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Major Dundee
USA 1965
produced by Jerry Bresler for Jerry Bresler Productions/Columbia
directed by Sam Peckinpah
starring Charlton Heston, Richard Harris, Jim Hutton, James Coburn, Michael Anderson jr, Senta Berger, Mario Adorf, Brock Peters, Warren Oates, Ben Johnson, R.G. Armstrong, L.Q. Jones, Slim Pickens, Karl Swenson, Michael Pate, John Davis Chandler, Dub Taylor, Albert Carrier, José Carlos Ruiz, Aurora Clavel, Begoña Palacios, Enrique Lucero, Francisco Reiguera
story by Harry Julian Fink, screenplay by Harry Julian Fink, Oscar Saul, Sam Peckinpah, music by Daniele Amfitheatrof, Christopher Caliendo
review by Mike Haberfelner
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It's 1964, and the final year of the Civil War, when Apache chieftain
Sierra Charriba (Michael Pate) leads his men to a series of attacks on
peaceful settlements, and has everybody killed but the young boys he has
taken captive to be trained to be Apache warriors. Major Dundee (Charlton
Heston) of the Union is frustrated that he hasn't been given any real
command and just heads a prison camp, so he decides to mount an expedition
on his own that's to follow Sierra Charriba's braves into Mexico to free
the boys - and have bloody revenge on Sierra Charriba. Since this isn't an
official expedition though, Dundee has to relie on volunteers, both among
his men and the prisoners, and even has to recruit a bunch of Confederate
soldiers under Captain Tyreen (Richard Harris) - so the expedition is
problem-prone from the beginning, and not only because the Confederate
soldiers and the coloured volunteers just fail to get along. However, the
deeper they get into Mexico, the more difficult it gets to follow Sierra
Charriba's trail, and it's not exactly helpful that not even their scout
Potts (James Coburn) trusts their Incian guide Riago (José Carlow Ruiz).
Eventually, they experience unexpected success when an old Apache
(Francisco Reiguera), who has deserted from Sierra Charriba's army, asks
for safe passage and brings the abducted boys as a peace offering. Mission
accomplished it would appear, but Dundee insists to push on until Sierra
Charriba is killed. But the Apache's remain elusive, and eventually Dundee
and his men have to attack a French garrison for food and supplies - even
though the French are the Union's allies. However, they are celebrated by
the Mexican locals who have been suppressed by the French - and Dundee and
Tyreen soon enough fall for the same woman, Teresa (Senta Berger). However
once Dundee and his men move on, the French take the village again, and
only a few locals can escape, Teresa among them, and Dundee sees himself
forced to offer protection. And still no sign of Sierra Charriba - until a
bunch of Apache braves attack Dundee and Teresa while they have a nice
swim away from camp, and Dundee is seriously wounded. He's brought to a
doctor in Durango, but Durango's under French rule, and once in he has
problems to move back out and eventually starts drowning his sorrows in
alcohol - until eventually he's broken free by his men, led by Tyreen, who
has long sworn to himself to murder Dundee once their mission's
accomplished and simply doesn't want to miss out on the opportunity. Thing
is, while Dundee and company continue their search for the ever elusive
Sierra Charriba, the French send out several battalions to take down
Dundee and his men ... An epic of the Old West, done the Sam
Peckinpah-way, where there are no heroes, not even villains, all
characters are fallible, where things are dirty and tend to get violent -
and the outcome is rather wonderful, as this movie is basically the
character study of the already broken titular character aiming for
grandness but stumbling with great regularity on the way there, while most
of his decisions are questionable at best and often selfish to the point
of being a danger to others. However the character doesn't come across as
merely villainous, just deeply human to a (literal) fault, also thanks to
a relatable performance by Charlton Heston, leading a strong ensemble. And
Peckinpah sure knows how to pack all of this into impressive images,
brought to life not only through his predilection for violence but also
his willingness to get things dirty (quite literally), and a conscious
decision to film in many (actual) ruins from better days only heighten the
movie's atmosphere of decay. Now the 1960s were a decade that sure
wasn't short of masterpieces in the western genre - and this one's one of
them for sure!
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