The Horsemen (1971)

User Rating:

6.3/10   

Director:

John Frankenheimer

Writers:

Joseph Kessel (novel)
Dalton Trumbo (writer)

Release Date:

16 August 1971 (Sweden)

Genre:

Action | Adventure | Drama

Tagline:

A Horse Worth Killing For. A Dream Worth Dying For.

Plot:

In the poor, desolate northern provinces of the mountainous feudal Sunni kingdom of Afghanistan (before the Soviet-engineered republican revolutions)...

Plot Keywords:

Buzkashi | Foreign Language Adaptation | Based On Novel | Independent Film

Cast

Omar Sharif	...	Uraz
Leigh Taylor-Young	...	Zareh
Jack Palance	...	Tursen
David de Keyser	...	Mukhi
Peter Jeffrey	...	Hayatal
Mohammad Shamsi	...	Osman Bey
George Murcell	...	Mizrar
Eric Pohlmann	...	Merchant in Kandahar
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Ishaq Bux	...	Amjad Kahn
Carlos Casaravilla	...	Messenger
José Luis Chinchilla	...	Head Syce
Mark Colleano
P. De Quevedo	...	King
Srinanda De
Despo Diamantidou	...	Uljan (as Despo)
Vernon Dobtcheff	...	Zam Hajji
Saeed Jaffrey	...	District Chief
Leon Lissek	...	Chikana Proprietor
Ricardo Palacios	...	Ghulam
Salmaan Peerzada	...	Salih (as Salmaan Peer)
Milton Reid	...	Aqqul
Aziz Resham	...	Bacha to Ghulam
John Ruddock	...	Scribe
Vida St. Romaine	...	Gypsy Woman
Sy Temple	...	Quadir
Jesús Tordesillas	...	Little Governor
Tom Tryon
Barbara Wain	...	Nurse
Alan Webb	...	Gardi Gay

Runtime:

109 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color (Eastmancolor)

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono

Certification:

Australia:PG | Finland:K-16 | Sweden:15 | USA:GP (original rating) | USA:PG

Filming Locations:

Afghanistan

Company:

Columbia Pictures Corporation

Quotes:

District Chief: What demon has possessed you to mock these good people with that piece of dog-bait?

Action adventure in Afghanastan: needs to become a DVD!

An excellent adaptation of the Book by Joseph Kessel; centered on the running of the first Buskashi in Kabul by the King of Afghanistan circa the 1950s. I have read the book in its English translation(1968) and seen the Movie on VHS.(1671) The movie is very fresh and not dated; and all the more compelling due to recent liberation from Arab control of that country. Footage of the Buskashi just has to be from a real game. The games were played at Bagram (Bagrimi) the plain above Kabul which was made an airport in recent years.

The author, Kessel can be compared to Joseph Conrad and Hemmingway as he apparently lived what he wrote. The book has themes just as penetrating as "Heart of Darkness" or "the Old man and the Sea" and much has translated well to this Movie. The acting is well done and convincingly. Local color shots were done in the late sixties giving this film a truly timeless feeling with little motor traffic evident.

One inspired scene has Jack Palance as Chief breeder and legendary Horseman, interrupted in his instructions to his team by the noise of a Jet; and looking up to see contrails above.

This is a real treasure just begging to be on DVD.