John Williams, You Carry the Burden of Influence Lightly
The Indian Tomb (1959)
directed by Fritz Lang
rating: 3 out of 5 cravats
on DVD from Netflix
For every cultural indelicacy committed by the visiting German couple - cursing, for example, the monotony of a ceiling fan, even as they ignore the Indian peasant who powers it from the floor behind them - The Indian Tomb is a better fantasy than its predecessor. Lurid talk of sexual purity between priests and princes; Shiva seduced by Debra Paget in a painted-on swimsuit; nightgowns off the shoulder in even the tamest goodnight bids: when it comes to sex in the movies today, there is nothing new under the sun. Parallel intrigues - those of the court and of the heart - keep the plot humming along, past the careless native sacrifices, the digs at Indian architecture and structural design, and well into the glamorous world of guilt-free Technicolor exoticism. Lang has some fairly complicated things to say about sacrifice and power, but not for the Germans, who all ride back to Europe in the opulence of a king's caravan.
directed by Fritz Lang
rating: 3 out of 5 cravats
on DVD from Netflix
For every cultural indelicacy committed by the visiting German couple - cursing, for example, the monotony of a ceiling fan, even as they ignore the Indian peasant who powers it from the floor behind them - The Indian Tomb is a better fantasy than its predecessor. Lurid talk of sexual purity between priests and princes; Shiva seduced by Debra Paget in a painted-on swimsuit; nightgowns off the shoulder in even the tamest goodnight bids: when it comes to sex in the movies today, there is nothing new under the sun. Parallel intrigues - those of the court and of the heart - keep the plot humming along, past the careless native sacrifices, the digs at Indian architecture and structural design, and well into the glamorous world of guilt-free Technicolor exoticism. Lang has some fairly complicated things to say about sacrifice and power, but not for the Germans, who all ride back to Europe in the opulence of a king's caravan.
posted by NPK at 8:13 AM
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