Major Dundee

Major Dundee is an American film of Sam Peckinpah left in 1965.

Synopsis

Officer unionistic obsessional (Charlton Heston) which carries out a group of rebellious prisoners (Richard Harris), former slaves and criminals (James Coburn) with the Mexico (under French domination), in November 1864, in order to pursue a band of Apache S murderers.

The Film

Left the success of Shots in the Sierra , Sam Peckinpah sees himself entrusting the realization of Major Dundee . Turning was to proceed with the Mexico by economy. But the realizer in love insane with Mexico gives up himself with his softness of living. Tying a connection with young the first Mexican one, he flees a few days with her. The savings in turning will not be done and turning becomes anthological. Peckinpah joined together its band of buddies actors second knives and malicious brilliant: James Coburn, LQ Jones, Warren Oates… Eddy Mitchell told by presenting film at the time of its passage to the last meeting two anecdotes which if they are not true could the being. According to the first, Peckinpah would have continued Charlton Heston with a saber after a dissension on the character. The second: Coburn comes to knock on the door of the caravan of Peckinpah to require indications of him its role, Peckinpah howls " it is hard! it is very hard! Even the harder makes!!!! "

These anecdotes should not make forget what makes the size of Peckinpah. Peckinpah is the man of afterwards, it arrives after the great time of the traditional western and its cinema prolongs this classicism by destroying it. Its films are not the response of the American western to the spaghetti western as it was too often said (it is a simplification). Peckinpah is the scenario writer who takes again the traditional arguments and works them as a scenario writer of the Sixties marked by the opening intellectual of America after the discovery of the gas chambers, the war of Korea and the beginning of Vietnam. It is in that the true heir to John Ford that it affectionate particularly and with which it has many joint topics (friendships, report/ratio with nature, sudden appearance of violence in the community…). Even if Shots in the Sierra goes already in this direction. Major Dundee is the first western of the end of the traditional western. Symbolically the film opens on the assassination of a member of the cavalry and young girls by the Indians before making burn a village. The camera films its ignited houses illustrating the work of Peckinpah: to put at bottom old architecture, to make burn conventions… Peckinpah did not wish to finish film with the traditional direction. it wished that the continuation of the Chariba Indian never cease. Dundee going until the end of its madness. Obviously, it was caught up with by the production which forced it to turn an end (which sounds a little artificially). It delivered then assembly a four hour old which was brought back to two. Peckinpah does not succeed in putting forward its sights in spite of the support of Charlton Heston. It was a terrible commercial failure which made of Peckinpah one bet… The film comprises formidable sequences which shows the genius of Peckinpah: the massacre of the beginning, the scene where Dundee crosses a full court confederated soldiers, the death of Warren Oates…

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