La revanche d'un homme nommé Cheval

Enjoyable and entertaining sequel to ¨A man called Horse¨ . The English gentleman known as Horse, returns to the American west to save his adopted Indian tribe from extinction . As the Britisher aristocrat abandons his formal ways and returns the Sioux territory , in the Dakotas , and discovers again is own strength . As he passes their torture tests , and he is again embraced by the tribe . And again the ¨Sun Vow¨scene where our ex-aristocrat is suspended by horsehair ropes from bones inserted into holes made in his chest by eagle claws before they will accept him .

This exciting picture packs thrills , chills , marvelous outdoors and more of the torture scenes for which this series is notorious . The picture contains a deep critical on the inevitable contempt that ignorance of different cultures engenders as well as anthropological differences . This is a very gripping and realistic portrayal of American Indian way of life and many critics considered to be better than its precedessor . Interesting screenplay by Jack DeWitt who wrote also the original plot , based on a 1958 segment of the TV series ¨Wagon Train¨ 1957 , bearing the same title , The Man called Horse, it is the same story as this movie, with a few changes, even chief with two sisters, and a slave to Yellow Rope's mother . Furthermore , the story is based on Cabeza de Vaca's real life , a soldier from Spain that in 1528 suffered all that happens in this movie.

Richard Harris is excellent , as always , at one of his mightiest box office hits . He is in terrific form as the Britisher nobleman who returns along with his Indians friends . Gale Sondergaard , replacing Judith Anderson , provides a strong acting . In addition , a fine support cast such as William Lucking , Geoffrey Lewis and Mexican actors as Jorge Luke , Claudio Brook , Enrique Lucero , all of them ordinaries in Indian roles . It displays rousing and powerful musical score by Laurence Rosenthal at his best . Colorful as well as evocative cinematography by Owen Roizman , including impressive landscapes . The motion picture was very good directed by Irvin Kershner . Due to George Lucas found to be a very attractive sequel , he hired Irvin Kershner to shoot another awesome follow-up : "The empire strikes again" .

The original version ¨The man called Horse¨ is the best , starred by Harris , Judith Anderson , Iron Eyes Cody , Dub Taylor , James Gammon and directed by Elliot Silverstein ; it deals with Harris who fall into the clutches of a tribe of Sioux ¨Yellow Hands¨ Indians and they proceed to inflict torture by ritual ; it remains a riveting variation of ¨the man living wild¨ issue . Sequelled by a third part titled ¨The triumphs of a man called Horse¨ (1983) an inferior and inadequate following dealing with Horse's son who have to save his people from prospectors in order to keep his title as Chief ; being realized by John Hough with Michael Beck , Anna De Sade , Simon Andreu , but not much Richard Harris .

The English gentleman known as Horse (Richard Harris), returns to the American west to save his adopted Indian tribe from extinction.

According to Roger Ebert, "The film reveals its basic white-chauvinist bias, but it certainly seems to take itself seriously. It's of average length, but paced like an epic. There are four main movements in the plot: Return, Reconciliation, Revenge and Rebirth. If this seems a little thin for a two-hour movie, believe me, it is, even with all that portentous music trying to make it seem momentous." The film as a whole is not remarkable. Allegedly this is the film that convinced George Lucas to hire the director for "Empire Strikes Back", arguably the best of the "Star Wars" franchise. But this movie, I don't know... aside from the race issues (a white man intervening t save the Indians, and the Indians being played almost entirely by whooping, stereotypical white actors) it is just a bland movie. Even by sequel standards. Richard Harris is great, but he can't save this one.

This is a weak sequel: it lacks the interest and light touch of the magnificent "Man Called Horse" in nearly every aspect and when compared to each other they hardly seem to be the same genre.

The Return is almost a parody of the first and tries to evoke different Indian ceremonies but comes across as trying way too hard to bottle the magic of the first. In this film the tribe is lost and abandoned, having lost their homelands, modern life has encroached on paradise and they are living in abject misery and poverty. Perhaps this is the point: the first film took us to a place where we would want to be, a simpler time. This takes us to broken Indians in a miserable world and the White Man is the hero and savior which rather negates the whole idea of the film.

The beauty of the first lay in the fact that the white man learnt and discovered that real civilization lies in values rather than western materialism. In the second film this is all but lacking and so we end up with a weak film.

A huge disappointment.

I thoroughly enjoyed A Man Called Horse when it was released in 1970, but Return played like a typical sequel. Everything about it -- budget, script, plot, casting, and acting -- was inferior to the original. Gale Sondergaard as Elk Woman, an elder of the Yellow Hand tribe, looks nothing like an Indian, and neither do half of the other "Indians," who were played by Italians, Mexicans, and Latinos with cheap wigs. And the old guy who played the chief acted more like a fat old squaw than a fierce leader of warriors. He even used the bow like a woman! Finally, Richard Harris, who did such a superb job in the original, seems to be coasting this time around. I guess he couldn't resist the easy paycheck he got for reprising his role as Horse.

To be fair, there are some interesting moments in the movie, such as Horse's undergoing a painful purification ritual to "find his vision" and rally the Yellow Hands against their Indian enemies and white oppressors, but on the whole, Return is uneven, boring, corny, and predictable -- just like most sequels.

Well reviewed here to date, I would like to give a different slant in the hopes it may give pause to reflect to one or two of you. I enjoyed the movie, however the experience was upgraded since it was with a gang of friends that piled into my semi-antiquated but proportionately generous 1964 Chrysler Imperial to see the movie previewed at the studio. As one of us was the proud ex- of one the the villains in the cast, we looked forward to a free night on the town. Meeting one of the producers, cast members, and an old favorite of my dear Mother-Gale Sondergaard making perhaps somewhat of a comeback after many years-added spice to the event for us humble non-industry types. Realizing this is a silly and non-conforming review, the point is: "If you're getting out, make a night of it!" Happy Hour before at Yamashiro, after hours at a private party, whatever, try not to give up too soon, even if the flick is less than stellar. Just a thought.

The movie, by the way, was indeed a decent sequel, with reasonable production values throughout.