Le Tigre du Bengale

Fritz Lang's two part Indian Epic made up of the films The Tiger of Bengal and The Tomb of Love is, to put it lightly, a cinematic enigma. While Lang is no stranger to both pulp fiction and long films, he oddly fails at both in this two-part travesty.

Watching a film like Lang's Metropolis or his five hour epic of Die Nibelungen is a magical experience. The films flow at such a brilliant pace, drawing in the viewer and creating a world of high drama and excitement amidst some of the most lavish and beautiful sets of the silent era. Yet, somehow, this magic is lost in his Indian Epic, as the nearly three and a half hours that comprise both films drags for what seems like an eternity. While the first film, The Tiger of Bengal, starts off like a pleasing, pulpy adventure story, it soon peters off nearly halfway through, setting the pace for what will be the rest of the first and the entire second film.

Production was evidently a very expensive and impressive one, complete with jewel-studded clothing, immense and desolate dungeons, and large and grandiose palaces, stocked with every little intricate detailed imagined; yet, these impressive settings are hardly utilized in to making this the film(s) it could have been, for they remain nothing more than eye-candy in what is ultimately a theatrical play of the most dire sort. Stilted, bland dialogue and scenes that drag and repeat play out almost cyclically: Where is the princess? She's over there. Where is the foreigner? He's over there. What should we do? We should do this... and so on, ad nauseam, until nearly three and a half hours of a film still unrealized is completed.

Even in some of Lang's previous minor failings he never achieved such a monotony as this. In his canceled pulp-adventure project, The Spiders, Lang was able to pull off an exhilarating tale of adventure in a foreign land for the first film, which would be canceled shortly after just the second Admittedly, the second and last entry of The Spiders almost seems to set a precedent for what would go wrong with both The Tiger of Bengal and The Tomb of Love: hardly anything happens.

I simply just don't understand what Lang went in to this project imagining. After reading this was a remake of the Indian Epic that he originally produced earlier on in his career I was so excited to finally sit and view what I imagined would be a wonderful adventure. I assumed it was one of his last, final great works; a tale of intrigue and adventure and lavish sets, and a film I could rely on for years to come to go back to and relieve the magic all again. Such a disappointment on so many levels, both as an adventure film, and arguably one of Lang's worst.

In Schnapur , there rules a powerful Maharajah called Chandra : Walter Reyel who falls in love for a beautiful temple-dancer : Debra Paget , who schemes to marry her despite fierce opposition from factions within his own court . But all his wealth and power has not prevented his sweetheart has a romance with an architect : Paul Christian . Both of whom flee from Eschnapur but are pursued by the Maharajah's soldiers . This sparks a coup of state which is eventually put down . The plot expands to build a huge tomb to imprison the girl who betrayed him but things go awry.

Pretty good movie with huge budget for the time , colorful cinematography , luxurious palaces as well as spectacular outdoors . It deals with a moving loving triangle triggering the Maharajah's vengeful ire and in the midst there are several fights , escapes , snakes , tigers and the Goddess Shiva . Here stands out the gorgeous Debra Paget who performs spectacular and erotic dances . It packs an emotive and thrilling musical score by from Gerhard Becker and Michel Michelet . Glamorous photography by Richard Angst , shot on location in India and in German studios , though being necessary a perfect remastering , that is why the film copy is washed-out . This is a remake from the silent original also directed by Fritz Lang with Conrad Veidt , Paul Ritter , and Mia May . This ¨Tiger of Schanapur¨ is the first part , being followed by a second installment titled ¨The Indian tomb¨ . Both of them were merged for US as ¨Journey to the Lost City¨ delivered by American International Pictures , it results to be a poorly edited hybrid of the two Lang movies.

The motion picture scripted by Thea Von Harbou , Lang's wife , was lavishly produced by Arthur Brauner . And it was well directed by Fritz Lang who also made another classic adventure movie : ¨Moonfleet¨ . Lang directed various prestigious silent movies as ¨Metrópolis¨ , ¨Woman in the moon¨ , ¨Doctor Mabuse¨ , ¨Spies¨ , ¨Spiders¨ , ¨Nibelungs¨ ; noir films : ¨Beyond a reasonable doubt¨, ¨While city sleeps¨ , ¨The big heat¨ , ¨Clash night¨ ; Drama : ¨Woman in the Window¨ , ¨Human Desire¨ , ¨Scarlet Street¨ , ¨Fury¨ ; Western : ¨Rancho notorious¨ , ¨Western Unión¨ , ¨Revenge of Frank James¨.

