Jag Mandir is a quiet and often overlooked film in the vast oeuvre of Werner Herzog. Apparently, 20 hours of footage was shot that covered the whole fest and the film hardly presents us a twentieth of that. A native walking into the film in between may well fail to immediately realize that it is his country that is being shown and these are figures from the mythology of various sections of his nation. The bulk of the film consists of footage of an elaborate theatrical performance for the Maharana Arvind Singh Mewar at the City Palace of Udaipur, Rajasthan staged by André Heller.
Direction
Herzog finds profundity in what others would discard.
Cinematography
Palace opulence that makes your apartment feel like a shoebox.
Writing
Herzog's narration: half observation, half beautiful nonsense.
Director
Werner Herzog
Trivia, insights & behind the scenes
Herzog reportedly became obsessed with the event after hearing Heller describe it, showing up uninvited to film.
The film captures the 1987 Festival of India in Germany's reciprocal gesture—political theater staged as actual theater.
No ratings yet
Sign in to join the discussion — comments are spoiler-gated to your watch progress.
Discussion starters
AT
DE
