The Wind and the Lion
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Movie Reviews of The Wind and the Lion
Movie Review: Swashbuckling Moroccan adventure
Summary: 5 Stars
This was one of the first movies that demonstrated the true acting gifts of post-Bondian Sean Connery. Would you believe a Scotsman could convincingly portray a Berber chieftain? Neither would I, but Connery does it, and also makes him sympathetic and roguishly charming. He's Sharif Mulai Ahmed Mohammad al-Raisuli, an uncle of the young figurehead sultan of Morocco (which in 1904 was an international protectorate dominated by France, Spain, and Germany), who, after being betrayed and imprisoned for years by his brother (Vladek Sheybal), who is now the Bashaw and the true power behind the throne, escaped, made his way into the mountains, and was accepted into the Riffian Berber tribes. Since then he has become their supreme chief and mounted a "war" against the Europeans, involving mostly kidnappings for ransom. Up to now he's left Americans alone, but one October day he and his warriors descend on the home of Mrs. Eden Pedecaris (Candace Bergen), a widow living a comfortable existence above the city of Tangier, and make off with her and her two children, 13-year-old William (Simon Harrison) and 11-year-old Jennifer (Polly Gottesman), by the way killing a guest and several servants. When word of this outrage reaches the U.S., President Teddy Roosevelt (Brian Keith), facing a fight for re-election in his own right (after having ascended to the office on the assassination of McKinley three years earlier), immediately begins to demand "Pedecaris alive or Raisuli dead!" Against advice of the veteran John Hay (John Huston), he dispatches a shipload of Marines to take over the Moroccan government and negotiate directly with Raisuli. Meanwhile the chief and his captive are slowly coming to know and even respect each other--and carrying on a colossal mutual bluff, as Mrs. Pedecaris tries to convince Raisuli to release them and even once engineers an escape, only to be betrayed by the guard she bribed and rescued by Raisuli in a wonderful one-man duel against a dozen enemy tribesmen. (Her children are more or less adopted by the Riffs: William dreams of being taught to ride and shoot and be a brigand. Watch for the scene in which the two of them flank Raisuli's chair of presence, William wearing a Berber headdress and holding the slender dagger given him by one of the chief's lieutenants and Jennifer dressed in desert robes and holding Raisuli's sheathed sword.) By the time they're released, only to see Raisuli betrayed in turn and taken prisoner by some of the sultan's German military advisors, Mrs. Pedecaris has come to feel so deeply toward him that she recruits her Marine escort to help her get him out.
The story shifts back and forth between Morocco and the U.S., the latter scenes focusing chiefly on Teddy, who comes across as not too unlike Raisuli in many ways. Besides a majestic and thrilling Jerry Goldsmith score The Wind And The Lion (1975 Film), beautiful Arabian horses, desert pageantry, and several wonderful battle scenes, the best part of the movie is watching the culture clash between Raisuli and Mrs. Pedecaris--and watching how well Connery makes the part his own, though it would have been nice to know exactly why the Germans decide to stick their oar in: for all his kidnappings, Raisuli isn't really much of a threat to them. Mixing elements from The King and I (50th Anniversary Edition), The Sheik, and The Desert Song [VHS], plus actual events (there really was a Pedecaris kidnap, but the victim was a Greek businessman), Stockholm Syndrome, and half the romance novels ever written, it stands as one of the most enjoyable of John Milius's films and a great tale of adventure and cultures in conflict. A stylish, solid, sweeping tale well told, and definitely a swashbuckler for today.
Movie Review: I love this film! One of my all time Favorites!
Summary: 5 Stars
This is an incredible film. It's old fashioned adventure epic film making. The kind of film I thrived on seeing, and wanted to see, and wanted to see more of, and, some day, wanted to make. This is what movies are all about.
This is one of the gold standards for all films. Films like this are far and few between these days. Today it's all flash and no substance. Today it's all about pornographic violence with sensationalism and no context. Today it's all about dealing with psychological states, and not about addressing values of right and wrong. Today films like this simply aren't made anymore.
And it's a shame.
But, to the film. We're talking derring-do, dashing heroics, international conflict and maneuvering. This movie is about when men stood up like men for ideals that men cherished, and to get the woman at the end in a deep and profound way.
