In 1968 Louis Malle went to India and made a seven-part documentary series, L'Inde Phantome. This film is a 90-minute compilation of the BBC's original series.
        Nick Fraser-Series Editor:
        When Louis Malle went to India he was tired of Paris and tired of being an over-sophisticated French intellectual.
        L'Inde Phantome was Malle's own favourite film, and this documentary is an edited version of the 10-odd hours that were originally shown on the BBC in 1974. At the time, the film was viewed with horror by the Indian government, which as a consequence banned the BBC from filming in India for several years.
        But what strikes one now is the richness of Malle's appreciation of India. He loved the religious ritual, he loved the girls dancing and he loved the teeming masses around him. But he contrived never to be wholly detached or wholly superior and this is what makes a masterpiece of his Indian voyage.