When i first read the story and saw this film as a child, something happened, that was surely not intended to be happen; neither by Kipling nor by the producers of this film... Of course, the direction, how the viewer shall see this movie and for who he shall cheer up is clearly given... but damn it... i was dragged to "the dark side of the force"... i felt strong sympathy and pity for Nag and Nagaina! But why? They was supposed clearly enough to be the bad guys of the story... what forced me to cheer up for the bad guys??
Today i guess, the reason are the characters of Nag and Nagaina. Both are deeper and more interesting than the character of the hero. Both are only want to defend their home, and later, Nagaina want to revenge her husband... who would not try to do the same as Nagaina in such a desperate situation?? A similar situation was given, for example, in "Road to Perdition"... and here the audience is clearly on the side of the "bad guy" (remember, the hero was a killer!) who want to revenge his murdered wife! A final revenge, that may include the own death too... and at last Nagaina lost the final fight... but damn it, at least she had tried it! She did not run away, nobody was on her side, nobody helped her. She lost her husband, her eggs/babies... she was alone! On the other side, Rikki Tikki had a lot of friends, like Darzee, that helped him in this fight. This did not mean, that i hate Rikki Tikki, he did his job, and he did it good! But you can tell me, i am on the "wrong side", i know, that i am standing on the "wrong side", but i can't help... i always see the story through the (snake)eyes of the "wrong side"!
This little movie was really well made, it follows almost literally the book (this story is a part of "The Jungle Book" by Rudyard Kipling). The narration of Orson Welles (he made the famous radio broadcasting of H.G. Wells "The War of the Worlds" too) was very good. The story seems to be a bit too dark for younger children in some parts, but compared with a lot of crap that was made today, there was a real story behind it, and the makers did not shy away to show the darker parts too. I saw it again a few days ago on TV after many years... and yes, i am still standing on the other ssssside...! ;-)
Today i guess, the reason are the characters of Nag and Nagaina. Both are deeper and more interesting than the character of the hero. Both are only want to defend their home, and later, Nagaina want to revenge her husband... who would not try to do the same as Nagaina in such a desperate situation?? A similar situation was given, for example, in "Road to Perdition"... and here the audience is clearly on the side of the "bad guy" (remember, the hero was a killer!) who want to revenge his murdered wife! A final revenge, that may include the own death too... and at last Nagaina lost the final fight... but damn it, at least she had tried it! She did not run away, nobody was on her side, nobody helped her. She lost her husband, her eggs/babies... she was alone! On the other side, Rikki Tikki had a lot of friends, like Darzee, that helped him in this fight. This did not mean, that i hate Rikki Tikki, he did his job, and he did it good! But you can tell me, i am on the "wrong side", i know, that i am standing on the "wrong side", but i can't help... i always see the story through the (snake)eyes of the "wrong side"!
This little movie was really well made, it follows almost literally the book (this story is a part of "The Jungle Book" by Rudyard Kipling). The narration of Orson Welles (he made the famous radio broadcasting of H.G. Wells "The War of the Worlds" too) was very good. The story seems to be a bit too dark for younger children in some parts, but compared with a lot of crap that was made today, there was a real story behind it, and the makers did not shy away to show the darker parts too. I saw it again a few days ago on TV after many years... and yes, i am still standing on the other ssssside...! ;-)