Hadschi Murad - Unter der Knute des Zaren

It is a fact, no country puts a better "Sandal & Peplums" movies ever than the Italian producers, since the fifties until the sixties also in "Epics" too, this one belongs those "sword and sandal" genre whereby Steve Reeves fitted very well in all them due his well-shaped muscled body, weather like it or not overcame the talentless Reeves.

A tale was based and adapted from Lev Tolstoy's novel White Warrior, the picture tells an allegedly accurate story about the Chechen Agi Murad referred to as Diavolo Bianco by the Russians in the 19th century where the Czar Nicholas I (Zivanovic) ruled with heavy hands over the adjoining small and weak countries, due many rebellions drained deeply the Russian's financial to the extent the Czar asking for the Princess Maria arguing to Agi Murad a peace treaty.

Indeed Agi Murad was esteemed for his enemies to be utterly lenient at war time, he usually spared lives of his vanquished foes, meanwhile Agi Murad getting stronger as Chechnyan leader he raises some jealous from Ahemed Khan(Renato Baldini) who intents to stealing Agi Murad's bride the gorgeous Sultanet Aslan Bey (Giorgia Moll), due Agi be opposite to killing hostages of the battle he left their fellow-countrymen, sadly Agi Murad is catch during his marriage by the wicked Prince Sergei (Gérard Herter) and coerced to sign a shady peace treaty with the Czar.

Average Italian production shot external scenes at ancient Yugoslavia, flamboyant landscapes, few actions sequences, when it had is too much overdone, dull dancing scenes, bad dubbed, another vehicle to Steve Reeves, anyhow not that bad it needs a utmost restoration due the DVD available may was from VHS's transfer.

Thanks for reading.

Resume:

First watch: 2010 / Source: DVD / How many: 2 / Rating: 5.5.

Agi Murad (Steve Reeves), a Chechen chieftain, leads his people in the fight against the Russian Empire. The czar Nicholas I, tired of the endless fight that is costing him money and armies, gives a letter to Princess Maria (Scilla Gabel) to be handed to her husband Prince Sergei (Gerard Herter), containing instructions to negotiate a peace treaty with the rebels. She leaves St. Petersbourg on a coach destined for the fortress in which the Prince Sergei, her husband, leads the fight against the rebels.

Agi Murad is loved by the daughter of Haslem Bey (one of the chieftains engaged in the rebellion) - Sultanet (Giorgia Moll) is her name, and Agi Murad naturally loves her too. But Sultanet has another suitor, the cruel and mischievous Ahmed Khan (Renato Baldini), also engaged in the league against the Russians.

Here we have the basic outline of the plot. This film, like many Italian epics (much more a horse & lance than a sword and sandal film) is very colorful, with a good cinematography, dancing numbers and battle scenes. The actresses Giorgia Moll and Scilla Gabel are gorgeous - Sultanet loves Agi Murad, and Princess Maria will love him too. Both actresses provide charm and sensuality to the film.

Already in the beginning of the film, when the all-powerful Czar Nicholas I is talking to Princess Maria about her mission, it's all too clear that he's under her spell and Princess Maria charmingly takes advantage of his infatuation for her own means (after this scene I was hooked). And the lovely Sultanet commands the heart of two men - something that will have its consequences in the story.

There's good chemistry between Giorgia Moll and Steve Reeves. Both of them would work together again in the enchanting "The Thief of Bagdad".

This film is entertainment guaranteed. The production values are not as high as those of the American epic films, but this film is more creative and more fun. Don't expect much of the story, it's has been told many times before. See the film for its colors and spontaneity. "The White Warrior" is not so deadly serious like its American counterparts - the hero may fight for freedom and justice, and the villains can do very bad things, but there's always time for delight.

Not the greatest film, but not as "tiresome" as Leonard Maltin claims in his review. (Leonard has seen so many films, he apparently gets tired easily -- See IMDB's sidebar link.) The wonderful thing about this film is its decision to cover a subject area that is largely unknown to Western audiences. Indeed, we Westerners didn't have any idea about this area of the world until the fall of the Soviet Union, where a lot of these mysterious countries emerged with an "an" at the end: Turkmenistan, Azerbaijan and the like... largely Turkic regions and nations. Of course, Turks are almost always treated as villains in Western films (Another group that's usually villainous in cinema are the Arabs; however in a rare film where the Arabs were the heroes, "Lawrence of Arabia," the Turks were still the villains).

Now the Turks are not the heroes in this film, per se (not the Turks of today's Turkey, or the then-Ottoman Empire) but various Turkic tribes in the Caucasus (in the film, they're referred to as "tribesmen," "Caucasian," once as "Muslims," or -- derogatorily by the Russians --as "Savages." Probably using the word "Turk" would have been risky, as the Western audience might then lose its sympathy for the film's heroes). In the declining years of the Ottoman Empire, mighty Czarist Russia instigated many wars against the Ottomans, taking good advantage of their weakened state.

The thing I found interesting is that Czarist Russia is often depicted in American and other Western films as noble and heroic... I guess it's the Christian connection. In this film, based on a novel by Tolstoy, the Russians are hinted at as the bloodthirsty oppressors they were. I'm influenced by a rare book, "The Ethnic Cleansing of Ottoman Muslims" by Prof. Justin McCarthy, which showed the unbelievable magnitude of the evil and inhumanity displayed by the Russians, and others, including Bulgars and Armenians. Turkish or Muslim lives are not as important, and this part of history is very unknown to us Westerners. I doubt this subject matter would be chosen in an American film, and if it wasn't for Tolstoy's book, probably the Italians would have been unaware of the subject matter themselves, when they tried to choose an adventurous vehicle for Steve Reeves.

At the beginning of the film when Hadji Murad attacks Russian troops down a lonely road, Robin Hood-style, he meets with the "Maid Marian," Russian princess Maria. When she makes a statement regarding the superiority of Russian soldiers, Murad replies that his tribe kills only soldiers, whereas the Russians slaughter women and children. I'm reminded of the fighters in Chechnya following the same procedure (generally)... they wouldn't target innocent Russian civilians (other than terrorist attacks) during the first phase of their recent struggle, a few years ago. During the second phase, when the Russians invaded again, the Russians murder, rob and rape as indiscriminately as they have done in centuries past. Now that the Chechnyans (is it Chechens?) are no longer winning, there has been a general news black-out in the American media... but their struggle is still a continuation of freeing themselves from Russian domination in the Caucasus that "The White Warrior" is about.

I thought Steve Reeves had a surprising charisma... obviously, he was hired for these kinds of films for his spectacular build and not for his great acting ability, but he came across as a likable and believable hero in this one.

It is such an annoyance to watch mutilated foreign films, specially Italian productions as in this case, which was obviously a well- mounted co-production, benefiting from the participation of the Yugoslavian film industry which provided beautiful art direction and bright choreography, as well as fine performers, combined with Italian professionals: cinematographer Mario Bava (a year before making his first feature, "La maschera del demonio"), composer Roberto Nicolosi and director Riccardo Freda, all working in beautiful scenery and sets. The version I just saw is English-dubbed and 10 minutes shorter than the original (even with the restoration of some footage that had originally been censored in Spain, where my copy was issued): it is a strange mixture of average-looking sections with others that seemed to come from a blown-up VHS copy. "Agi Murad" though is an attractive wide-screen adventure film with a touch of history, in spite of being not very well acted by Steve Reeves, who this time seems a little beyond his scope for the title role in the dramatic scenes, but he compensates his shortcoming in the action scenes and has Gérard Herter to counteract as he chews the scenery playing the Russian villain, and sexy Scilla Gabel as his scheming wife, who has fallen for the "White Devil", as Murad is called. By the state the home-video business is in these days, it is a pity that we will probably never be able to watch these films in their original form.

Italian adventure with intrepid rebels and exotic scenarios . An enjoyable adventure movie with historical backstage , action , thrills , love , battles and spectacular scenarios . The story of Hadji Murad (Steve Reeves), a 19th-century Chechen chieftain who led his warriors in a fight against the invading forces of the Russian Czar , Nicholas I (Zivanovic) . Along the way Murat takes on a traitor named Ahmed Khan (Renato Baldini) , Prince Sergei Vorontzov (Gérard Herter) and falls in love for Sultanet, Aslan Bey's Daughter (Giorgia Moll) and Princess Maria Vorontsova (Scilla Gabel) .

The film is a passable adventure movie, lavishly produced , a lot of extras and usual dancing scenes in charge of gorgeous dancers . This classic story of romantic adventure come to life enriched by Technicolor cinematography in charge of Maria Bava , the notorious cameraman and filmmaker , and adapted regularly to the screen . However , being necessary a right remastering for the washed-out copy . The movie suffered several cuts by Italian censorship and was based on a book by Leo Tolstoy, who in turn based the book on his experiences in the Russian army in Chechnya when his unit was sent to help subdue Chechen guerrillas . Overwhelming battles and duels and full of villainy , romance , and heroism . Evocative as well as atmospheric musical score by Roberto Nicolisi . Steve Reeves is cool as the hero who encounters dangerous situations while trying retrieve his lover . Reeves acted as a corpulent hero in several movies, starring historic and legendary characters, such as ¨Romulus¨ in Romulus and Remo ; ¨Phillipides¨ in Giant of Marathon; ¨Eneas¨ in The war of the Trojan and The horse of Trojan ; ¨Glaucus¨ in The last days of Pompei and ¨Hercules¨ in the Queen of Lydia. He starred several adventure films such as ¨Thief of Baghdad , Morgan the Pirate¨, ¨The avenger¨, ¨Pirates of seven seas¨ , among others . In the picture appears usual secondaries and familiar faces from Peplum and Spaghetti Western such as Gerard Herter , Renato Baldini , Goffredo Unger , among others.

The motion picture was middlingly directed by Riccardo Freda who used a number of aliases during his career, including Robert Hampton or George Lincoln and as screenwriter Riccardo Freda . Riccardo is a classic director who realized all kind of genres . Freda along with Vittorio Cottafavi continued to realize films in the historical-spectacular style , at which he developed a considerable skill and mastery . From the mid-50s Freda's liking make for atmospheric and colorful scenes of shock began to itself apparent , especially in such musclemen epics as ¨Teodora¨ , ¨Spartacus¨ , ¨Giants of Thessaly¨ , ¨The seventh sword¨ , ¨Samson of the 7 miracles of the world¨ , ¨Sins of Rome¨¨Maciste all's inferno ¨, the latter a gripping/horror Peplum and of course ¨Maciste in the court of the Great Khan¨, one of his best films . In the early 60s , he was a pioneer in Italy of horror-fantasy films frightening audiences the world over , especially with ¨I Vampiri¨ and ¨L'Orrible Segreto del Dottor Hitchcock¨ as he combined with that wide-staring of actress , the British-born Barbara Steele . He also made adventures as ¨Black Eagle¨ , ¨The son of Black Eagle¨ , ¨White devil¨ , ¨Son of D'Artagnan¨ , ¨The Mongols¨ and uncredited ¨Daughter of D'Artagnan¨ . From there he went to melodrama and spy films as ¨¨Mexican Slayride¨and ¨Coplan FX18¨ and even made some western as ¨No killing without dollars¨ with Mark Damon and signed under pseudonym as George Lincoln . Strong on visual style, Freda's movies had popular appeal , and were usually commercial hits . Several were French/Spanish/Italian or other European co-productions . He has been called a filmmaker "who brings some style to exploitation pictures", and has something of a cult following .