The Royal Hunt of the Sun

The first time I saw this flick, I was disappointed; disappointed because I'd expected an adventure tale of King Soloman proportions, an Aladdin's cave full of gold, and bloody Inca battles in a Peruvian jungle setting. In hindsight, I should've read the reviews, because my frame of mind would've been in the right place to enjoy this intense character study. Suffice to say on second viewing, I was able to appreciate the quality of the stage-born dialogue, and the precision with which its delivered by both Shaw and Plummer in their unique portrayals of demi-gods by any other name.

Narratively, it's a detailed snapshot of Pizarro's ill-fated conquest of the Incas, not for the glory of gold, but for the almost sanctimonious obsession with divinity and unparalleled colonialism. In essence, he signed his ticket before he departed Spain, promising the world he could never deliver, pursuing a pathological indulgence to satisfy his superior ego. There's an element of pity in Shaw's depiction of Pizarro, that of a mercenary without a war, unable to adjust to a civilian life. Shaw is magnificent as the deeply righteous conquistador whose eloquence in arguing secular sovereignty, fails to dominate the simple native lexicon of King Atahualpa (Plummer), communicating in a basically nonsensical series of clicks and chirps. If Atahualpa can prove he is a God, Pizarro will recognise his sovereignty, but if not, both his life and his land of rich antiquities will belong to the kingdom of Spain.

With Michael Craig, Leonard Whiting and Nigel Davenport in the wings, it's an ensemble British cast of true quality, and the performances are first rate. Set design, costumes, score and script deliver, and while momentum is at times a distinct challenge, if you're not fully engaged in the dialogue, the result is likely to be languid in pace and voluble in speak. My initial viewing was such; fortunately, I watched it a second time.

This is a sort of strange epic spectacular film of a time when the genre was not in high demand. The story deals with the conquest of the Inca empire (now Perù) by the Spaniards leaded by Franncisco Pizarro back in the sixteenth century. This is not a movie for everyone to see it and appreciate it -it could seem a bit slow at times- but it stands as a fine and very decent product for those of us who are interested in historical events om Latin America.

"The Royal Hunt of the Sun" can be considered as the delayed complement to Henry King's "Captain from Castile" (1947) referred to the similar conquest of today's Mexico by Hernán Cortés (played accurately by Cèsar Romero). The more than 20 years elapsed between both films shows clearly the different cinematographic techniques of one time and the other; but both products have many similarities in their conception such as the crash between two completely different civilizations each one with their own religious, social and political standards and also the search of gold and riches by both "conquistadores" and their total lack of scruples for the achievement of their target (clearly leaving aside the pretended conversion to Catholicism of the natives that was the excuse of their kings to support the expeditions in a time when the church ruled in Spain).

If not totally accurate with real facts, the Pizarro saga and his confrontation with the god-king Atahualpa in "Royal Hunt" is acceptable scripted and suits enough history and mainly legend.

The atmosphere that not very prolific director Irving Lerner obtains in his film is excellent transiting a sort of a mystical sensation at times and when required; the final sequence when the Incas are waiting for Atahualpa's Sun-father to raise and bring him back to life is outstanding. The location places, settings and a weird music are very good too.

Robert Shaw plays a convincing Pizarro -daring, ambitious and greedy- who after a while shows some kind of respect and even admiration towards a man he can't quite understand. It is true that Cristopher Plummer's performance as Atahualpa is most eccentric as some reviewers state here, but who knows how a God -he and his people were convinced he was one- would behave? I think that Plummer did a very good job with his role here and his truly original acting is one of the highlights of the film.

For those who enjoy historical films with an epic frame this is one to see.

Good and dramatic film about a great Spanish conqueror , Francisco Pizarro , who led a risked adventure to conquer the Incan Empire . He captured Incan Emperor Athahualpa and claimed the Peru lands for king Charles I of Spain. Here retracing Pizarro' career , his steps through Spain and Portugal , besides , it explores the particular relationship between captor Pizarro and captive Atahualpa.

Based on a play by Peter Shaffer , it has a dramatic style with a lot of interior scenarios , but also displays some battle scenes and sword-play . Main cast gives nice acting such as Robert Shaw as the brave Pizarro and Christopher Plummer provides overacting as a strange Atahualpa who puts faces, grimaces and says rare words and sounds ; Plummer played Pizarro in 1965 Off-Broadway . Support cast is frankly good such as Andrew Keir, Michael Craig , James Donald , Percy Herbert , Leonard Whiting as Martin and special mention for Nigel Davenport as Hernando de Soto . The motion picture finely written by Philip Yordan was well directed by Irving Lerner who made some acceptable films as Cry battle, Murder by contract , City of fear , Edge of fury . This was Lerner's fourth collaboration with writer/producer Philip Yordan in less than 10 years. Others three were Studs Lonigan , Captain Apache and A town called Bastard.

The picture is based on historical events : Pizarro commands an expedition into the heart of the Inca Empire governed by Emperor Atahualpa , as he proceeded with his conquest accompanied by 200 men on 24 Sept 1532 . Following the defeat of his brother Huascar , Atahualpa arrived in Cajamarca on 15 november , there Pizarro had a force of just 110 foot soldiers 67 cavalry 3 arquebuses and 2 falconets . He sent Hernando Pizarro and De Soto to meet him in his camp . Athaulpa agreed to meet in his plaza fortress the next day . Fray Vicente Valverde and a native interpreter approached to him and Atahualpa said : "I will be no man's tributary" . There is a battle and the Spanish were successful . Francisco captures the Incan emperor , the god chief Atahualpa and promises to free him upon the delivery of a hoard of gold . Later on , Pizarro executed his 12-man honor guard and taking the Inca captive at the so-called Ransom Room . Despite fullfilling his promise of filling one room with gold and two with silver , Atahualpa was convicted of 12 charges including killing his brother and plotting against Pizarro and his troops . He was executed by garrote on 29 August 1533. Francisco and De Soto were opposed to execution but Pizarro consented to the trial due to the great agitation among soldiers particularly by Almagro . After that , Pizarro advanced with his army of 500 Spaniards toward Cuzco that was conquered.Pizarro founded Lima in 1535 which he considered to be one of the most important things he had created in his life . A dispute ocurred between Pizarro and Almagro respecting the limits of Cuzco jurisdiction . This led to confrontations and Almagro was eventually defeated during the battle of Salinas . In Lima 1541 a group of 20 heavily armed of Diego Almagro the younger stormed Pizarro's palace assassinating him, he painted a cross in his own blood and cried for Jesus Christ . Diego Almagro Jr was caught and executed the following year after losing the battle of Chupas .

Royal Hunt of the Sun has been called a cult classic. Maybe so, but for me it was an incredible movie with top notch actors. The film takes a different approach to Pizarro in Peru than one would expect. The mental conflict makes for a fascinating story line as well as a riveting performance by Robert Shaw and a jaw-dropping characterization of a Sun god by Christopher Plummer. It is truly a unique movie.

I saw "Royal Hunt of the Sun" soon after it came out, probably early 1970, in a theater in Cuzco, Peru. The audience was full of speakers of Quechua, and when Christopher Plummer said his first lines in, supposedly, Quechua -- twisting his face, going up and down rapidly from normal voice to falsetto, making little hawking and guttural noises in his throat in a weird impression of the glottal stops of the language -- people started chuckling, and then started actually falling out of their seats in rolling waves of laughter. Atahualpa, king of the American equivalent of the Roman Empire, inheritor of 2000 years of sophisticated cultural history, looked and sounded like a chimpanzee trying to speak German. Lack of respect? Failure to take the trouble to find a proper tutor for the few lines Plummer had to speak of Quechua? Who knows. But it was hard for the audience -- or me -- to take the movie seriously after that scene. I saw the movie again 10 or 15 years later, and couldn't help laughing all over again... and explaining to my family why it was so hilarious.