The story is dull, but the sets are beautiful and visually appealing. Staring hilariously tacky but cute puppet of a tiger. The main entertainment value is admiring Debra Paget's costumes and her horrible lip-sync.

Although it's rarely remembered as fondly as Metropolis or M, or even the numerous B-movies he made in the US, this picture represents an exceptional return to form for director Fritz Lang. At last, after years of slumming it with little pictures in Hollywood's big pond, The Tiger of Eschnapur reunites him with the pure and unbridled sense of adventure and the grandiose splendour which characterises his earliest pictures.

Lang was famously not a fan of widescreen with which his latest American pictures were shot, and here we see just how well he could use the old fullscreen format. Depth is such an important aspect in his shots, with vast empty spaces conveyed through a downward angle that shows the floor or the ground stretching out before us, such as that shot of the deserted village during the "hour of the tiger". Much of the movement is in depth rather than across the screen, with business at the sides of the frame to create a tunnel effect. Lang, a former architecture student must have also been delighted at all the breathtaking Indian buildings and atmospheric studio recreations he gets to play with here. As usual with Lang, his characters appear trapped within the spaces they inhabit, with claustrophobic shot compositions and now even colour schemes that make people seem one with the background. There's a great and rather comical shot where the Maharajah is leaning against a pillar, in which the shape and style of his outfit mean he looks like a pillar himself. The fact that most of these rooms are real 360-degree spaces rather than backless sets also gives Lang a real advantage. Notice how in Debra Paget's lavish quarters in the gold birdcage scene, even the windows look out onto a high wall. Lang creates an impression of a palace of endless passages and no exits. It's this slightly nightmarish vision which really drives the adventure along.

With the exception of Debra Paget, who had a handful of prominent Hollywood roles over the previous decade, the cast is mainly made up of Europeans who will be unfamiliar to most in an English-speaking audience. Lead man Paul Hubschmid is not a very interesting actor, but at least he underplays his performance – far preferable to awkward hamming. Ms Paget herself is not really exceptional either, but she does prove herself to be a superlative and hypnotic dancer. The real standout acting-wise however is Walter Reyer, who portrays the Maharajah as calmly authoritative, with just a hint of madness.

One final point – fans of the Indiana Jones movies may find themselves recognising a few sights and scenes that remind them of stuff from The Temple of Doom. While a lot of Temple of Doom's plot comes from an older Hollywood movie called Gunga Din (1939), Fritz Lang's Indian diptych seem to have given Spielberg's picture much of its spirit. This is a comic book vision at India, barely realistic, but filled with a sense of both fun and genuine menace. Forget about Lang's reputation as a dark and cynical purveyor of film noir. Although he never got the recognition he deserved at the time, with his childlike sense of adventure and breathtaking imagery, when given his creative freedom he could be the Steven Spielberg of his era.

Harold Berger is an architect from Germany who has arrived to India to build a temple for Maharahaja Chandra.Then he meets a dancer called Seetha who becomes his destiny.He saves her from a tiger.The only problem is that Seetha is promised to the Maharahaja.Those two men become the worst enemies.Der Tiger von Eschnapur (1959) is the first part of Fritz Lang's Indian epic.It's a mighty entertaining movie from the great German director.Debra Paget does great work as the dancer.The exotic dance she does before the enormous female idol is quite amazing.Paul Hubschmid is terrific as Harold.Walter Reyer is great as Chandra.Harold's sister Irene Rhode is played by Sabine Bethmann and her husband Walter by Claus Holm.Luciana Palizzi portrays Baharani.René Deltgen plays Prince Ramigani, who wants to seize the throne from his brother.This movie still works, after 50 years since its making.The Irish tune that's heard in the movie sounds beautiful.The movie contains many good scenes.In one of them Seetha is being captured by Prince Ramigani and nearly gets raped by his men.It's pretty horrifying when Harold witnesses the leper colony.At the end there are some thrilling moments when the lovers are being chased and they get in the middle of a sandstorm.To be continued...