Song Of Ceylon (1934)
1934 · Short film · 38 min · dir. Basil Wright
- Documentary
Synopsis
Ambitious documentary chronicling the cultural life and religious customs of the Sinhalese and the effects of advanced industrialism on such customs.
Synopsis from TMDb
Details
- Director
- Basil Wright
- Cinematography
- Basil Wright
- Studio
- GPO Film Unit
- Released
- 1934-11-30
- Running time
- 38 minutes
Cast & crew
- Basil Wright Director
- Lionel Wendt
Reviews on the Internet Archive
★★★★★ · finally found · Jaanaka · 2011-05-21
I have heard about this movie and wanted to watch .....and finally found it here........
★★★★ · Famous ethnographic film · nycmoviemaker · 2009-11-10
I am curious as to why the person who uploaded this film described it as "bizarre." Such a description is unfair. Song of Ceylon is considered a "prototype of the impressionistic vignette film," and was made by John Grierson and Basil Wright for the Ceylon Tea Propaganda Board in 1934. Grierson is considered by many to be the "father of documentary film," perhaps because he first used the term in reference to non-fiction film that was not solely ethnographic film. Obviously, Song of Ceylon is not like most of the documentaries we see today. It is an mythopoetic film which set out to celebrate…
