the Unforgiven
| Movie | |
|---|---|
| German title | the Unforgiven |
| Original title | The Unforgiven |
| Country of production | United States |
| original language | English |
| Publishing year | 1960 |
| length | 125 minutes |
| Age rating | FSK 12 |
| Rod | |
| Director | John Huston |
| script | Ben Maddow |
| production |
Harold Hecht James Hill Burt Lancaster |
| music | Dimitri Tiomkin |
| camera | Franz Planner |
| cut | Russell Lloyd |
| occupation | |
| |
Unforgiven is a 1960 American western directed by John Huston . The basis of the film adaptation is the novel The Unforgiven by Alan Le May from 1957.
The unusual film was originally intended to shed light on the varieties of racism in the Wild West . In this case, however, the difficulties behind the scenes, which led to frequent script changes , are more well known than the work itself. Huston is often quoted in this context as being the one of his films that is least satisfactory for him. Notwithstanding this and all the quarrels and accidents on the set in Durango, Mexico, as well as the lack of audience response, the flick, which is an antithesis to The Black Falcon (1956) - Le May, as is well known, also wrote the novel for the John Ford classic - to some experts of the Western as a masterpiece, because Huston built in some artistic elements that are otherwise very rarely found in this genre, such as a piano on which Lillian Gish even plays compositions by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart . In addition, the outstanding acting performance of Joseph Wiseman as Abe Kelsey is suppressed by the literature .
action
In northern Texas ( "panhandle" region ) after the end of the civil war: While Ben Zachary, who is responsible for the ranch, is in Wichita for business reasons and his younger brothers Cash and Andy do their cowboy work, sister Rachel has a ride with hers white stallion a strange encounter: a mysterious old man, a saber-wearing and quoting biblical proverbs goes so far as to claim that she is not Zachary at all. Back in the ranch building built directly into the hill, she is reassured by her mother Mattilda that it was a lonely drifter, as it would often have been after the war. In reality, however, the old widow has a feeling that there could be more to the stranger. And when the latter appears boldly in front of her, she has the certainty: It is Abe Kelsey, who once committed a retaliatory massacre of the Kiowa with her husband William Zachary and only spared a small baby, which the Zacharys then adopted and was raised - Rachel.
Nobody except Mattilda - certainly not Rachel - knows about this fact and shouldn't be known, especially since the Kiowa tribe, which is extremely unpopular with the white cattle breeders, had repeatedly committed raids over the years.
At first, however, everything goes as usual. Ben returns satisfied from Wichita and surprises “his two wives” with a piano won in a bet; A little later, the neighbors of the Rawlins family come to visit, which is also about possible marriages: The red-haired Rawlins daughter Georgia shows some interest in the drinkable and loud-mouthed Cash, but a liaison between Rachel is being considered more seriously and shy Charlie Rawlins.
When the conversation turns to the strange stranger, the previously good mood is gone, especially since Mattilda, who doesn't want to divulge her knowledge under any circumstances, “takes refuge” at the piano.
In the following night, however, the suspicious Ben goes on a search with Cash. In fact, they find Kelsey in the cactus-overgrown wilderness and can kill his horse but lose his trail in a violent sandstorm. On another day, while riding a wild horse, tensions arise between Cash - who has become a hater of Indians through the death of his father in a Kiowa attack - and Johnny Portugal, a red-skinned horse expert who Ben originally hired in Wichita. This is then trimmed by Ben, because he had made a cheeky remark about Rachel, but is allowed to keep his job to the displeasure of Cash.
Meanwhile, Kelsey steals Rachel's horse unnoticed, so that she and Ben, for whom she has more than brotherly feelings, have to start the way back. Ben also appears not only as her protector, but now surprisingly gives his "Okay" to Charlie's presumably imminent proposal.
