Railways, the
prop makers for the film rehabilitated a British built steam locomotive,
which was made railroad-worthy and actually run by a veteran steam
strain crew. (Christened the Viceroy Special, this Mountbatten train is
now in use to carry local and foreign tourists on specially arranged
rail journeys.) Which upcountry railway station was transformed to serve
as the Delhi rail terminal for this film?
4. A young Sri Lankan who worked on David Lean’s film The
Bridge on the River Kwai when it was being filmed in Ceylon in 1956-57,
later became a formidable name in the Lankan film industry, excelling in
promoting the country as a film location for Hollywood, Bollywood and
other overseas productions. In 1979, he set up Asian Film Location
Services, the first company in Asia to provide a one-stop location
service to international film producers.
Through this, a large number of foreign films have been shot in Sri
Lanka, generating much income for the local film industry and massive
amounts of free publicity for Sri Lanka as a tourist destination.
American film director Steven Spielberg, who shot his second Indiana
Jones film in Sri Lanka, has called this Lankan as his “most valued
friend in the East”. Who is he?
5. The longest ruling heads of state in the world today are
actually monarchs who ascended to those positions without being elected
by popular vote. Queen Elizabeth II of the United Kingdom, who is the
constitutional monarch of 16 sovereign states including Canada,
Australia and New Zealand, is currently the second longest monarch in
the world, who has been queen since February 6, 1952 (for over 59
years). However, the longest ruling monarch in the world is in an Asian
country, whose reign started on June 9, 1946 and has been king for over
65 years. Who is he?
6. Muammar Gaddafi, who was killed on October 20, 2011, ruled
Libya for a little over 42 years in various roles. In the list of
longest ruling national leaders (who were not monarchs) of the world
since 1900, the top slot is occupied by a revolutionary who became
leader of his country on January 8, 1959 and variously held positions of
First Secretary, President and Prime Minister. In total, he was at the
helm of his island nation for a total of 52 years and 93 days until he
stepped down in April 2011 from the last official position. Who is he?
7. In 1948, Lankan architect Geoffrey Bawa bought a rubber
plantation of 10 hectares off the estuary of the Bentota River in
southern Sri Lanka. He then transformed it: hills were moved, terraces
cut, woods replanted and new vistas opened up. But the original bungalow
was retained. Decades later, Bawa remarked: “For years the garden had
grown gradually into a place of many moods, the result of many
imaginings, offering me a retreat to be alone or to fellow-feel with
friends.” What is this estate named as?
8. Imran Khan played international cricket for the Pakistan
team from 1971 to 1992, and served as its captain intermittently between
1982 and 1992. Khan led his team to Pakistan’s first and only World Cup
victory in 1992. After leaving professional cricket, he has been
engaging in philanthropic work, cricket commentating and politics. In
1996, Khan founded and became the chairman of a political party and also
served as a member of Parliament from 2002 to 2007. What is the name of
his political party?
9. Can you identify him? He was a noted journalist, editor and
author of his time. After serving as editor of ‘Ceylon Daily News’ from
1931 to 1948, he became the first head of the government’s Department of
Information from 1948 to 1954. He was then posted as Ceylon’s Ambassador
to Italy and Greece, 1955 – 59. He wrote biographies of the first Prime
Minister D S Senanayake and Lake House founder D R Wijewardene, as well
as books such as ‘British Governors of Ceylon’ and ‘Ceylon of the Early
Travellers’.
10. Born in 1931, she was the first African American woman to
win the Nobel Prize for Literature (in 1993). Two of her most famous
novels are Jazz (1992) and Beloved (1987) - the latter won her the
Pulitzer Prize in 1988. It was made into a film 10 years later by
Jonathan Demme starring Danny Glover and Oprah Winfrey. Who is this
author?
11. ‘We Are the World’ was a 1985 album produced by a group of
performing artists from the United States led by Michael Jackson, Lionel
Richie and Quincy Jones to raise funds to help a famine-stricken country
in Africa.
In addition to the title track, the album also included nine
previously unreleased songs by donating artists, including Prince, Bruce
Springsteen and the E Street Band. For which country did they all come
together?
12. The current leader of a Southeast Asian country was
designated by the United Nations in November 2011 as the world’s first
‘Global Champion for Disaster Risk Reduction’. In this role, assigned by
the UN disaster reduction agency UNISDR, he will promote the importance
of taking actions to reduce the risks of disasters, especially with
regards to school and hospital safety, and encourage political leaders
in other countries to increase their investment in disaster risk
reduction. This recognition is for his outstanding response to the 2004
Indian Ocean tsunami, as well as for turning the international blueprint
for disaster risk reduction - the Hyogo Framework for Action - into a
national plan. Who is this dynamic and popular leader?
13. This stupa or dagoba, built in the third and fourth
centuries, is 122 metres (or 400 feet) high. It was the third tallest
human-built structure in the world at the time, next to the two great
pyramids of Giza in Egypt. It was also the tallest stupa in the world
and the tallest structure built of brick: approximately 93.3 million
baked bricks were used in its construction. Its floor area covers 5.6
Hectares. The stupa was originally part of a large monastery complex.
What is its name?
14. Name the Prime Minister of Ceylon who, upon leaving office
and politics, wrote his autobiography which he titled ‘An Asian Prime
Minister’s Story’, which was first published in London in 1956.
15. The famous ‘Battle of the Sexes’ in international tennis
occurred in 1973 when Billie Jean King defeated Robert Larimore ‘Bobby’
Riggs, a world number one in the 1940s who came back at the age of 55 to
challenge the top female players at the time.
King, who had earlier rejected requests to play Riggs, agreed to play
him in the end and defeated him 6-4, 6-3, 6-3 in front of some 30,000
people at the Houston Astrodome on September 20, 1973. King later said
she could have set women’s tennis back by 50 years if she lost that
match.
That was the second tennis match Riggs played against a top seeded
female player. Whom did he play (and actually defeat) in the first match
held in May 1973?
Answers
1. Global System for Mobile Communications, originally Groupe Spécial
Mobile
2. Giesecke and Devrient
3. 200
4. President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf
5. Melbourne, 2006
6. Inginiyagala
7. Romesh Gunasekera
8. A C S (Abdul Cader Shahul) Hameed (1927 - 1999)
9. Cats
10. Timothy Q. Mouse
11. Elizabeth “Betty” Noyes
12. William Shakespeare
13. Monaco
14. John F Kennedy
15. Dr Nagalingam Ethirveerasingam |
