India Song

Calcutta, 1973. An unexpected guest arrives at a party held at the French embassy. Everyone avoids him, yet whispers about him: it’s the French vice-consul of Lahore, who committed a crime. He has come to see Anne-Marie Stretter, the woman he loved years ago and still pines for; their love has no future. Outside, not far away, the beggars sit on the banks of the Ganges. Even though they cannot be seen, they have a marked influence on the party. Among the beggars sits Anne-Marie Stretter’s invisible opposite number: a female beggar.

Marguerite Duras: “To me, Anne-Marie Stretter represents Calcutta as if she has burdened herself with the weight of the world: leprosy, starvation, everything. The embassy is a leaky ship, with leprosy entering from all sides through the beggar’s song. Here everything mixes.”