Gunga Din

I enjoyed Gunga Din overall. It was well-produced and enjoyable, even now after nearly 70 years since its release. It follows the adventures of three British soldiers in occupied India and how eventually, them and the entire army are saved by the actions of Gunga Din. Gunga Din is a water-carrier for the army who longs to be a soldier and in the end, he reached that goal (although post-humously). Interestingly, Gunga Din is not a prominent part of the story for most of the film. It focuses specifically on the three soldiers and Gunga Din is really more of a supporting character.

The orientalism in the film is notable, as there is a sharp division between the portrayal of the British and the Indians. Europeans are portrayed as strong, forthright and honrable, while oriental peoples are depicted as weak, scheming, murderous, and brain-washed. It's this strong slant in favor of the British tha makes the film so prominent in a propagandist sense.

As an aside, I got a feel for the importance of this movie while watching the special features on the Iron Man DVD. One of the production crew was talking about how one of their locations was the same as that of Gunga Din. That alone wouldn't be a big deal, but he said with an almost reverent tone. Maybe it's just me, but I got the sense that this movie is one that film buffs hold in reasonably high regard.