Perfumed Garden: Tales of the Kama Sutra

My girlfriend and I got the video in hopes of seeing an arousing movie. We were disappointed. The movie was slow, the storyline was okay, but wouldn't make sense if you didn't already know something about Karma and the Kama Sutra to begin with. The whole story could have taken up 30 minutes of film. If it did, it would have been better.

This movie had it's ups and downs. I enjoyed the scenery in India and the way the people of India dressed, danced and all the things that make India so colorful and different. It acts on the religon and culture of India. But what this movie could have done without is the couple that traveled there. They were so annoying I forgot who they were. I know the man was named Micheal and he was having problems in his relationship with his girlfriend for God knows why she tries to make the relationship work out with Micheal as he tells her that he's leaving her and going to India to check out some Budahs. They decide to go and while they are in India they come across a strange lady that claims to be a reincarnation of a servant girl that once lived in a paradise garden with royal subjects. The girl in the past falls in love with another man and seduces him but there is no indication of what happened to them other than the fact that they fell in love. Centuries past and in comes Micheal and the strange lady stops at nothing to get him back. Micheal soon begins to think the lady is crazy for accusing him of being a reincarnated monk and she finds herself lost.

This was like a light dramatized classical theming of spiritual topics with a sensual overtone. I thought it was great on a number of levels including the spiritual, the understanding of east meets west, artistic and architectural notions, and not only the sensual, the sensual in terms of history and relationship values.

This movie on video interested me because it's shot in India, particularly Khajuraho and Jaipur, cities I will visit myself. It's a story about an American couple who have some Indian friends. The man is impotent but that doesn't bother his girlfriend even so very much. He goes to India to work at the famous erotic sculptures of Khajuraho.She goes with him.They meet a mysterious Indian lady (a role by a well-known Indian actress who played in "Little Buddha") who makes them acquainted with the Kama Sutra. This same actress is the main figure in a Kama Sutra story that is set 1000 years earlier. There she is a courtisane at the King's court. What this story of sex and broken vows has to do with the Kama Sutra does not become clear. There are some nude scenes, a total of 10 minutes of nudity (naked breasts of 4 women and only a few seconds full frontal nudity) but filmed in a highly esthetic way, that does not become vulgar. Nevertheless it's a disappointing film.It doesn't even show much of India or these temples in Khajuraho. It's not awfully boring but leaves you with a lot of questions.

Do not, under any conditions, rent this reeking pile of dog-doo that purports to be a movie.

My lady and I thought this disk might make for a steamy evening's diversion. After all, the box describes the movie as being all about passion, love, etc. Well, it was a big disappointment. The film can be summed up as having the rich plot of a soft-core porn film, without any of the sex. That's right. It is a scam. There are very few love scenes. Most of them are brief, and involve the main characters getting into an argument. The plot is dull, and the dialog is totally awful. The acting is about on par for a porn film, too.

The only redeeming feature of this film is the fake parrot that appears in one of the dream sequences. A stuffed parrot is lying on its belly in a cage during two scenes. The thing is so fake, we both burst into laughter when the sound track included a parrot squawking. It might have been a dead parrot, but I think it was a doll.