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Villenour. (French India: Territory of Pondicherry)

Gorgeously dreamlike colour images of (then) French India – present-day Puducherry

Travelogue 1914 4 mins Silent

Overview

These gorgeous stencil-coloured images of French India – present-day Puducherry – have a dreamlike quality. The arrival of a well-to-do European family, dutifully attended to by the locals, gives a semblance of narrative to what is largely a purely picturesque escapist experience - transporting Western viewers to an out-of-time 'exotic' netherworld.

This was a French production but like many of the travel films so popular in early cinema it travelled widely itself – hence this version with English language titles.

Original title

VILLENOUR. (FRENCH INDIA: TERRITORY OF PONDICHERRY)

Genres

Travelogue

Country

France

Language

No Dialogue with English subtitles

Subjects

British Raj Temples Colonial life Hinduism Street scenes Horse-drawn transport Carts Oxen India

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