The Deceivers - The Merchant Ivory Collection |  | Director: Nicholas Meyer
Actors: Pierce Brosnan, Saeed Jaffrey, Shashi Kapoor, Helena Michell, Keith Michell
Studio: Merchant Ivory
Category: DVD
List Price: $19.95
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Rating:  14 reviews
Sales Rank: 50183
Format: Closed-captioned, Color, Dolby, DVD, Special Edition, Widescreen, NTSC
Languages: English (Original Language), English (Unknown), English (Subtitled)
Rating: PG-13 (Parental Guidance Suggested)
Region: 1
Aspect Ratio: 1.78:1
Number Of Discs: 1
Running Time: 102 Minutes
Shipping Weight (lbs): 0.3
Dimensions (in): 7.1 x 5.4 x 0.6
MPN: PMIDDEC020D
ISBN: 078002916X
UPC: 037429198520
EAN: 9780780029163
ASIN: B0006HBZZ6
Theatrical Release Date: September 2, 1988
Release Date: January 18, 2005
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
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Product Description
No Description Available.
Genre: Feature Film-Drama
Rating: UN
Release Date: 18-JAN-2005
Media Type: DVD
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Showing reviews 1-5 of 14
The Deceivers Review January 16, 2010
Manny M. Agah
This is an entertaining film; however, it is not directed by James Ivory, as some reviewers imply; it is directed by Nicholas Meyer. The producer, however, is Ismail Merchant, who later teamed with director James Ivory and created several sumptuous and intelligent films.
 OK, but pretentious, overlong, meandering December 24, 2009
Claudio Di Gregorio (Argentina)
Good production values, but here and as usual, these David-Lean-wannabes Merchant & Ivory tend to be pretentious (The Remains of the Day) when not downright pathetic (Le Divorce).
Good photography and a good recreation of the early XIXth century India, but probably is there where all verosimilitude ends. The hollywoodesque daring escape of the hero when surrounded by a multitude of thugs and his last minute rescue by the requisite cavalry regiment; his appropriate delivery of justice by his own hand or the betrayal by an unsuspecting friend indicate that the whole thing was 99% fiction (one Amazon reviewer even reports that the thugs never existed in reality).
You also have to suspend disbelief on the thugs accepting Pierce Brosnan (or any British officer) as one of their own. Let alone the impossibility of avoiding speaking with an accent when talking a foreign language; think of the colour of the skin (at one point, Brosnan is naked before a thug, who notices nothing) or the many cultural details a foreigner cannot possibly know, which could spell disaster any minute.
Many subplots (the seemingly ominous butler, the comrade-on-arms that tries to seduce the hero's wife and turns out to be something else) lead nowhere, suggesting the producers were trying to fill the 98 minutes with anything. Similarly, the film drags for the first twenty minutes until it starts moving.
The story is also handicapped with a tribute to extrasensorial nonsense: "I've seen your husband in my dreams, and he is in danger" says an Indian character, and the wife acts upon that --apparently reliable-- orientalism.
Summing up: the film is good and moderately entertaining, but it could be much better. They could have omitted the "based on a true story part" since probably the only factual bit was that in 1825 there was a country called India, with British soldiers riding around wearing funny hats.
Orientalism and the Thug Cult February 1, 2009
Magalini Sabina (Rome Italy)
"The romance and the fiction of thuggee are seductive, but they are not part of the truth, only serving a European desire for India to be exotic, mysterious and dangerous. It was orientalism, the myth of the east, and surely should have died long ago.".(Kevin Rushby, Children of Kali, 2002).
To see "The Deceivers", having read Rushby's book, that correctly points out how the criminal myth never existed is fascinating. The movie is directly derived from John Master's 1952 novel, which is in its own an engrossing read. So the story is there, complicated, with a moral, or absence of moral and many subplots to explore. The film is a Merchan-Ivory production so the best non-Indian filmography on India that it was possible to get in the 1980's, the actors are all very good because the Brits are played by Brits and the Indians by Indians.
However, it must be seen as an imaginary story and not as the truth. The Thugs as such, a cult based on the goddess Kali never existed. Their existence was invented by the British Raj probably with the intent of repressing banditry in India, and further propagated by the nineteenth century novelist such as Sue, Meadows, Salgari.
The original British soldier on which William Savage, the story's hero is based is William Henry Sleeman a famous "Thug exterminator" of the first part of the nineteenth century, who lived in India for many years and had many Indian bandits jailed and killed.
If you are interested in the Kali cult and love movies, see "Karan Arjun" a Bollywood movie on Kali cult and reincarnation that entertains and makes you touch the essence of this religeous practice.
One point that makes the movie particularly intrigant is the fascination of Willam Savage with the concept of ritual killing, that never really leaves him also at the end of the story. He is like a controlled serial killer, who can live his true nature only outside his "civilization", in the natural environment of the colonial country.
This is a very good movie and an interesting example of "Orientalism" (E.Said). I suggest to view it with some historical backround, a touch of irony and great enjoyment of the characters (especially the Indians), costumes and locations.
Mesmerizing story January 19, 2009
T. Williams
0 out of 1 found this review helpful
A truly mesmerizing and gripping story, based on true events. Along with the main character, you will be wondering who to trust.
Great story, awkward film March 5, 2006
Trevor Willsmer (London, England)
5 out of 7 found this review helpful
Ismail Merchant's take on the Thugs, his long-cherished dream project The Deceivers, is less successful than Hammer's notorious Stranglers of Bombay despite having more to work with. John Master's novel is a good yarn and Michael Hirst's script is excellent, but Pierce Brosnan isn't a strong enough lead as the Brit (appropriately named Savage) who disguises himself as an Indian to gather evidence on the Thugs only to find that he enjoys killing too much for the good of his soul. Nor is Nicholas Meyer the right director - this needed a bolder widescreen treatment from an old-time sadist like John Guillermin to really catch fire. But it's still an interesting film that holds on the strength of its story, and when it does work, it works extremely well. The surprisingly bleak finale is a definite plus and quite beautifully handled.
Despite the fascinating story of the film's troubled production, the only extra is a trailer. You'll have to try to track down a copy of Hullabaloo in Old Jeypore, Merchant's slightly self-aggrandizing account of his myriad misfortunes during the controversial shoot the film in India - including the company finding themselves locked up at one point - and it's a worthwhile read, even if it should perhaps be subtitled `101 Reasons I'll Never Work With Tim Van Rellim Again.'
Showing reviews 1-5 of 14
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