The
Drum is finally a Korda film that I can enjoy without having to constantly
wince at the ideology. There are still
many objectionable ideological elements, for sure: the British offering to
“protect” Tokot (history is clear what that meant), the good Indian ruler being
an immature juvenile who needs paternalist (British) guidance, and the competent
Moslems being sneaky and dangerous.
All
that aside, I was interested in the setting, the Pakistan/Afgan border area
that is even today unsettled. Complete
with militants, though in the case of this film, not totally
fundamentalists. And you have to like
the Technicolor here, too, with the occasional nice vista and riveting reds. While The Drum doesn’t have the most original
story, the plot is at least moderately engaging, and it leads to an action
climax that pays off. Again, though, I’d
have to say that Korda is in the Michael Bay action camp because it’s hard to
follow exactly what the characters are doing and where everyone is in relation
to each other when the shooting starts.
I saw this film because
it’s in the Sabu Eclipse set, and the young actor had grown by the time he did
this role. In The Drum, he’s playing a
character who is outside something the actor would have experienced in daily life, and he acts here rather
than doing things for the camera he might have done in his off-camera life. He’s a little stilted, but he still has clear charisma here that adds a little energy to a movie that can creak in
places.
Zoltán Korda isn’t going on
my list of directors to seek out, but at least The Drum didn’t leave me
aggravated, as some other Korda films have.
