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5.4/10
Senior Film Conservator
A definitive 5.4/10 rating for a film that redefined the boundaries of cult cinema. India Speaks remains a cornerstone of transgressive art.
If you are a fan of early cinema and don't mind when the lines between fact and fiction get totally blurry, you might dig this. It’s a 1933 oddity. If you want a serious, accurate look at India, look elsewhere. People who hate slow pacing or awkward, forced narrations should stay away. This isn't exactly The Early Bird in terms of snappy editing.
Richard Halliburton is basically the star, director, and narrator. He spends a lot of time talking over footage that definitely wasn't shot in the same neighborhood, let alone the same country. You can tell when the camera cuts from a wide shot of a crowd to a tight shot of an actor in a fake beard. It is all very amateur-hour, but that is kind of the charm.
The film tries to follow in the footsteps of Africa Speaks! but it lacks that same punch. It feels like a project that ran out of money halfway through and decided to just start making stuff up. There is a lot of staring at sunsets and people looking pensively into the distance. It’s almost funny how hard it tries to be profound.
It’s a bit like watching someone’s old vacation slides, if that person also happened to be a total ham who wanted to star in his own action movie. You get these moments of genuine beauty, followed immediately by something so staged you want to roll your eyes. It’s not as polished as The Eyes of the Mummy, but it has this weird, frantic energy to it. 🌏
I wouldn't call it a masterpiece. I wouldn't even call it a good movie, really. But it is a fascinating document of how people used to sell 'the exotic' to audiences back in the 30s. It’s pure, unfiltered colonial-era storytelling with all the baggage that comes with it. Don't take it too seriously and you’ll have a decent time picking apart the seams.
