Sole rosso

Almost 30 years preceding the very popular Shanghai Noon's release came its direct ancestor, Terence Young's Red Sun, an only slightly, more serious in tone relation and for me, a more entertaining watch. Featuring an international talent-laden cast with a British director helming a spaghetti western in Spain, it's a heady mixture and by no means a great film (though John Huston apparently thought so), but in my opinion, a memorable one.

In a narrative very similar to the above-mentioned later Jackie Chan vehicle, Japanese Ambassador bodyguard Toshiro Mifune, enlists double-crossed desperado Charles Bronson's assistance, in retrieving an intended ambassadorial gift sword to the American President, that was stolen by Bronson's duplicitous partner (Alain Delon) during a train robbery.

There is no doubting the plot is rather elongated and somewhat contrived, but it allows plenty of opportunity for the Bronson and Mifune characters to amusingly interact with a surprising amount of comic side-play. It's really their movie and they both make the most of it, bonding of course in a diverting east meets west fashion. Delon has his moments too as an enjoyable bad guy and Ursula Andress who only makes her appearance when the movie is well into its second half, is only there for eye candy. (I'm trying to think, but hard - pressed to come up with one of her movies where she is not dubbed). Let it be said though, she always makes captivating eye candy.

There's laughs, action (both sword and gun play), a good set-piece climax at an abandoned mission and in its nearby corn-field, with a surprisingly touching and effective final couple of scenes. Really is there anyone who isn't really interested in seeing a Charles Bronson / Toshiro Mifune western/road movie? I'm sure Jackie Chan and Owen Wilson gave it plenty of attention.

People are simply suckers for crossovers: be it Superman and Spiderman slugging it out in the comic books, Hercules fighting Aztecs in the Italian muscle n' sandal flicks or Dracula dueling Jessie James. In "Red Sun" the dream for many a kid came true: samurais going head to head with cowboys and Indians.

The concept of mixing Eastern culture and (especially) martial arts with the archaic Wild West has been often tried, sometimes with success but more often with complete failure (Jackie Chan escapades, numerous Spaghetti-Western-Kung-Fu-crossovers and the "Kung Fu" TV-series, which was a technical and aesthetic failure, even though the audience loved it). This had little to do with the incompatibility between east and west but rather lacking directors who could handle both genres with equal dignity.

The story is rather plain and simple: Bronson and Delon plan to rob a train that happens to carry the imperial Japanese ambassador. The heist goes fine but fiery-eyed Delon (remember, he is French and left-handed) betrays his partner, leaving him at the mercy of the Japanese entourage – but not before stealing a Samurai sword that was meant as a present for the US-president. The ambassador makes Bronson a deal he cannot refuse: bring back the sword within a week or loose your head. To insure that Bronson is doing his job, the disgraced sword-keeper (Mifume) is sent along, likewise obliged to commit 'hara-kiri' when the seven day span is over. Both men form an uneasy camaraderie, one driven by obligation, the other from thirst for revenge and each perceiving the others culture as plain alien.

It would be very hard to duplicate this 'innocent' clash of the cultures-scenario today: too many similarities, too many cross-cultural interchanges have occurred. Today a kid from Japan would be no more alien to the image of an American cowboy than your average businessman would be to the concept of eating raw fish with rice, namely sushi, which they eat anyway during lunch-break. Back in the early 70's, those images tended to be way more exotic to the average-Joe. Back then we could believe Mifumes wide-eyed look of disbelieve at 'culture' of the Wild West as well as Bronsons inability to comprehend his 'partners' culture. Needless to say, this leads to many-a comic relief and, once the colts and katanas are pulled, plenty of action.

Mifune and Bronson are simply veterans at what they do (so is Ursulla Andress, by the way, namely dressing, undressing and throwing tantrums). They really don't need much dialogue to bring their sentiments and thoughts across – each confused and by degree disgusted by the others culture and behaviour. No matter how you look at it, the chemistry works and is believable. Throw in Alain Delon doing what Delon can do best – namely look chiseled like a roman statue and throw glares that could cut through ice – you've got the perfect cocktail of experienced acting and charisma.

