Les imposteurs

Although it displays the usually reliable Merchant-Ivory production banner this tale of high adventure and skullduggery in British India is only a routine B movie with exotic pretensions. The background is historically factual, drawn around the ritual murders committed by a secret religious cult of so-called 'Thuggees' (from which the word 'thug' was later derived). But the far-fetched story of a British soldier infiltrating their ranks and losing himself in a netherworld of violence and vices is, at best, contrived, even by the lowest standards of romantic fiction. The idea might have looked better on paper, before its artistic and commercial potential was crippled by a lackluster, coincidence-filled script and a star performance that drains the hero of any charisma. Director Nicholas Meyer tries to convey the allure of an ancient culture, but the film doesn't have enough style to camouflage its slapdash lack of substance, and the token gestures to period flavor and atmosphere don't extend beyond the costume design and some cut-rate esoteric mysticism. When, for example, hero Pierce Brosnan is seduced by a mysterious native girl, their shadows on the wall show him embraced by the six-armed Thuggee goddess Kali… (cue the ominous tabla music)

Most historians doubt the Thuggee or any kind of cult like it existed at all. For one thing, most of the criminals executed as Thuggee were Muslim, not Hindu, and would not have worshipped a Hindu goddess, Kali.

Most of the claims came from criminals turning on each other. British paranoia and fear of cultures they didn't understand likely invented the whole idea of a cult of murderers and robbers.

So the whole story is based on white Europeans letting their fear of brown people go crazy. But is it a good film?

In parts. If you just want a film that's part crime story and part horror, the murder and robbery scenes do that kind of well.

But in between the film rambles on and on. Brosnan is overwrought all the time, even when not needed. He's become a much better actor since then, but back then was amateurish.

And who thought it was at all believable he could smear on mud and pass for Indian? Add to that giving him a fake fuzzy beard instead of just letting his actual beard grow. He looks like what he is, white European guy in a turban.

Points only for correct period costumes.

When a British officer gets wind of a gang of murderous highwaymen he joins their ranks with the intention of shutting down the organization. Spys and counterspys in both camps offset each other until a final battle settles who will remain in charge. Hard to believe that during all the time the officer was with the thugs they never noticed how foreign he appeared or that the stain he used never washed off. Entertaining with plenty of action and great scenery.

I'm sure every schoolboy knows where the word " Thug " originates from . If not I'll reeducate you by saying the word is derived from the word " thugee " which apart from being the Hindi word for " thief " is also the name of a notorious cult from India where a group of men would befriend travelers along the Indian sub-continent and then strangle them . THE DECIEVERS based upon the John Masters book tells of the story of a British army officer who infiltrated the group

It doesn't seem to be able to tell the story well and one can't help thinking that being a Merchant Ivory production this might be to blame . It's rather stodgy and director Nicholas Meyer seems to be more interested in exotic beauty and cultural diversity of 1820s India than he is in telling a tension filled cinematic thriller . Ironically enough when it does try to mirror the classic era of Hollywood in the 1930s and 40s it comes across as being clichéd

A great pity because there's so much potential here that the production gets right such as pointing out that in the 1820s it was the British East India company and not the British monarch or the British government who ruled India . If you're worried about corporate capitalism in the 21st Century I can guarantee you it was much worse two hundred years ago . As you'd expect with this production company the costume design is exemplary . It's also a film that makes good use of sound editing where when the Thugees commit their murders a spine chilling " SWISH " type sound blasts out from the screen and is so effective it left me truly puzzled why Meyer didn't more to make THE DECEIVERS a more enthralling film

It may seem a trite point to many that this historical drama is surprisingly authentic, but I find it very refreshing after seeing so many films throw details to the wind. There are very few movies, if any dealing with Britian's famous "Honorable East India Company", but the costuming on this movie was researched very well indeed. I think this fact alone holds a lot of the appeal as a 'History' buff's movie. I couldn't imagine Pierce Brosnan's tiger hunting scene to be much more accurate, as every detail seems excellent to me, especially the uniforms of the HEIC. I think that the movie captures the mystic of India very well and is generally based on true historic events. Whatever people think of Pierce Brosnans' acting ability, this movie has very good entertainment value, apart from showing a unique side of the history of India. My close associate shot a documentary in very remote parts of India, and many of this movie's scenes look similar today, though I doubt he experienced anything quite like the 'death by elephant' scene in today's India !