Les dés tragiques

From the very beginning the visuals are absolutely phenomenal, rivaling many pictures that followed in subsequent decades. The rich jungle landscapes play a part in that excellence, hand in hand with the natural lighting and the many scenes of wildlife that serve as establishing shots. But the production design has much to do with the splendor before us: the costume design is plainly alluring, as is set decoration. Outside the jungle, filming locations like Sohat's palace or Ranjit's kingdom are just as eye-catching. The great number of extras and trained animals lend further to the spectacle, to say nothing of the readily evident charisma of the primary cast. 'A throw of dice' would be a worthy view simply for the fact of the feast for our eyes.

Still, the imagery is only half the movie, and it has substantial value otherwise. The plot moves quickly, but never so much as to overwhelm. There's a measure of directness that accompanies the brisk pace, though still the screenplay leaves just enough room for the cast to exercise their craft. The performances reflect a hint of nuance that's unexpected in these circumstances, and welcome. Seeta Devi, Charu Roy, and Himanshu Rai are superb, bringing Sunita, Ranjit, and Sohat to life with range and personality that defies the straightforward approach to the screenplay. At that: it's not a terribly complicated story on hand, yet the elements of drama, intrigue, trickery, conflict, and romance are finely balanced and written well to hold our attention, and be genuinely exciting in the execution. And it all builds to a conclusion that's not just satisfying, but rewarding.

The only particular detraction I could make is the music of the 2006 restoration and re-release. True, I haven't the means to compare the original score of the 1929 premiere. And yes, considered of itself, I think the compositions are quite good. Yet there's a sense of anachronistic disparity between the pristine sound of 2006 and the imagery of nearly 80 years prior that it accompanies. The two parts just don't quite fit together, no matter how swell they are of their own accord.

Yet this is ultimately a minor concern, and otherwise, 'A throw of dice' is outstanding and highly enjoyable. It's a shining example of how, without any need of sound or verbal dialogue, silent films can still stand toe to toe with "talkies" of the past 90-odd years or more. The movie tells a compelling story, with great performances, wrapped up with arresting sights to greet our vision - and it does so in well under 90 minutes. Black and white silent pictures comprise a niche genre these days, but there are plenty that very much remain deserving to seek out and watch again, or even for the first time, and this is one of them by all means. 'A throw of dice' is one magnificent gamble that's well worth taking.

King Sohat (Himansu Rai) and King Ranjit (Charu Roy) both love games of chance, and they both fall for the same girl, a hermit's daughter named Sunita (Seeta Devi). They decide to duel for her over a game of chance, but when one is proven to have cheated, the other will not stand for it.

The German Osten made a number of films in India from the 1920's through the 1930's. The costumes, sets and scale are very impressive, with a literal cast of thousands of extras, and a menagerie of exotic animals such as elephants and tigers. The story is very basic, though, almost childishly so, but that may explain its appeal across cultural barriers. None other than Satyajit Ray said that no other film portrayed the splendor and beauty of India better than this movie, which is high praise indeed. I liked the visuals, but the story and characters proved a bit too simplistic to leave any more lasting impression. This is one of the 1001 Movies to See Before You Die.

Prapancha Pash (Throw of the Dice) (1929)

** (out of 4)

Royal cousins King Sohat (Himansu Rai) and King Ranjit (Charu Roy) share a love of gambling but soon the two fall in love with the same woman (Seeta Devi) and eventually place a bet, which will determine which one she goes with. This British/Indian/German production has some terrific things in it but in the end the story and characters just left me way too cold to fully enjoy the picture. I'll start with the positive things and you have to mention the downright beautiful cinematography. I was really shocked to see how marvelous this film looked as it appears each shot took hours to make sure everything was correct so that they could get all the details on the frame. Another major plus is the wildlife scenes at the start of the movie as we get to see various creatures in their habitat. The costume design is also marvelous and it really makes you seem as if you're right in India during the particular time that this film takes place. Yet another major plus are the locations. You can't help but look at this film with your eyes wide open as the locations just jump off the screen and that beautiful black and white print is really, really sharp. Every single frame of this film is beautiful to look at but sadly the story is really lacking. The basic plot has one of the cousins being an evil, no good SOB but you have to wonder how so many people could be stupid to what he's doing. I could understand one, two or maybe even three people falling for this bad idea of his but for everyone to do so? Another problem I had is that I didn't care for either cousin so it was hard to root against the bad one and cheer for the good one. I also didn't care too much for the woman they were in love with so that was yet another problem. I must admit that I didn't care for anything in this film story wise and I thought it really dragged down everything else that the film has going for it.

I suspect the number of (living) people who have seen this Indian silent picture may have gone up a hundred-fold in the course of the last few hours: London's Trafalgar Square was packed to capacity with what we were told was a 10,000-strong crowd, all present to see a free open-air screening accompanied by the London Symphony Orchestra in the premiere of Nitin Sawhney's new score for the film. The turn-out was nothing short of incredible for any silent film, let alone for such an obscurity, and the event was clearly a wild success.

As for the film itself, it's a highly-coloured epic based on a classic Indian tale, and reminiscent of the works of the brothers Grimm or the stories of Scherezade. There is trickery and romance, rival princes, a wise hermit, a beautiful daughter unfamiliar with the outside world, palaces and jewels, henchmen and loyal followers, kidnapping, disguises and an army on the march. There is even the apocryphal cast of thousands -- with elephants! The new score is well done, and is in a sufficiently 'Western' style to be accessible to a European audience while containing an Indian flavour in the solo voices and instruments: the LSO performance was admirable, and was in fact the best live orchestral synchronisation I've yet heard. The actors are both good-looking (where appropriate) and talented, and there is some impressive wildlife footage at the beginning and sophisticated editing at the end.

What I didn't get, to be honest, was any sense of emotional depth: this is a simplistic moral or fairy-tale style story with a great deal of plot and little space for characterisation. It's all on the surface, and a very attractive surface it is too; but that's all there is. The film is entertaining and technically excellent, with lavish production values thrown into the bargain. It never got me involved on any more intense level, though.

I'm sure that most people (myself included) had no idea that an Indian cinema existed before the films of Satyajit Ray. A THROW OF DICE or PRAPANCHA PASH to give the film its Indian title was one of several films made by the team of German film director Franz Osten and Indian actor Himansu Rai (an earlier example of a Merchant-Ivory type collaboration). It was completed in 1929 right on the cusp of sound but is a bona fide silent.

The story comes from the Indian epic THE MAHABARATA and tells of two kings, one good the other wicked, who vie for the hand of a beautiful woman. Producer Rai cast actor Rai as the wicked king and then he and director Osten made the film on an epic scale with plenty of extras, beautiful locations, and even lots of elephants. The film was successful at the time but with the coming of sound it was quickly forgotten.

The British Film Institute restored the film in 2006 and asked composer Nitin Sawhney to compose a new score for it. The work was premiered outdoors in London in 2007 and made quite an impression. Now Kino International and the BFI have released it on DVD for a wider audience to see. Filmed in sharp black and white with no color tints, THROW OF DICE looks great although you can tell that it's been conflated from at least a couple of prints.

The new score by Sawhney is lavish and it sounds great. It's an East-West amalgam (mostly West) that on occasion I found at odds with what was going on during the film. I would have liked a more fully Indian sounding score to help keep me focused on what's happening and to keep me emotionally involved. There's a lengthy interview with the composer on the DVD and he explains his reasons for his choices. I understand them but the Hollywood portions of the score took me out of the movie and that's too bad. The beauty of a silent film though is you can turn down the volume and create your own soundtrack.

Despite my reservations concerning the new score, I found the film a joy to watch especially actress Seeta Devi who is classically beautiful. If you're a silent film buff then here's a real touch of the exotic. The Germans were interested in Indian settings for years during the silent era (Joe May's THE INDIAN TOMB for example) but this is the real thing. Another high quality release from Kino International who are now known as Kino Lorber...For more reviews visit The Capsule Critic.