Certification. PG
Running Time. 1 hour 34 mins
Director. Robert Aldrich
Cast. Gary Cooper, Denise Darcel, Burt Lancaster, Sarita Montiel, Cesar Romero.
Rating. 40%
Review.
In Robert Aldrich's Vera Cruz, Gary Cooper and Burt Lancaster star as two opportunistic former soldiers who head south into Mexico after the conclusion of the US Civil War in an attempt to earn a living as hired mercenaries in the Juarista uprising. While the concept - and certainly the term - ‘revisionist western’ might not have been considered until the late 1960s, Vera Cruz challenges the romantic notion of the decent, noble and upstanding cowboy.
The film was highly influential on a number of later films in the genre, especially the likes of The Magnificent Seven and The Wild Bunch; and like many of the westerns of the 1950s, an obvious lineage can be traced to the Spaghetti Westerns of the 1960s and 1970s. From the casual comic-book violence and the ubiquitous untrustworthiness and duplicitous double-crossing to the odd camera angles and extreme close-ups of perspiring faces.
The stoic, stoney-faced performance of Gary Cooper is typically understated. Burt Lancaster's performance is less so. Consistently over-acting, Lancaster’s portrayal of Joe Erin at least results in an element of doubt as to whether he'll ultimately prove to be an anti-hero or out-and-out villain.
Cinematographer Ernest Laszlo delivers some pretty impressive visuals for a 1950s western. In particular the scenes at the Pyramid of the Sun, Teotihuacán are pretty special, alongside an over-the-shoulder 360° panorama of the peasant soldiers who suddenly surround the principal characters.
But, when it comes down to it, Vera Cruz is a rather unpleasant film with a hard-bitten approach to violence. The physical abuse of women and the attempted rape of Sarita Montiel’s character by Pittsburgh (an early screen appearance for Charles Bronson as Charles Buchinsky), are deeply unpleasant and leave a sour taste in the mouth.
Comments
Post a Comment