One of Hollywood's last silent movies, Legong was shot on location in "exotic" Bali in 1933, released in 1935, and immediately hacked to pieces by censors who objected to its nudity (many bare breasts) and violence (a cockfight). Now it's been rediscovered and restored. Considered simply as a movie, it's not very good: the plot is simplistic melodrama, the tone patronizing, and the acting (by Balinese nonactors) amateurish. (You can imagine the director offscreen saying, "Okay, look angry...now stare wistfully into the distance....")
But as a historical document, it's fascinating. Photographed in two-strip Technicolor, it offers a vivid glimpse into a culture that has changed irretrievably since 1933. Even the amateurishness of it serves as a reminder that the people on the screen are real people living in a real place, evoking feelings of wonder and loss.