Shoot the Sun Down

Not just the protagonist, but also "SHOOT THE SUN DOWN". There's not much to this creaky, workmanlike western with minor offbeat strokes. A British sea captain and his accompanying lady (though there's more to their relationship) are on a quest to find the lost treasure of Montezuma, where along the way to Santa Fe they're joined by a wandering stranger and a small posse led by a conniving scalphunter.

Watch it for the cast (Christopher Walken, Margot Kidder & Geoffrey Lewis), but even then they don't look all that interested either. Actually, I would make Lewis the exception. Without his smarmy performance as the scalphunter it would be quite a slog to sit through. With the likes of a pre-stardom Kidder and Walken (who later that same year go onto acclaimed films; "SUPERMAN" & "THE DEER HUNTER"), you could see why it was fairly obscure at the time. On the other hand it's the lackadaisical experimental style that might have alienated it up until this day.

The influences are obvious; where it seems to want be some sort arty western (without the art) executed in a minimalist style of Monte Hellman, but also there's a spaghetti western within wanting to break out. Sadly it's not as exciting as it sounds, where I think the music composer was confused to what type of western he was scoring. It's very plodding and overly talky for most part in its attempts of a meditative sort of character-mood piece. The script however, is just too shallow and uninteresting in the details to make it work. When comes to the shootouts, there's little of it and it's staged in a rather scratchy manner. It's not until the backend when it gets a little interesting with an unexpected downbeat sense of closure.

As for Walken, he spends some time channeling Eastwood's dry, loner bounty hunter persona, but also one with principals and even a romantic interlude. His attire however looked more like a costume getup, than anything authentic. The same can't be said about the picturesque backdrops of New Mexico and Texas.

In the late 1830s, when much of the Old West was still Mexican territory, 4 people are travelling through the deserts, north of Texas and a 3-day ride from Santa Fe. They are: the Scalphunter, who says his trade is being a "buffaler" (buffalo hide trader), he is in search of gold; a former ship's Captain, also in search of the gold; a Woman from England, a former chambermaid who, in exchange for ship's passage to America, signed an agreement to serve the Captain for 5 years, she is an indentured servant; and Mr. Rainbow, a former soldier who killed Indians. The Captain sets out to find some of Montezuma's gold, risking danger from both the native Indians and Mexican soldiers. The woman wants to get out of her contract with the Captain and go to New Orleans, she asks Mr. Rainbow to take her there, but he turns her down. Scalphunter wants half of the Captain's gold, and tags along with his men. Mr. Rainbow sets out across the desert through the Viaje de la Muerte, the Journey of Death.

One night, during a terrible wind storm, the Captain and the Woman and Scalphunter and his men are in a small cabin. Scalphunter snaps impatiently at his men to be quiet. The Captain begins his lecture, "We were in the North Sea in mid-December, sailing for Glasgow harbor, when a black mask came over the horizon. For a solid fortnight, Davey Jones swabbed the decks. 10 men washed overboard before I had time to call all hands below. There were 50 of us, aye 50, holed up in a room not half the size of this one. Tossed against the hull, so hard you could hear their bones crack. And for the whole time, from not one mother's son, was there a whimper." Scalphunter quips sarcastically, "Do you know what your trouble is, Captain? You ain't got no boat." Just then, Mr. Rainbow drops in. Is he after the gold or the woman, or both? An intriguing movie with fascinating character studies.

Christopher Walken is an enigmatic stranger wandering the west. Geoffrey Lewis is a scalp-hunter, turned prospector, with a serious case of gold fever, while Margot Kidder is the indentured servant of emotionally-stunted ship captain Bo Bundin. The four collide in and around Mexican-controlled Santa Fe as they dig for gold and search for the lost treasure of Montezuma.

Though mostly character-driven and not for everyone's taste, this independent western looks great, with nice location photography and and the presences of Walken and Kidder, right on the cusp of their breakthrough performances in The Deer Hunter and Superman: The Movie respectively, though Walken is a bit out of place.

Of the cast, the late Geoffrey Lewis is the most game (as usual), delivering some amusing lines, his eulogy for a treacherous henchman especially memorable. Familiar faces, A. Martinez and Sacheen Littlefeather (on the final seconds of her fifteen-minutes of fame) round out the cast.

Action scenes are clumsy and the score is all over the place, with spaghetti western horns one minute, pulsing rock the next, traditional string instruments a few minutes later, with some prints featuring a title song by Kinky Friedman!

Margo Kidder and Christopher Walken star in this slow and talky western. The overall structure is very haphazard, with characters neither explained or developed. To me, "Shoot the Sun Down" seems more like an art house film, than a second rate western. It is loaded with "compelling visions", but hardly any substance. While Walken does get staked to the desert ground and attacked by Vultures, there is really little here of interest. Long boring scenes, like Walken talking to his horse, permeate the film. Even though the theme of searching for Montezuma's gold should have been intriguing, the movie lacks excitement, and for the most part is just plain boring. Not recommended, even for Walken enthusiasts. - MERK