Mallik's Singular Vision

Rating: 5/10 (3 December 2008)

This film didn't seem to be as much about history as rather his-story. In this case, it's all about Mallik's personal concept of what might have happened. While all of this is diverting, for me it didn't have the ring of factual authenticity.
What it does have are very beautiful photographic images. It's been reported that some million feet of film was used to render the finished product. So there was much footage from which to select for the final cut, and this was done with the greatest of care.
Unfortnately, I didn't get much involved on an emotional level. The characters seemed set down amidst attractive scenery and revolved around the periphery of a striking production, rather than driving the action forward.
There were two very long musical sequences that employed an undulating upper brass atop a lower brass drone that seemed to last forever (brasses used in this manner get old very quickly). Then there was a Mozart piano concerto excerpt that struck me as rather incongruous to early settlers in a new land with military fortresses and Indian villages.
In the end, technique seemed to rein over expression, which amounted to a most attractive production without much emotional substance.