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Figures in a Landscape is the most peculiar film I've ever seen. I've seen a lot of peculiar films (The Keep, The Island, A Zed and Two Noughts, Eye of the Devil, etc.) but this one beats them all in terms of its curious nature.

It has almost no plot. What little plot there is details the efforts of two escaped convicts to evade a menacing black helicopter as they flee through the rugged landscape of some un-named South American country. Did they really commit a crime at all? Why does the chopper pilot want to catch them? Who are they? All these questions, so obvious and central to all the other films of this type, are left unasked and unanswered. This is purely a chase for the sake of a chase movie. Everything is left unexplained, and the immediate action is the only thing that is concentrated upon.

Given the existentialist angle that the film adopts, it is little surprise that it is unpopular.Many people feel cheated by the lack of explanation. I have a soft spot for the film, because it lets me decide for myself what is going on and what has gone before. I feel that Robert Shaw's performance is commanding, and the aerial photography is outstanding. However, I'm not saying that this is some kind of overlooked classic; nor even that it is an excellent film. It's just a wrongly panned film that has enough interesting features within its running time to make it commendable to anyone who has yet to see it.

Inspired by the minimalist theater-driven film-making of the period, Figures in a Landscape is much more interesting than its competition (Tomorrow, Losey's own "The Servant). Why? Because of the helicopter, of course!

Robert Shaw, always inspired, is here particularly so, all but frothing at the mouth as he drags his weary carcass over the mountains, from nowhere, to nowhere, until the endless desert itself seems more and more like a stage for their mad performance.

An inversion of the often static fare of the period that still displays serious acting chops. Recommended.

Here is another film that has just dropped mysteriously out of sight. Why some movies never make reappearances in these days of DVDs and the internet is just as strange as the whole story that takes place here.

Two guys are on the run in some South American-looking country, their hands tied behind their backs. They are chased and sometimes menaced by a black helicopter, like something out of a conspiracy nut's nightmare. A hopeless situation? Maybe, but the character played by Shaw is so tough, the score is evened up a bit.

As the film progresses, the action grows and so do the questions. Who are they? What country are they in? Why are they there? How can they ever get out? Shaw's character becomes more interesting as the story unfolds, and more enigmatic. Is he insane? A mercenary? An escaped killer? There is always a suspicion you might not find out, but you keep watching anyway.

I read the novel this is based on, it's a great story and written in my favorite style, but the ending is different. I'm waiting to see the film again, looking for a DVD soon.

"Figures in a Landscape" is definitely one of the weirdest and most unclassifiable movies I've encountered lately, and at the same time it's pretty difficult to explain why that is. Some movies are weird because they increasingly overpower the viewer with substantial twists and/or stylistic gimmicks, but still they constantly uphold the impression there's some kind of deeper meaning or hidden structure behind it. The films of David Lynch are like that, for example. Other movies, and "Figures in a Landscape" is definitely one of them, are weird because they never at one point feature abrupt story twists and never even seem to want to achieve a deeper meaning. Kind of like the 'what you see is what you get principle' and don't even bother asking background information. Based on Barry England's novel - that probably only very few people have read - "Figures in a Landscape" revolves on two escaped convicts nervously running across a desolate area. Pretty much like the title implies, they are, in fact, simply figures in a landscape. We're never explained where exactly the events take place (South America? East Asia?) or what crimes the two committed in the first place. They must have been quite serious, however, as MacConnachie and Ansell quickly find themselves besieged by a menacing black helicopter and later also by army patrols on foot. The helicopter plays a devastating mental and physical game with them, as it appears to be omnipresent and in absolutely no hurry to pick them up. This is the type of film where there are no characters to root for. You won't develop any sympathy for the fugitives as they commit some truly vile acts along their way and you can't really support the guys inside the helicopter, neither, as their faces aren't even properly shown. "Figures in a Landscape" is a brooding, moody and mildly unsettling film that doesn't always makes sense and doesn't bother to involve the viewer. But, if you manage to put all the unanswered questions aside from you, this also might turn out one extremely enchanting viewing experience. Every shot, every inch of the landscape seems precisely measured and re-considered at least a dozen times before featuring in the film. The choreography is simply wonderful and the filming locations – apparently Spanish – are almost continuously breathtaking. The performances of Robert Shaw and Malcolm McDowell couldn't be more apt and Joseph Losey's direction is very surefooted. After seeing only this and the even more unique "These are the Doomed", I'm more than anxious to check out Losey's further repertoire.

This movie takes what was a difficult novel to start with (by Barry England) and turns it into a rather odd tale of two men on the run. Robert Shaw wrote the screenplay and stars in this, and as usual is excellent as the tough and slightly unhinged Mac, with Malcolm McDowell in slightly overshadowed support as Ansell. You never really find out why they are running or who from (their pursuers are constantly referred to just as 'them'); but at times the action turns bloody and violent, at other times it is more reflective and quiet.

