Fritz
Lang's Indian Epic (Fantoma set)
Picture: B
Sound: C Extras: C- Film: B
One of the great director Fritz Lang’s final films, Indian
Epic (1959) was surprisingly good remake of a 1921 project he had a small
hand in writing; and highlights many of Lang's sensibilities as a
filmmaker. Upon my initial viewing of
the first of the two parts that comprise this epic, The Tiger of Eschnapur,
I was disappointed to some degree and the movie wound up as a bore in my
eyes. I delayed watching the rest of
the film for a while, certainly not anticipating when I'd have to finish seeing
a movie that I wasn't entirely interested in any more in order to complete my
review. When it came time to sit down
and wrap things up, I decided to view the first part again before going on to
the second - perhaps to give it a second chance.
I thank myself for giving it that chance, as I found it
much more interesting and entertaining upon my second go-round. Once I cared for the story and how it was
being told, the combined length of over three hours of film passed by quickly
and without any thought to its length... I must have been in a very poor frame
of mind when I first witnessed the movie, as I'm not even sure what set me off
not to enjoy it as much as I should have.
I would be curious, however, to see if, despite reports to the contrary,
the condensed version was handled well enough to warrant a recommendation in
it's own right as well. Whatever the
case, there is little doubt that this would be the way to see the movie first.
For such a good film, it's sad that there aren't many
special features found on either disc.
In fact, the only extras found on the discs themselves are photo
galleries, so nothing "new" has been created for this otherwise great
edition of a great film. Fantoma has
included two short booklets, which have liner notes accompanied with stills
from the film, and as the packaging states, they include mention of these as a
special feature. I don't consider them
to be as such, but they do provide a nice read-through and am grateful for
their inclusion with this set.
The 1.33 X 1 full frame image looks great, and the video
quality is vibrantly good. The only
film grain you can really make out is during the title sequences at the very
beginnings of the two chapters, most prominently when the distribution
company's logo first kicks things off.
Other than those speckles and scratches, the film looks very beautiful
and well defined. The print
approximates three-strip Technicolor exceptionally well, much more in fact than
dozens of still good-looking DVD releases from major studios.
The Dolby Digital 2.0 sound is good on both the original
German and dubbed English audio tracks.
The dubbing was done exceptionally well, and the talented voice-over artists
spoke with conviction and realism that lends itself well to specific
scenes. In fact, ruling out only a few
characters, for the most part you'd likely assume that the voices actually
belonged to the onscreen actors themselves... even if there is a subtle
difference in the way their lips sync up to what you're hearing. The ambient sound design differs a little
bit between the two audio tracks, and while both audio tracks are only in mono,
I slightly prefer the sense of atmosphere found in the English version. Once again, another exceptional DVD
produced by American Zoetrope.
I think that many people would love to add this film to
their collection, whether they happen to be a fan of Lang or not. I feel that the primary audience would be
found in fans of Ben-Hur, The Ten Commandments or other
biblical/pseudo-biblical epics. The
special effects in this movie are quite outdated, though, even when compared to
the aforementioned films. For example:
several strings are readily visible to the audience when a snake that looks to
be encrusted with rhinestones makes its appearance in concluding half The
Indian Tombs... even in spite of one major visual distraction in the form
of beautiful Debra Paget and her seductive dance. The first film also showcases its visual shortcomings when the
tiger that the chapter takes its name from makes an appearance through stock
footage and hokey puppetry. These flaws
aside, the film is still so good and will be loved by a deserving audience.
- David Milchick
