The Song of Ceylon

Basil Wright’s brief documentary of life in Ceylon (a.k.a. Sri Lanka) contains some subtle criticism of imperialism and utilizes a few novel camera angles.  But as a piece of ethnography, it’s awfully dull.  Wright doesn’t seem to grasp what Flaherty understood deeply: the audience needs some characters to latch onto.  Without some personalities to identify with, the film feels more like a series of postcards.  Even at a mere 37 minutes it’s kind of a snooze.  Rating: 6

IMDb