Item #: 17132DV Category: EXPERIMENTAL Format: DVD MPAA Rating: U

Woolly Rating: 4/10 (37 votes)

MEMBER COMMENTS ON THIS VIDEO

jd	Feb 10, 2005 @ 18:24:42

<[:-} long sought, previously rare, "pre-code" film
MOST HIGHLY RECOMMENDED! "legong" is a unique film! it was shot entirely on location (very uncommon in 1933) on the island of bali. the folks behind "legong" intended to take advantage of both "pre-code" laxity in censorship and "national geographic" type condescending acceptance of "native" nudity to present a feature length film filled, start to end, with voluptuous, beautiful women who are either nude from the waist up, or else in very flattering, revealing tops just long enough to add piquancy to the nudity to follow. "saplak" is shown bathing fully nude, albeit modestly, in careful profile. in an effort to please all, "nyong" provides slender, hairless, rear male partial nudity. all this cheesecake is captured in an exotically beautiful backdrop: the temple, statues, 30' tall, multi-layered funeral procession vehicles, statue-coffins in the form of animals, a bathing pool fed by piped water, terraced hillsides, thatched pagodas, wooden bridges, large gamelan instruments, sunsets, outrigger canoes... graceful, sensual dancing in elaborate costumes is featured. the cheesecake is balanced by a long cockfighting scene, with sharpened metal spurs, and other violent elements. as if all this were not enough, "legong" was shot in two-strip (red / green) technicolor by "technicolor veteran" w. howard greene! "legong" and the accompanying "kliou" were the last two feature films shot in this medium. "legong" and "kliou" were produced by silent star actress constance bennett, and directed by her husband, the marquis henry de la falais. (marrying questionable royalty was a fad among "pre-code" and sexuality flaunting later day silent actresses, driven by a desire to restore a sense of "respectability.") shot without sound, intertitled, accompanied by music but no dialogue or narration, "legong" is very much in the silent film tradition. its a sentimental romantic triangle tragic melodrama, without the gritty edge typical of "pre-code" films. its theme is "in this peopled paradise, untouched by civilization, lives a contented race...to them death holds no fear." the arrogance of calling the highly structured society of 1933 bali, with such ancient roots and advanced arts, "untouched by civilization" is stunning, but is a symptom typical of the era. counter to the "untouched" theme, small children are shown smoking factory rolled cigarettes (probably supplied by the cast / crew), rice wine is shown being poured into reused glass whiskey bottles, and nyong has a visible smallpox vaccination scar, artifacts of "civilization" that partially spoil the desired illusion. the musical score, usually said to be authentic, has gamelan inspiration but obvious modern, western composition and instrumentation. the alternate score offered in the dvd extras is interesting, but no more authentic. "legong" was extremely obscure because the fatal cuts demanded by the american censors, all of the "nude closeups," reduced it from feature length to short status. they were unable to release it until 1935, after the 01 july, 1934 production code administration crackdown, bearing pca certificate #2169. the dvd extras reveal that english censors excised all violence. i was amused that the credits for this excellent print, restored and assembled by ucla by "...combining all three surviving prints" (american, canadian, and british), lists infamous american roadshow skin flick peddler dan sonney above the museum of modern art, thus revealing the true source of the lost nudity. when this release of "legong" was printed, "kliou" was still thought to be lost. they found a surprisingly clean print before the dvd was assembled, but it is in 16mm, black & white format. "kliou" is a lot funkier than "legong." it features "the moi tribesmen" of "the jungles of annan," a region on the east coast now split by the north vietnam / south vietnam border. the elaborate architecture of bali is replaced by unadorned huts, and there is not much art to be seen. "kliou," shot in 1934 and released in 1937, is an "expeditionary" pseudo-documentary, a "celebration of masculinity" aimed at hemmingway lemmings, with a theme of triumph of men over vicious nature, overseen by a smugly paternalistic pair of european colonialists who are always seen on an eleveted porch overlooking the "natives." "kliou" stages more unprovoked attacks by wild beasts than a tarzan movie. there is still some topless female beauty, but the relentless emphasis is on thong wearing young men engaged in death struggles with animals, man / boy bonding, and the awe men inspire in women. cummings apparently envisioned a comprehensive pansexual "legong" / "kliou" double feature. this dvd is very rich in extras. it includes a long documentary, "the gods of bali" (1952), that recreates much of "legong" in the same sequence of events, without the love triangle, with much less nudity, and with a much more realistic representation of range of age and physical attractiveness in the population. anyone close to my age will grin at the familiarity of the embarrassing dramatic device of having the narrator assume the voice of a male temple dancer (false 1st person?), a staple convention of the kind of films the teacher would show when he wanted a day off.

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