Phantom India on DVD

mikewill

I've just received my copy of the box set of Louis Malle's widely acclaimed documentaries, which includes the full version of Phantom India and Calcutta plus three other DVDs. I've been waiting years and searching the web, but finally Criterion films have released them as part of their Eclipse series.

Phantom India was filmed in 1969 and runs for 363 minutes - six hours! Calcutta was filmed at the same time and Malle felt it was so good it deserved its own film.

I bought mine through Amazon for about £35 - its Region 1 so you'll need a DVD player that copes with US discs. I'm sure it'll be cheaper in the USA anyway!

Have only had a peek at a couple of minutes so far but can hardly wait to sit down and watch it properly. I have seen bits and pieces over the years but never the whole thing. I can't wait!!

Mike

steven_ber

Thanks for the info Mike, I'd never heard of it before, but have just googled a bit and it sounds fascinating, though I hate subtitles.

Let us know what you think of it when you've watched it all.

So we'll expect a full review in the morning.

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edwardseco

Just saw this and wanted a comment before buying it (60 USD). I remember being bored by extended footage of a bullock being eaten by a crow. I wondered at the time that the French were nothing compared to the Brits in film making. However, Calcutta would be worth the expense..

dzibead

I saw Phantom India when it was first released and was transfixed. About a year ago, I saw a few of the segments again when they were shown as part of a film festival in SF. I didn't know it was out on DVD. I'll have to check this out for sure! Thanks!

wonderwomanusa

Actually, I believe it was vultures eating that dead critter!

Dzibead and I saw part of this together when it was re-released last year, and I saw the rest of it the following week. It's an awesome film.

Most interesting is that the beginnings of the militant Hindu parties is shown ... I've forgotten who they interviewed in the film, but it's someone whose name I recognized from more recent events.

And the French were pretty leftist ...

It's an India we'll never see again. The old car-less India, where families walked or rode on oxcarts, and there were no Honda scooters.

NeeliAankhen

Wow I am glad I looked in here today. I have also been waiting for years to see that again. I was in NY when it first came out, it was a huge event - they'd show two parts at once, so we would go on three nights to see it all, which I don't remember if I did.

I remember best the episode about the European girl going to study a form of classical dance, probably Kathak.

Since then I've read discussions of it which criticized the poltical viewpoint behind it.

I'll be really interested in anything anyone has to say about it, especially those of you whose experience in India goes back into the times in which it was filmed.

crvlvr

There are a couple of reviews already on amazon.com They are probably not up to IM standards, but its a start

mikewill

OK, so far I found the time to watch the Calcutta film. Despite being dog tired I couldn't turn it off. Quality is excellent, with very few scratches or jumps. There's only a little commentary and you can turn the subtitles off - parts aren't needed anyway as some of the speech is in English!

Fascinating how some things have changed completely - as WWUSA says we'll never see those roads with so few cars and scooters - but other bits are instantly familiar.

It's fairly clear that quite a number of the subjects hadn't seen film cameras before. A great section that shows the upper class at play at the races and golf - sixties fashions that wouldn't have looked out of place in London! Generally though, relatively few women feature in the film. There's quite a long section on the violent student demonstrations that took place after the crushing of the Naxalbari peasant uprisings. Some of the other demonstrations were much more like those I saw last year!

If you enjoy people watching you'll find this fascinating. Just like the real thing it's not always attractive, but I'm sure you'll see many bits that resonate for you, plus the historical details are a reminder for those of us who were able to go thirty odd years ago and a treat for those who weren't so lucky.

Plan to start on Phantom India later, but it'll take a few days to look at the whole six hours.

Mike

abracax

Thanks for the heads-up, ordered it from Chapters and they even had it on sale!

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NeeliAankhen

They have all of it, and the Calcutta one too, at Netflix.

I have never seen the Calcutta one.

Re: your mention of the women's clothes, I will look forward to that. In a certain frothy kinf of Bollywood movie of the 60s, women wore styles like the styles in London or the US - they looked wonderful - but they often wore very narrow trousers or leggings with them, like churidars. It looked great.

steven_ber

I'm glad you're enjoying it Mike, it sounds wonderful.