Legong - Dance of the Virgins (anyone seen this?)

Found this DVD listing recently.

Anyone seen this?

Is it worth getting?

I love gamelan music!

"LEGONG - DANCE OF THE VIRGINS' (Image Entertainment, $29.99). Quite a discovery: a full-length anthropological fiction, shot in two-strip Technicolor on location in Bali and directed by a French aristocrat, Henri de la Falaise, who was the trophy husband of two Hollywood stars, Gloria Swanson and Constance Bennett. A seductive blend of serious documentary, lyrical effusion and unbridled prurience (yes, those native girls are topless), the film takes us back to a time when movies looked out at the world, rather than trying to create artificial environments. This lovingly produced disc, from the altruistic spirits at Image Entertainment, contains the year's most impressive supplementary package: two more complete anthropological features, plus a newly commissioned gamelan score for "Legong" that makes for a lovely listening experience even with the imag turned off."

Some local paper--maybe last Sundays LA Times (from when I was in Palm Springs) gave a glowing review of this movie--it had me intrigued.

I thought the Legong dance was special because of the spectacular costumes (which look nothing like the ad), not the lack thereof:
http://glennh.tripod.com/wa_bali_legng.htm

It is an amazing blend of rigid, synchronized, ballet-like movements, with dramatic hand and eye flourishes. The gamelan music is also incredible.

The Legong story derives from the history of East Java in the 1 2th and 1 3th centuries: when on a journey the King of Lasem finds the maiden Rangkesari lost in the forest. He takes her home and locks her in a house of stone. Rangkesari's brother, the Prince of Daha, learns of her captivity and threatens war unless she is set free.

Rangkesari begs her captor to avoid war by giving her liberty, but the king prefers to fight. On his way to battle, he is met by a bird of ill omen that predicts his death. In the fight that ensues he is killed. The dance dramatizes the farewells of the King of Laserm as he departs for the battlefield and his ominous encounter with the bird. It opens with an introductory solo by the condong. She moves with infinite suppleness, dipping to the ground and rising in one unbroken motion, hertorso poised in an arch with elbows and head held high, while fingers dance circles around her wrists. Slowly, her eyes focus on two fans laid before her and, taking them, she turns to meet the arrival of the legongs.

...and, in April, MGM will release "Hawaii", the 1966 epic based on the James Michener book. Stars Julie Andrews, Richard Harris, Gene Hackman, Caroll O'Connor(!), and (fresh from Sweden and Ingmar Bergman's poetic masterpieces) Max Von Sydow.

No word yet of DVD bonus features, but MGM is usually pretty good about making their releases worthwhile.