From my namesake, Raisuli the Magnificent played by the superior Sean Connery, to the brilliant performances by Candice Bergman, Brian Keith, and John Huston and others. Incredible old fashioned studio film making. The story, the acting, the production values on all levels.
There is no hip-hop soundtrack. There is no exaggerated CGI or other phony looking SFX (save one matte painting of the Atlantic Squadron during the beginning of the ever-famed marine sequence).
I wanted to see this film when I was young, but, for whatever reason, I couldn't when it hit the theatres. I wanted to see it badly, but was steered away from it by narrow minded ivory towered left wing jerks who were friends of my parents, thinking that the political message was probably bad for young minds.
This film is about a man's quest and mission to roar in defiance in the face of overwhelming and uncontrollable forces. "The sand stings my eyes...", hence the title.
There's some deep messages here, but they're pretty basic and plain. Not overwrought like other movies. Not overworked. Not overplayed. This is man at his basic best. You fight for what's right, regardless of the odds. You use cunning and guile when appropriate, but in the end you must face the opposition, and fight to your upmost.
The huge number of cavalry scenes, the beautiful and heart felt montages, the detail to scenery, the panoramic views of vast wastelands that are the lands of the Berbers, the piratical desert nomands who rule the desert. Opposing Raisuli's domain are the European Imperial powers, who are in turn opposed by the upstart nation The United States of America.
John Milius, one of the great film makers of all time, has made a magnificent film. There is no cinematic trickery here. This is magnificent studio film making at its finest. Even today when the west is in dire contention with the fundamentalist Islamists, this film shows the scum of Islam who kill woman and children how their leaders of old behaved.
As another reviewer stated here and elsewhere, Raisuli would not have allowed today's barbarous acts of terrorism. He would have slain those people himself before they could initiate their plan.
For all that, it is a warped truth of what really happened with the Pedicaris affair, as many have pointed out. Even so, it is a magnificent film.
Enjoy it for all that it is.
Movie Review: Honor Above War, Love Above Loyalty
Summary: 5 Stars
I sometimes tire of non-fiction (reality) and escape into DVDs, but many of them are either reality or a sembalnce of reality that merits respect. This is such a film.
I would also add a note of caution to those who would demean this film as "corny." NOT right. This film was ahead of its time. In this film, the moderate Islamists (represented by Sean Connery) are upset with foreign presence (Western Europe), and the USA with its bully Theodore and its aggressive Marines, are in the wrong until the Marines are led back on track by the female American protagonist (Candice Bergen) and free the Lion of Islam to fight again.
TAKEAWAY: Americans can be, are, morally wrong (as are all immoral predatory nations), and moderate Islamists are, in their own place that we have invaded, morally correct. Our God is NOT, as LtGen Jerry Boykin, one of my top five greatest generals ever (out of 75 or so I have known, most never more than a Colonel with a facelift) greater than theirs. Our God is CO-Equal to theirs, and the sooner we put Dick Cheney and Henry Kissinger behind bars, the sooner we eliminate our 750 bases overseas, the sooner the world can restore balance. Legitimacy and morality are the two strategic pillars that America has abondoned its in prostitution to Saudi oil and 42 of 44 dictators, and we can never be America the Beautiful, America the Good, unless we right ourselves.
As a patriotic estranges Republican I will say this clearly: America and Israel are the scourges of the world, followed by Saudi Aribia. We have sown the dragon's teeth, and I weep for what we have become: virtual colonialists, unilateralist military confusing might with right, and a cheating culture that ignores the class war led by our predatory immoral Wall Street band of merry thieves laundering drug money and covering up the complicity of Dick Cheney and Rudy Gulliani in the murder of most who died on 9-11 from controlled demolitions (NYC) or a missile (the Pentagon).
Where, or where, is the American Eagle that we need so desperately? See the image I have posted above to understand where we need to go if our children, if all children, are to have a future.
Other DVDs (see also my lists):
Tibet - Cry of the Snow Lion
Why We Fight
Gandhi (Widescreen Two-Disc Special Edition)
The Last Samurai (Full Screen Edition)
Movie Review: 'Between the Wind and the Lion is the woman. For her, half the world may go to war.'