Joseph Losey's direction gives us the sense of two people lost in an expanse of nothing, which makes the scenes with the helicopter chasing them across country even more powerful. It is just hard to care about these two, without any back story to speak of or any sense of just what or who they are. An ok film and worth watching, but slightly frustrating.

While it's existential nature renders the plot largely aimless, the scenery and cinematography that brings that to life is breath-taking, not to mention the agility with which the helicopter - in pursuit of two escaped prisoners Shaw & McDowell - pursues its hapless quarry throughout the rugged Spanish terrain.

Beautifully shot abstract film has Shaw as the bold, vicious and erratic elder prisoner who goads his younger, more refined companion McDowell in the necessary techniques for survival - including murder. It's a two-man show here, and although a supporting cast featuring Christopher Malcolm, Henry Woolf and Pamela Brown is credited, they essentially have none of the dialogue and appear only briefly.

While I found the film picturesque, the landscape vivid and diverse, and the aerial stunt-work impressive, the characterisations were not as well drawn, their theatrical-like dialogue, peppered with soulful monologues reflecting on their civilised life before this ordeal, didn't quite (in my experience) paper over the thin plot and largely organic narrative. I guess that's the point though - less is more - and for a film that offers so much texture in visual displays, and aerial acrobatics of its menacing helicopter protagonist, perhaps the minimalist approach is all that's really needed.

FIGURES IN A LANDSCAPE is interesting for a lot of reasons: it was directed by Joseph Losey,it stars a very young Malcolm McDowell and it boasts a script by co-star Robert Shaw.

The set-up is very existential: 2 men are pursued by a mysterious black helicopter over a rough, desert terrain. We never learn the reasons for any of this or even where it is taking place.The atmosphere of dread is kept at a high level thru-out.

Everything about the film is as stripped to the basics as the title suggests. The men are never given much more than the briefest of backgrounds. But it is precisely this quality of mystery that gives the film its main points of interest. I would certainly like to be able to see it on a larger screen. The helicopter photography is very impressive and the shots of the two figures traversing the inhospitable terrain are striking.

Robert Shaw gives a ferocious performance. Malcolm McDowell's part requires him to be more subdued but he is capable and provides the film's main sympathetic character.

Based on the novel of the same name by Barry England, and directed by Joseph Losey, Figures in a Landscape stars Robert Shaw and Malcolm McDowell as two convicts on the run.

The film takes place in an unnamed Latin American country where the two men fin themselves constantly followed by a menacing black helicopter that attempts to gun them down. As they try to evade the helicopter, they stop for rest and nourishment, meeting people along the way that share the same contemptuous nature towards the mysterious powers that be. During these moments, they share information about their lives with one another becoming more human. We never know what crimes they have committed or why the helicopter is after them, but their fate is eventually clearly revealed.

Figures in a Landscape is an interesting film and is a very rare film to come across.

If you are interested in purchasing a copy on VHS, I may be able to help. Please send an e-mail to: RobertShawFansite@hotmail.com Colour/110 minutes/1970

Joseph Losey directed this handsome but rather ponderous adaptation of Barry England's book about two British soldiers escaping imprisonment in a Latin America country, doggedly pursued by a helicopter armed with a sniper. Screenwriter and co-star Robert Shaw reportedly completed the final draft of the script while the film was in mid-production (he receives sole on-screen credit). Shaw omits the military backgrounds of the characters, instead making the exhausted, griping men an anonymous duo, which has led some to believe this an existential adventure. It certainly has more aerial and explosive action than any other Losey film (the helicopter stunts are often hair-raising), but the men (Shaw and a young Malcolm McDowell) are angry blanks--and this seems entirely deliberate. The dazzling on-location work in Spain of the three cinematographers, Henri Alekan, Peter Suschitzky and Guy Tabary, is worth-seeing, and the picture's puzzling, downbeat finale is intriguing, but this trek from the jungles to the mountains is mostly an unrewarding journey. ** from ****

I spent quite a few pennies to get my hands on this film as it was consigned to oblivion after its brief cinematic release some 35 years ago, and it was money well spent. They certainly don't make them like this anymore. From the off you're thrown into this situation with Shaw and McDowell as two convicts on the run and being pursued by a menacing black helicopter through hostile, mountainous terrain. The aerial cinematography is breathtaking at times, more real than anything you see on the silver screen today, and quite frightening too. The chase becomes personal, with one character hell-bent on destroying the enemy and the other just wanting to escape. It's compellingly brilliant - beautifully shot, in most parts, and well acted. There are some lengthy sequences which the majority of todays directors, and actors, would struggle to pull off without CGI. It does have flaws, most films do, but there are enough positives here and it's a shame it ended up as another of those 'lost' films. Okay we don't find out where they are, although it was shot in Spain, or what crimes they have committed, so what? It's a bloody good film, though I can't help but think, what a film it could have been.