While the Zacharys are gathering at dinner, three Kiowas suddenly appear on the ranch grounds; Their leader, named Lost Bird, apparently informed by Kelsey, demands that the astonished Ben release Rachel, which he resolutely refuses. The appearance of the Indians after a long absence causes unrest, also among the employees of Zeb Rawlins, the patriarch of the neighboring family. Meanwhile, Charlie makes his way to the Zacharys to officially formulate his marriage proposal. After Rachel's consent, he walks back cheerfully, but is killed by a Kiowa arrow. When the entire Zachary family wants to express their condolences, a scandal breaks out: The dead man's mother insults Rachel as a “Kiowa squaw” and “red-skinned nigger”, and Ben can only prevent the break with his business partner Zeb because he has one Forms a search party to hunt down Kelsey so that all allegations are refuted (Ben only knows the version that Rachel is a foundling of a massacred white man).
It was not easy to track down the cause of the mischief because Johnny Portugal was given the task of accessing it after a trace was discovered; he can catch the fleeing man thanks to the reserve horses he has with him. Brought to the Rawlins ranch, the rope is quickly put around his neck - the usual fate of a horse thief. Kelsey, however, denies the allegation that he stole from Rachel and that she is a Kiowa.
Zeb now wants precise information, but Ben interferes, stamps all of Kelsey's statements as lies and tells his own version. Kelsey insists that he demanded the release of Rachel from Zachary in exchange for his own son from the Kiowa. The argument escalates, and when the old man turns to Mattilda and claims that Mattilda knows the whole truth, the horrified widow gives the horse the death row inmate is sitting on a blow - and Kelsey is hanged. Zeb Rawlins is still not satisfied, however. For final clarification, he now demands that Rachel's skin (which should be lighter on the body than on the face) be examined by the women on his ranch. Ben prevents that, but with that the break between the neighbors is finally completed.
Arriving at their own ranch, a cloth with Indian characters is found, which proves that the then little Rachel was rescued by white people. Mattilda can no longer avoid admitting the truth. After a heated argument about how to proceed, Indian haters Cash leaves the family and seeks refuge with the delighted Georgia while the Kiowa prepare a devastating attack on the Zachary mansion. To avoid bloodshed, Rachel wants to return to her tribe, but with the first Indian killed from the house with loopholes, this request is no longer valid.
Lost Bird's superiority is nevertheless ominous; a herd of cows driven onto the roof and the building set on fire make matters worse. Mattilda is killed by a bullet, while Ben, Rachel and Andy can only stay in the back of their house. Cash believes he has heard the attack from a great distance and rides back, helping his siblings to save the last minute: The Kiowa leave after Rachel's biological brother, of all people, has been killed by Rachel. She decides to become Ben's wife.
History of origin
Aside from the unusual cast of an Indian role with Audrey Hepburn, the film was mostly noticed by problems behind the scenes. Production had to be suspended for several months in 1959 after Hepburn fractured a vertebra while rehearsing a scene when she fell from her horse. Although she had recovered well, the accident was blamed for her subsequent miscarriage , among other things . According to several published Hepburn biographies, Huston blamed himself for the accident. Although he finished the film after Hepburn's recovery, he rejected it altogether. Hepburn took the following year off, gave birth to a healthy child, and returned to the big screen in 1961 with breakfast at Tiffany's .
Furthermore, there were constant arguments between Huston and Burt Lancaster or his production company about how the material should be filmed. Lancaster and his donors wanted a commercial and therefore less controversial film, while Huston wanted to show the roots of racism in America. In the end, neither side got what they wanted.
Reviews
The lexicon of international films judges the film to be a “formally respectable noble western who testifies to John Huston's ability to produce powerful staging, but does not deal with the issue of racial hatred.” Joe Hembus believes that those who are not awarded is a “prestige film” that “ consciously to the admiration of his audience ” I recommend, nothing of the “ casual strength that lies behind the better Huston films ” can be felt here. Phil Hardy calls the film “fascinating” , praises Planner's camera work “in soft, natural colors” and points out that Murphy had the best performance of his film career in this film.
synchronization
| role | actor | Voice actor |
|---|---|---|
| Ben Zachary | Burt Lancaster | Arnold Marquis |
| Rachel Zachary | Audrey Hepburn | Maria Koerber |
| Cash Zachary | Audie Murphy | Dietmar Schönherr |
| Johnny Portugal | John Saxon | Herbert Stass |
| Zeb Rawlins | