Legong (film)
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Legong: Dance of the Virgins | |
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Hampton del Ruth (titles) | |
Produced by | Constance Bennett |
Cinematography | W. Howard Greene |
Production company | Bennett Pictures Inc. |
Distributed by | DuWorld Pictures Inc. (US) Paramount International (outside US) |
Release date |
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Running time | 53 minutes |
Country | United States |
Languages | Synchronized Sound (English Intertitles) |
Legong: Dance of the Virgins is a 1935 synchronized drama travelogue sound film in color, one of the last feature films shot using the two-color Technicolor process, and one of the last films shot by a major Hollywood studio without any dialogue. While the film has no audible dialog, it was released with a synchronized musical score with sound effects. It is a drama based on a Balinese native tale, with travelogue elements depicting Balinese culture. Legong and the follow-up travelogue drama Kliou, the Killer (once believed lost) were the last mainstream silent films to be released in the US.[1]
Plot
Poutou the daughter of Gousti Bagus is in love with Nyong. She attends a barong dance depicting a mythical struggle between a demon and men but is only interested in Nyong who is also there in the crowd of spectators. Nyong is invited to the home of Gousti Bagus and Poutou the next day. He is on his way when he sees Poutou's sister Saplak bathing and is smitten. Nyong writes on a leaf for Saplak to meet him during the temple dance (Legong) Potou is to dance at. It is to be her last temple dance and Potou is very happy until she finds the note and learns of the betrayal. She goes to the bridge and sees the pair together and commits suicide. Gousti Bagus puts her body in a funeral pyre and burns it so she may be reincarnated.
Cast
The cast were entirely native Balinese who only acted in this film.
- Poetoe Aloes Goesti as Poutou
- Bagus Mara Goesti as Gousti Bagus
- Saplak Njoman as Saplak
- Njong Njong Njoman as Nyong
Production
Legong was an American
The cameraman was three-time
Original release
The film opened in New York City on October 1, 1935 at USD$5.00 per ticket ($84.20 in 2012 dollars). Reaction from some New York critics was positive; "exquisitely beautiful" from one, "Moments that touch the heart" from another, and "flaming splendor" from a third. The New York Times' reviewer found it "a pleasant venture in the filmic literature of escape... a pretty tale, and the photoplay recites it simply and with faith. Subduing his color camera to inviting browns and pastel tints, the Marquis sets his native lovers against the rice fields, the shadowy lagoons, the pounding surf and the mountains of that island of which Paul Morand has written that it is absolutely irresistible to college boys and women of 40." Variety, on the other hand, considered it to offer "nothing especially refreshing in the story... follows usual procedure for this type of native stuff" though conceding "A number of elaborate production scenes with oriental trappings are made doubly effective through use of color".
Ten weeks later
While nudity may have been part of the film's appeal, it also received recognition at the time of its release for embodying "many details of anthropological interest, giving a record, in particular, of betrothal custom, traditional dances and mortuary rites." This is only partially true. The script writers, while basing the story on Balinese culture, gave it a decidedly Hollywood treatment. Despite its shortcomings, the film gives an unparalleled view of life in Bali in the 1930s.
In the course of the story there are several authentic performances of
The film was heavily edited in both the US and UK. In the US they removed a lot of the nudity while in the UK they removed the cockfighting scenes. The entire film has been found intact however.
Restoration and new musical score
This section needs additional citations for verification. (December 2015) |
The film was restored by the
The new score was performed live at showings of the film at the
In November 2004, a DVD of Legong was released with Bennett Pictures' follow-up film, Kliou, the Killer (1936), filmed in
See also
References
- ^ Bloom, Peter J.; Hagedorn, Katherine J. (2013). "Legong: Dance of the Virgins". silentfilm.org. San Francisco Silent Film Festival. Retrieved February 25, 2021.
- ^ "Gamelan Sekar Jaya". gsj.org. Retrieved 2010-01-31.
- ^ "Clubfootorchestra.com". Clubfootorchestra.com. Retrieved 2010-01-31.
- ^ Entretien avec Richard Marriott and I Made Subandi, Milestone DVD
External links
- Legong: Dance of the Virgins at IMDb
- "Virgins" From Bali A Beautiful, Rare Treat: review of the 1999 live performance in the San Francisco Chronicle, May 7, 1999
- Peter J. Bloom, Hagedorn, Katherine J.: Essay for the Legong: Dance of the Virgins DVD (PDF; 75 kB) inadvertently left out of the first pressing of the DVD.
- Legong: Dance of the Virgins (PDF) milestonefilms.com
- Balinese Dancers, Orson Welles and the Return of Spider-Man, The New York Times, November 30, 2004