Legong (Dance of the Virgins)

Unavailable for many years, this restored 1935 production created censorship concerns in its day due to the bevy of bare-breasted young Balinese girls. Henri de la Falaise's Legong was clearly influenced by F.W. Murnau's Tabu, with its on-location tropical production and use of local non-professionals chosen for their photogenic bodies rather than their acting. The film is also a double curio for its utilization of two-color Technicolor cinematography (it was one of the last productions using this process) and the fact it was a silent movie released by Paramount Pictures well into the talkie era. Unlike Tabu, however, Legong feels more like a cheery travelogue, with an inconsequential tale of unrequited love shoehorned in at odd places. Yet, what Legong lacks in dramatic depth is more than compensated for by its rare record of Balinese customs and culture presented without the slightest hint of Western condescension. The eponymous "Dance of the Virgins" is beautifully staged and filmed, and for that reason alone the film is well worth seeing. Two other rare and short features with Pacific themes are included here: the once-lost 1937 Kliou, The Killer, made by de la Falaise in Vietnam (albeit presented here in a black-and-white version, since the original color footage is still missing) and Robert Snyder's 1952 Gods of Bali, which brings the gift of original music and sound to the Balinese presentations. Neither of these films are especially notable, although Kliou, The Killer is of historic interest since it is also a silent movie (the filmmaker obviously loved Asian cultures but hated microphones). Recommended. (P. Hall)