India, 1825: the country is being ravaged by the Thugees, cult members also known as “The Deceivers,” who commit robbery and ritualistic murder. Appalled by their activities, English Captain William Savage undertakes a hazardous task: in disguise he will infiltrate their ranks. He is at constant risk of betrayal and vengeance and undergoes a disturbing psychological transformation as he experiences the cult’s bloodlust firsthand. The Deceivers is a gripping adventure—reportedly based on a true story—that charts one man’s daring exploits.
Starring Pierce Brosnan, Saeed Jaffrey and Shashi Kapoor.
Note: The critics did not like this film, and it turns dark, but I am listing it here because Roger Ebert says he enjoyed it at times, calling it “part swashbuckling romance, part historical travelogue,” and because “the film’s portrait of Victorian India is a triumph (the production was designed by the British master of period atmosphere, Tony Adams).” (The scene technically should be Georgian, as the year is 1825 but the Victorian era is just a little over a decade away.)
The opening scenes of “The Deceivers” portray an India much loved by the Victorians, who thought they could export their civilization – styles, fashions, behavior and all – to every corner of the world and establish it there by sheer force of will. An officer named William Savage takes his new bride to live in an Indian station where he will represent the rule of the queen and where they dress in clothing hilariously inappropriate for a warm country and behave toward each other as if they were on the lawn of a British country house. Life is gentle and cultivated at their outpost, but one night Savage (Pierce Brosnan) goes walking in the bush and happens onto a scene of inconceivable savagery: A band of men are burying the victims they have killed and robbed. – Roger Ebert