L'Inde fantôme

In today's fast-paced world, not often one can sit for six hours to watch a film documentary. However, you will not be disappointed viewing this masterpiece.

I agree with the previous person's comments & highly recommend this classic. It is hardly ever shown.

I managed to see it at the art institute over 10 years ago and am hoping to see it again. I hope there is still a good print in existence. Release it on DVD, please!

At last Criterion is releasing a DVD on 4/24/07. I just got a newsletter from Criterion and it is part of their "Eclipse" series.

I saw this in a theater on first release. Thirty years later I still remember how overwhelming this film can be for those of us not lucky enough to have been to India.

It would be great to see again, though, it's not readily available as a rental. A good investment nonetheless and I look forward to seeing this again...all 7 hours or so.

Students of yoga and, specifically B.K.S. Iyengar, can see Mr. Iyengar in the film. I wasn't studying yoga when I first saw this so I can't actually recall anything about him. I've seen some comments through the years about how patrician Mr. Iyengar comes off in the film and, I would welcome the chance to see this again.

The complexity of religion, huge population and great physical expanse of India will take you away, often, in 'Phantom'.

And, yes, some people do live in trees.

Wild stuff.

When we think of Louis Malle, we usually think of "Atlantic City", "My Dinner with Andre" and "Au revoir, les enfants". An important production of his before those was the 1969 miniseries "L'Inde fantôme" ("Phantom India" in English). Malle and his entourage spent a few months in India filming. The documentary focuses both on the country's culture and politics, with the caste system lording over almost every aspect of daily life.

I suspect that quite a few things in India have changed since the documentary aired, especially with the Hindu nationalists in power. No doubt going there would be a massive culture shock due to the crush of people, and the poverty. In any case, this documentary serves as a good introduction to the world's second-most populous country (or does India now have more people than China?).

To my knowledge, it's not available on any streaming service, so you do actually have to rent it on DVD.

"Phantom India: Reflections on a Journey" is an epic 7 part cine-essaylogue (travelogue + cine-essay) in which we are shown the people, places, practices, customs, Gods, celebrations, festivals, rituals, cultures, mythology, traditions, castes, religions, gurus, minorities, food, art, economics, politics, and various ways of life found throughout India, as seen through the camera lens of Louis Malle. Malle does not remove himself from the documentary in an objective way, rather, we are poetically led through the documentary as if experiencing India from the mind of Malle himself- much like Chris Marker, but with more vanity. It is absolutely fascinating being immersed in late 60's India, and seeing it through the reflections of Malle makes it interesting, entertaining and at times even humorous! Malle does not hide the fact that he is essentially ignorant to many of the practices and customs to which the Indians (especially the Upper Castes) cling to and hold so dear. Some of them he finds intriguing while others he finds to be exploitative. Just released by Criterion on DVD restored from the French Film Archives: the series is 7 x 51 (or so) minute episodes. 7.5 out of 10.

as another viewer noted, after 30 years one still remembers the magic of this film. If anyone knows where a copy exists or how it can be seen again, I would greatly appreciated being informed. It would be tragic that this great film documentary is not archived and released. I saw the film when i lived in California and it was shown as a series at UCLA in Los Angeles. I had a friend who had traveled by freighter to India and had shown me his incredible pictures of his travels in India. This film added motion and sound to the still images that had initially captivated me. I have repeatedly looked for this film and cannot find it. Someone suggested checking with the New York Public Library or the Library of Congress, but I have not had success as yet. The film is so effective that one feels one is in India.