Robert Shaw and Malcolm McDowell star as MacConnachie and Ansell, too men making an escape across various rural backdrops with their hands tied behind their backs. They may have been imprisoned for crimes of some sort, and now authorities relentlessly pursue them through the countryside. Their most persistent nemesis is a helicopter manned by two people.

Exactly where this is taking place, we never do find out. We don't learn very much about our protagonists, so they both remain something of an enigma. The plot is often stripped to the bare essentials; this is a very existential, interesting action-chase-thriller with a straightforward set-up. Scripted by Shaw himself, from the novel by Barry England, it does give some decent acting showcases to the two stars, and it also puts them through their paces almost non-stop. One can imagine that this must have been quite a gruelling shoot physically.

Shaw and McDowell are very good, under the direction of famous blacklisted filmmaker Joseph Losey ("The Damned", "Accident"). But the real "stars" of the picture have to be the cinematographers (three of them are credited) and camera operators, who impressively capture some truly breathtaking scenery - deserts, forest, snowy mountaintops, etc. To that end, it's appropriate that "Figures in a Landscape" was shot in 2.35:1. It IS a very nice-looking picture.

Exciting and harrowing at times, this is the kind of story that intrigues its viewers by largely leaving exposition out of the picture, and firing their imaginations.

Seven out of 10.

"Figures in a Landscape" was a major studio production, but it only got a limited and brief theatrical release stateside, and was pretty much forgotten until it was quietly released on DVD a couple of years ago. It doesn't take long to figure out why the people who held the rights to the movie had such little confidence in the movie finding an audience. I have no idea what the novel that inspired this movie is like, but in this movie, there is very little to make the 110 minute slog particularly compelling. It seems to have been designed to be relatable to any viewer from any country - the country the events of the movie take place in is anonymous, and we learn little about the backgrounds of the two protagonists. But with so little detail, there's little that makes us care about what's going on. As a result, the movie becomes quite boring and just seems to be spinning its wheels again and again. Not everything about the movie is below par, I admit. The photography is good, there are some very scenic locations, and the helicopter stunt work is exciting. But in the end, the movie can be compared to a prettily wrapped-up box that has nothing inside it when you open it.

I saw this movie for the first and last time on Dutch television in the late 70's / early 80's. I was 9 or 10 years old at that time. I remember it gave me the creeps. Especially the helicopter... that could show up at any time. This film has been in my head for a long time (not remembering the title) Since I know the title (recently) i can't wait to see the movie again but unfortunately this films isn''t available on tape or DVD. I wonder what happened to it and i would like to ask anyone involved in making this film to blow the dust from the original print and release it very soon. Then I can judge the film again and maybe come to the conclusion that it is a terrible movie after all ;-)

Rob (The Netherlands)

"Figures in a Landscape" (1970) took a very unique approach in that it leaves so much mystery to the viewer. It doesn't tell us anything about the main characters, who they, where they are, and why they're doing what they're doing.

What are they doing? Well, they are trying to escape a country where they are being hunted down, specifically by an ominous black helicopter. My best guess is that they are PoWs or fugitives. But the thing is, this mysterious approach brings the film down a little, considering there's less plot to go off of.

Moving on from that, the 2 main characters played by Shaw and McDowall have a little bit of character development but not much. Their performances aren't their best but are good. The action scenes in the movie are a bit fun, even if they are very loud. The soundtrack is the 2nd best aspect of the film, and it's both haunting and thrilling. The best thing about the movie has to be it's cinematography, settings, and sets, which were very beautiful.

Overall, not much on plot, but it's still a pretty good movie. 6.5/10.

It's difficult making films which rely on a two-hander at their heart... especially when that film is pared back so much that the two actors have no interaction with anyone else anywhere in the film. In Figures in a Landscape, the intensity of the relationship between Robert Shaw and Malcolm Macdowell aspires to Waiting for Godot, but comes across as occasionally contrived and hokey. It seems that Robert Shaw himself adapted the screenplay... there is constant banter between the two main characters, but the verbal set pieces come across as being too theatrical. Malcolm Macdowell has a monologue about their being animals, but what is really lacking is the animus in these characters, the id... if they had the instinctive cool of the spaghetti western - a genre invoked by the film sharing the mountainous Andalucian landscapes of spaghetti classics such as Cut-Throats Nine (1972) - this would be a superior film. The classic Italo-Spanish spaghetti westerns also always intercut the terrains of the human face in close up and the badland landscape, and, curiously, close ups of the actors are almost absent in this film.

That said, a film in which two fugitives run through a landscape hunted by a black helicopter and a faceless army has to be pretty cool in its own right.

The viewer is presented with two characters. These characters are on the run, from a black helicopter that keeps chasing after them. The viewer is not told what there crime is, or if they have committed any crime. They both must fight their way through a rocky, rough, dry desert region. All the viewer gets is little stories from each of these men. We find out about children, a wife, former girlfriends, etc. The men struggle to reach a safe place, almost driving themselves crazy, believing that this is possible. This film is not available on video or disc, and the TV print runs shorter than 110 minutes. There may be a large important part of this film missing. Maybe one day it will be released on tape and disc so that a wider audience can see it. This film really is a good piece of film making.

It's always a pleasure to see Robert Shaw and Malcolm McDowell, both great excellent actors. Joseph Losey was himself an exceptional director. But this "Figures in a Landscape" is boring, has no salt, it has no pepper, it's incredible, repetitive, monotonous. Only 2 stars, one for each, for Shaw and Malcolm, only for their presence and their effort.

Rugged maniacal brute MacConnachie (a fabulously ferocious and galvanizing performance by Robert Shaw) and wimpy intellectual Ansell (a sound portrayal by Malcom McDowell) are a couple of escaped fugitives who are on the run in some unspecified foreign country. The pair find themselves being relentlessly pursued by an ominous black helicopter.

Director Joseph Losey makes excellent and inspired use of the harsh, sprawling, and desolate countryside. Shaw's stark and intriguing script eschews pretense and exposition in favor of stripping down the premise to its mean'n'lean existential essentials whereby the plot basically becomes a gritty meditation on survival and the ruthless extremes people will resort to in order to stay alive in a hostile and pitiless world. Shaw and McDowell play off each other exceptionally well as a couple of radically contrasting fellows who are forced to depend on each other so they can persevere through a grueling ordeal that's beyond their control or understanding. Several scenes involving close calls with the helicopter register as quite dangerous and hence are positively harrowing to watch. The striking widescreen cinematography by Guy Tabary, Henri Alekan, and Peter Suschitzky offers a wealth of breathtaking aerial shots. Recommended viewing.

Figures In A Landscape could never be more than a minor work. And I can't see it being made in any time other than the 1970's. It is existential, Beckettian. Two escaped men make an attempt to escape to a bordering country, pursued by a black helicopter with a malevolently playful pilot, and faceless soldiers on the ground directed by him. Along the way, they encounter some villagers, but mostly they are on their own, coping and not coping with escape. Robert Shaw plays the older, gruffer, working class Mac, McDowell is the young, higher class Ansell. But though they at first seem to play to type, this does not prove to be the case.

I personally think there should be more odd films like this. There is a real interesting sense of humour and character study contained within the script, and evinced by the acting. The performances by Shaw (who also wrote the script) and McDowell are excellent. Shaw seems at first a gruff, experienced older tough guy, but soon reveals a very strange underside, and McDowell is wonderful as the young, confused, hunted Ansell. Moreover, Losey's direction is stunning, and a brave departure from the suffocating interiors of his more typical films like The Servant (even though there are some horrors in the editing). But, at the same time, I also feel that Figures In a Landscape is too vague in its allegory.

"Figures in a Landscape" had plenty of chance to develop and become a great film but it fails to become so due to its insistence in making the audience having to figure everything for themselves. This is a movie where nothing is answered and when we have to fill in the blanks about who are the characters, where they are and why they are running from a mysterious black helicopter that follows them the duo Robert Shaw and Malcolm McDowell while crossing the desert of an unspecified country. The source novel establishes they're soldiers on a South American nation but writer Robert Shaw left everything for us to solve and in a movie as simplistic as this one such idea doesn't work at all, less mystery would benefit more the story and it would help director Joseph Losey's direction.

I was intrigued and fascinated by both characters even though they barely speak and spend the majority of the film hancuffed and running all the time while surviving in the wilderness, amazingly photographed by Henri Alekan, Guy Tabary and Peter Suschitzky. You'll be mesmerized by the locations and also the way the helicopter sequences were filmed. Shaw plays the smart and dangerous one while McDowell plays the introspective and timid prisoner, and for reasons unknown they were the ones who escaped prison and are on the run against a persistent helicopter that follows through long distances.

The settings coming from a sort of "The Defiant Ones" retelling works for quite some time but as the movie progresses the more it finds itself lost in emptiness, lack of a higher purpose and meaning and after a certain time we are bored, restless and far from being helpful of seeing a good movie. It's not the worst, it has plenty of qualities (the acting is fairly good and there are inspired moments) but it's weak and undeserving of its talents. You can skip "Figures in a Landscape" without reservations. 5/10.