Terence Young made this happen by applying the same he did to the first two James Bond films: make a serious movie but don't take the movie too serious. The result was a comic-book Western that owed more to the Euro-Western of the 60's (perhaps even a bit more to the German Schnitzel-, rather than the Italo-Spaghetti Westerns) than it did to John Wayne or "Bonanza".

Granted, this is not a cinematographic masterpiece, this isn't Sergio Leone nor is it Eastwoods "The Unforgiven". This would be comparing "Dr. No" to the ultra-realistic violence of "Casino Royal". Neither films need to be taken serious but should rather be enjoyed. This isn't "Dance with the Wolves"; this is about a bandit and a samurai on a mission to retrieve the emperors sword, on the way slugging it out with bandits and Indians. Throw in the (as usually) excellent soundtrack by Maurice Jarre and what you get is the perfect blend between Euro-Western and Samurai Adventure. 8/10

On the surface Red Sun appears to be a fairly standard shoot-em-up with the attendant 'who's the real nasty?' sub-plot thrown in for a bit of mystery. But the careful observer will discover many more layers of this particular onion pitting cultures (and genders) against each other with a few surprising results and plenty of thought-provoking situations designed to keep this one on the shelf as a 'keeper'.

Bronson fans (like me) will note this is the second of his 'samurai connection'westerns...Magnificent Seven being the first...though the debate will probably never be resolved as to which was the better performance. True, some of the dialogue in this movie borders on juvenile, but overall I rate the movie very high.

Red Sun is the type of film they mean when they talk about international production. American Charles Bronson, Japanese Toshiro Mifune, German Ursula Andress, French Alain Delon, Italian Capucine and for good measure this film was shot on the plains of Spain which did not look like they'd seen much rain by Englishman Terrence Young.

The film concerns the train robbery of a gang in which Alain Delon is in charge. The money isn't enough for Delon, the train is carrying some Japanese passengers with a ceremonial samurai sword, a gift from their Emperor to our president. Two of three Japanese are killed, the mistake Delon makes when he decides the sword would make a nice souvenir is that he lives a real live Samurai in Toshiro Mifune alive with a vengeance quest. Delon makes a second mistake in double crossing Charles Bronson and not killing him as well. Bronson is a member of his gang who cuts all ties, but forms an uneasy alliance with Mifune.

Mifune wants Delon dead, but Bronson just wants him alive long enough to say where he's hidden the money. Bronson and Mifune go to a bordello run by Capucine to get Ursula Andress, a hooker favored by Delon as a hostage.

Red Sun works nicely as a film because of the interesting if antagonistic chemistry between Bronson and Mifune. From an uneasy alliance they develop a genuine regard for each other. As for Delon he has a gentlemanly demeanor that's a very thin veneer for one of the meanest mean streaks ever on the big screen.

Fans who are younger will recognize the plot of Red Sun being later used in a modern day feature Renegades with Kiefer Sutherland and Lou Diamond Phillips as the uneasy allies with Rob Knepper as the gang leader with a mean streak.

I'm not really big on foreign made westerns, but I make an exception in the case of Red Sun.

I had to see this film...mostly because of the strangeness of the cast. In addition to the three guys I mentioned above, Capucine and Ursula Andress appear in the film....making it a film starring an American, a couple French folks, a Swiss lady and a Japanese man! Talk about a strange conglomeration of actors!

When the film begins, the first Japanese ambassador to the United States is on a train heading through the west towards Washington, DC. However, a gang of bloody bandits hold up the train and kill a lot of folks...and steal the gift from the Emperor to the President. The ambassador is determined to get this back and sends one of his samurai (Mifune) to recapture the sword that was stolen by Gauche (Delon). It also happens that Gauche (which, oddly, means 'left' in French) just tried to murder his partner (Bronson) and so the Samurai and the angry crook decide to work together to get their revenge on Gauche. But, not surprisingly, the partnership is a rocky one...and the pair have to eventually learn to work together in order to get what they want. This process makes up the bulk of the film.

While the mismatched theme is very familiar, the situation is, at the very least, hard to believe and a bit contrived! You simply have to ignore this and watch the film and enjoy it for what it is-- an escapist action film. The Comanches in the film, by the way, fight like idiots--charging up to be bumped off one after the other! Not especially good or bad...just competently made and worth your time overall.