"Das Indische Grabmal Erster Teil - Die Sendung Des Yoghi" or "Mysteries of India, Part I: Truth" or "The Indian Tomb: Part I, the Mission of the Yogi" is a German movie from 1921 and as such it has its 100th anniversary in less than 5 years from now. How time flies no? The director is Joe May and the script is by Thea von Harbou and Fritz Lang who are certainly known to everybody who likes black-and-white silent films from back in the day and probably to many others as well. This one here is actually the first of two films and the longer one from this duology at 120 minutes while the other runs only 90 minutes approximately. Lang himself remade this several decades later at the end of his career and life in a sound version, but this one here is somehow the original still. But does that mean automatically that it is a quality film. I dare say no. Yes there are some pretty good names included in here like Conrad Veidt who I can still appreciate despite not being the greatest silent film lover. Then there is also Paul Richter and a handful more that you may have heard before.
But there are also the usual flaws. Overacting is not a rarity in here, even if it is not as bad as in other films from that time occasionally. And there is the usual problem with lack of sufficient subtitles, even if here it is also true that it is not as frequent as in other films from that era. So yeah, my low rating here also has to do partially with the fact that I am not the greatest silent film lover. However, I do appreciate the likes of "Metropolis" and "M" and this is certainly not it. During its massive duration of two hours, it drags more than just a bit and the rich use of costumes and sceneries cannot make up for that, even if you obviously cannot blame the makers here for the fact that we cannot yet see these great colors that may have lifted this fantasy film to another level. Also many animals were used in this movie, birds and predators for example, and this was also true for many American films from the 1920s (Rascals). But now I am getting a bit too far away from this one here. i think it is only worth checking out for the very biggest silent film enthusiasts. I have to give it a thumbs-down as the story and acting never really impressed me that much. I hope it gets better in the sequel that I am going to check out soon as well.
But there are also the usual flaws. Overacting is not a rarity in here, even if it is not as bad as in other films from that time occasionally. And there is the usual problem with lack of sufficient subtitles, even if here it is also true that it is not as frequent as in other films from that era. So yeah, my low rating here also has to do partially with the fact that I am not the greatest silent film lover. However, I do appreciate the likes of "Metropolis" and "M" and this is certainly not it. During its massive duration of two hours, it drags more than just a bit and the rich use of costumes and sceneries cannot make up for that, even if you obviously cannot blame the makers here for the fact that we cannot yet see these great colors that may have lifted this fantasy film to another level. Also many animals were used in this movie, birds and predators for example, and this was also true for many American films from the 1920s (Rascals). But now I am getting a bit too far away from this one here. i think it is only worth checking out for the very biggest silent film enthusiasts. I have to give it a thumbs-down as the story and acting never really impressed me that much. I hope it gets better in the sequel that I am going to check out soon as well.