Summary: 5 Stars
For me, The Wind and the Lion is one of the great adventure films of all time (rather than an action movie per se) and certainly has the best script of the 70s, managing to combine adventure, myth, romance, wit and political cynicism while creating memorable characters and driving the story forward. Its influences are clearly noticeable, and all acknowledged by writer-director John Milius: the children's behavior is straight out of A High Wind in Jamaica, the superb beach sequence inspired by another horseback swordfight in The Hidden Fortress (Kurosawa is a big Milius influence elsewhere in the film as well) while the finale throws in a tip of the hat, both musically and visually, to The Wild Bunch. But unlike a Tarantino grab-bag of favorite movie moments, Milius manages to make something unique of his own out of them all in this highly romanticised tale of an American woman (Candice Bergen) and her children kidnapped by an Arab leader (Sean Connery) in Morocco in 1904 that became an international incident that briefly threatened to turn into a war as Teddy Roosevelt (Brian Keith) used it as a rallying cry during his election campaign. But as the Americans and European powers that control the region rattle sabres, hostage and captive form a real friendship they'll risk anything for.
As for Connery's casting... Well, it makes a change to cast a Scot as a north of the border Berber - up until then Hollywood usually cast Welsh actors like Hugh Griffiths as Arabs. Yes, you do laugh when you first hear him speak, but after his line "I am the Raisuli - you will not laugh at me again!", you won't. Accent or not, this is one of his most likeable and charismatic performances, proving himself one of the few actors with enough presence for the epic genre. He's well-matched by Brian Keith's blustering but self-aware Roosevelt, the film building up a growing relationship of mutual respect between the two leaders from different sides of the world who never meet that threatens to make more of an impact than Connery's sparring with Bergen. Connery's The Man Who Would Be King director John Huston offers a good supporting turn as Roosevelt's Secretary of State John Hay, while Jerry Goldsmith's exciting and richly romantic scores is indeed one of the all-time greats. Splendid entertainment in every way.
Warners' DVD is the best presentation of the film to date, offering a fine 2.35:1 widescreen transfer, a vintage making of featurette, theatrical trailer and typically engaging commentary from John Milius.
Movie Review: Epic Fun
Summary: 5 Stars
Director John Milius took an actual event and elevated it to a tale of honor, using the incredible talent of Sean Connery, Brian Keith, and Candice Bergen. Look also for John Huston, Geoffrey Lewis and Steve Kanaly.
Candice Bergen is Eden Pedecaris, visiting a friend in Morocco along with her children William (Simon Harrison) and Jennifer (Polly Gottesmann). Desert chieftain Mulay Achmed Mohammed el-Raisuli the Magnificent, or Raisuli (Connery), takes Eden as a pawn in a political game that includes the Moroccan government, the government of Teddy Roosevelt (Keith), Germans, and other assorted world powers.
The battle is immediately between various foreign powers in Morocco and the Raisuli, but the real focal point in this movie is the interplay between the Raisuli and Roosevelt, and how each, in their own way, is somewhat similar. There are moments of poignancy in this movie as we realize that in some ways both characters also represent a way of life that will soon be gone from the world. Teddy Roosevelt sees the Wild West disappearing, and perhaps some aspect of what it means to be an American. The Raisuli sees his nomadic way of life changing, or perhaps disappearing, as Europeans influence the culture of his country and his people.
The surprising catalyst for the events that unfold in this movie is Eden Pedecaris, who comes to admire the Raisuli, and ultimately tries to rescue him because she sees the honorable person that he is. There is also a chaste, intellectual romance between Eden and the Raisuli.
Sean Connery has a knack for choosing roles in movies that are thought-provoking and challenging. While there are aspects of this movie that may bother some viewers in the post-9/11 era, the movie is also a commentary on the changes that Western society has wrought in the world, changes that are still rippling throughout the world. Brian Keith is perfect as Teddy Roosevelt, and I am surprised that his appearance in this movie is the only time that Keith took on this role.
We are fortunate that this movie has come to DVD at last. If you enjoyed "Lawrence of Arabia," "The Man Who Would Be King," and the Indiana Jones movies, or if you are a fan of Brian Keith, Candice Bergen or Sean Connery, this movie, nominated for five awards in various venues, is required for your collection.