Rating: PG13
Genre:
Historical Film
Theatrical Release: 09/02/1988(USA)
Release Date: 01/18/2005
SubTitles: English
Sound: DDS2.0
Run Time: 102 Minutes
Flags: Violence, Brief Nudity, Strong Sexual Content, Not For Children
Distributor/Studio: Merchant Ivory
This
historical drama, based on a novel by
John Masters that was in turn inspired by actual events, follows
William Savage (
Pierce Brosnan), a British agent of the East India Company, as he is sent with his new wife to India in the early 19th century. While
Savage holds the unusually progressive view that the people of India are human and deserve to be treated with dignity and respect, he is still a very proper subject of the British empire and behaves accordingly. One night, when he sees a group of seemingly crazed men rob and kill a defenseless woman, he demands to know what has happened. He learns that the killers were members of a bizarre
cult called the Thugees;
Savage is determined to do something about them, and he works his way into the group by disguising himself as one of their number; however, the more
Savage tries to win the trust of the Thugees, the more he must act as one of them, which leads him into a murderous secret life of his own.
The Deceivers was produced by
Ismail Merchant, his first film with a director other than
James Ivory.
~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide