The art that cultures produce usually speak volumes about the societies that produce them in that moment of time they are created and this film is a star example of that.
The eroticism of this film holds up surprisingly well, and that's all that this film really exists for. The story is quite simple and is mainly used as a vehicle to show nude women and that is fairly blatant. Since its billing is that it is an erotic film, however, I don't think that's such a big issue.
I find myself compelled by its themes with the aide of hindsight, of course. It's not thematically rich or anything, but something I found extremely compelling about this film was mostly based in its historical context. This has mainly to do with orientalism, and the exoticism of indigenous African cultures as told from a western perspective. I don't want to delve too deeply into that as I'm sure essays can be written about this film in that subject, alone, but I found it very interesting in that regard.
Of course, being that this is a silent-era film there are quirks about it and the way it tells its story that sets it apart from modern film, but if put up against some of its silent contemporaries, it does rely a bit too much on expository titles to tell what is happening rather than showing which the contemporaries to it which I've seen are able to do better. But, again, this isn't necessarily a big-budget endeavor and really only exists to showcase eroticism so, I guess you give some and you take some.
Definitely an interesting piece of history and I think it's a must-see for anyone studying anything in the humanities or arts field.