The Mystic Masseur film adaptation omits some of the best aspects of Naipaul's humorous novel. The film completely omits Ganesh's father from the narrative, which in turn removes the whole context of culture/colonialism as Ganesh studies in college at Port of Spain. Moreover, the relationship between Ganesh and Leela is portrayed for more favorably than in the novel, where Leela is more shy, the courting lasts considerably longer, and there is domestic violence that is acceptable for Ganesh to 'control' his wife. I also despised the changes to Ganesh's Auntie, the Great Belcher (in the film she only occasionally hiccups, removing some of the absurd humor of an old woman constantly belching).
The novel also omits the Oxford-educated Indian Trinidadian Ganesh went to school with in Port of Spain. The screenwriter tried to merge that character with others from the novel, but then the whole context of the conflict within the Hindu Association and Trinidadian legislative elections loses some of its compelling aspects of narrative. On the other hand, the film captures the natural beauty of the Trinidadian landscape while including the general tone and thematic content of the novel. The scene depicting Ganesh and the other members of the Legislative Council dining at the Governor's Mansion is priceless! Despite its omissions, closely follow the book while perhaps exaggerating the anti-Indian bias and completely ruining Leela's character.
In short, the film is a mess at times, runs too long while cutting out some of the better aspects of the book, and removes some of the most amusing or intriguing aspects of Naipaul's first novel. I disagree with Ebert's rating of 3 stars, but it is certainly worth watching for those interested in Trinidad, Naipaul, or colonialism. Ganesh's character certainly seems close to Naipaul himself, favoring Britain as the center of the universe and his notorious ambiguous or pro-colonial sentiment.
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