La bataille de San Sebastian

This is one of those films that nearly loses you, but in the end rewards you for sitting through it. It makes for a very good view, despite its leisurely pace at times.

In summary Anthony Quinn stars as a outlaw that is saved by Father John, whom he escorts to the village of San Sebastian. The village is deserted, with its cowardly residents hiding in the hills from indians, who pillage their crops and burn their buildings. When Father John is murdered, the outlaw is mistaken as the man of god by the villagers, and assists them in regaining their confidence and defending themselves.

Quinn is superb in his role, complimented by Charles Bronson, who plays the bad guy "half breed" Teclo. Sam Jaffe's Father Joseph character is also very likable.

Whilst the movie is quite slow in places, this only helps to plot out the story. Although casting the indians as the "bad guys", it does explain that the massacre of the villagers is no different than what the white man has done to their own race "in the name of god".

The soundtrack is again provided by Ennio Morricone and, whilst not his best work, does help provide the suitable atmosphere, borrowing heavily from some of his other compositions.

Definitely worth a view.

The European Western takes a couple steps back in time with the rascal-mistaken-for-clergy theme, a proved device that worked for Bogie in "The Left Hand of God" & Whoopi in "Sister Act." In colonial Mexico, bandit Leon (Quinn) takes refuge with dedicated Father Joseph (Jaffe) & escapes when the priest is transferred to a forsaken northern village. The villagers, terrified of marauding Yaquis & exploited by a frontier protection racket led by embittered half-Yaqui Teclo (Bronson), mistake Leon for the priest & implore him for miracles. Unable to escape back into colonial settlement & tempted by naive, spirited village girl Kinita (Comer), he teaches the villagers to fight back & believe in themselves rather than praying for miracles. Quinn is colorful as ever but not quite believable making the transition from Leon the selfish, godless rascal to Leon the selfless, principled hero, though he is properly scruffy all the way through. Comer is fetching but Bronson is only bulky & menacing. Two extraordinary talents--Gravet as a stuffy bishop & the legendary Silvia Pinal as Leon's conniving girlfriend--are relegated to minor, superficial roles. The time period is wrong for the film's big gunfights, since firearms were clumsy & rare in the 18th century. But the tongue-in-cheek flavor of the spaghetti Western, with a scruffy rascal confounded, puzzled & frustrated on the way to his selfish goal, holds true all the way through. The Yaquis are represented--up to a point--with the sympathy typical of Westerns of circa 1970. A subplot, Leon's pursuit of a wild white horse, is an effective, slightly surreal device. A contribution by Bunuel, Jr., the 2nd unit director? Oh, my God, this movie has Silvia Pinal & Juan Luis Bunuel! It's the closest thing to a surrealist Western!

Anthony Quin plays Leon Alastray, part time revolutionary and full time bandit, on the run from the Spanish authorities in Old Mexico in the 18th Century. Through a series of unlikely but possible events, Quinn is mistaken for a priest whom has come to the small village of San Sebastian. The villagers are being victims by Jaime Fernandez and his band of Yacquis. Charles Bronson plays (badly, worst performance of his career) a half-breed whose loyalties are always suspect. Anjanette Comely, er Comer, plays the sultry love interest. Rather silly story, good cinematography, fairly good special effects, and outstanding music (by the master, Ennio Morricone) makes this a worthwhile view. Turner Classic Movies shows it in letterbox. Otherwise, you are out of luck. It's not available in video.

The movie begins bad with some bad story-flow and also the rest of the movie suffers from this, though the movie definitely gets better as the movie progresses. In the beginning it isn't too clear were the movie is heading to and the movie makes a pretty formulaic and redundant impression. However from the moment on when the main character arrives in San Sabastian, the story gets developed well and becomes interesting and original. This certainly ain't no formulaic spaghetti western. The movie gets multiple layered, when it concentrates on the divine. It helps the characters to develop well and the story to become interesting. The movie certainly shows some parallels to the movie "The Mission", even though it isn't as beautifully and professionally made.

It doesn't seem like it at first but the movie becomes surprisingly action filled toward the ending, with some quite big scale battles. Also the ending most certainly does not disappoint.

The movie has some good actors that help to flesh out the flat characters. Anthony Quinn is a good main lead and he makes the moral change his character goes through seem believable. Charles Bronson plays a good movie villain, though his character is perhaps a bit underused. Further more the movie features Sam Jaffe, once again in the role of a Christian.

The directing isn't much good, since the story-flow of the movie is quite poor at times, which is also due to some bad editing. Nevertheless the movie is filled with some memorable and great looking sequences, although it's also definitely true that most of those sequences are being uplifted by the musical score by Ennio Morricone.

Definitely worth seeing if you get the chance.

7/10

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The film has a good theme and set in quite genuine historical settings. It brings out the conflict between the indians and the settlers, the poor settlers and the ruling elite. It packs in quite some punch on the action category.