Fritz Lang returns to Germany, and what a return! Gone is the jail of the Hollywood studio system and back to something unequivocally Lang, but something different. This is a gorgeous movie to look at, mostly shot on location in India, with the remarkable interiors being shot in Berlin. By far the best use of color in any Lang film. This is still very much a European exotic fairytale version of India, and it seems like the film is trying to tackle that European perspective to some extent. I'm not very talented with my knowledge of this kind of thing, this is just my limited perception, and I would be fascinated to look into some writings on this project. With that being said, it's still a fair bit of European actors in darkened make-up and it is rather pulpy, more like a Johnny Quest or Speed Racer episode type of thing to make some comparison, though not quite Temple of Doom though I'm sure this was some level of inspiration for that film. This part feels like mostly set-up, and it's good set-up, so I'm looking forward to check out part 2. And the 20s version of this that Lang wrote. And maybe some actual Indian cinema...

Fritz Lang returns to Germany, and what a return! Gone is the jail of the Hollywood studio system and back to something unequivocally Lang, but something different. This is a gorgeous movie to look at, mostly shot on location in India, with the remarkable interiors being shot in Berlin. By far the best use of color in any Lang film. This is still very much a European exotic fairytale version of India, and it seems like the film is trying to tackle that European perspective to some extent. I'm not very talented with my knowledge of this kind of thing, this is just my limited perception, and I would be fascinated to look into some writings on this project. With that being said, it's still a fair bit of European actors in darkened make-up and it is rather pulpy, more like a Johnny Quest or Speed Racer episode type of thing to make some comparison, though not quite Temple of Doom though I'm sure this was some level of inspiration for that film. This part feels like mostly set-up, and it's good set-up, so I'm looking forward to check out part 2. And the 20s version of this that Lang wrote. And maybe some actual Indian cinema...