Why did I not enjoy this film? Was I too old for it? – 1966 ... I was 35 by then and it does seem a bit childishly out of kilter and silly? Somehow the comic bizarrerie matches ill with the neo-realist substructure. Perhaps I need to see it slightly drunk and with a group of cheerful friends – for me, the flying circus seemed to have droopy cardboard wings!
The accompanying film (“a documentary about a documentary”), in the “extras”, is in some ways more interesting ... it reveals the inter-action of Pasolini’s thinking, an idea for a film (a maharajah sacrificing his own body to feed and save some starving tigers} and actual reconnaissance of the setting in India. One can see why in the end the film was not made ... the idea was a bit naive and the scene in India was vast and complex!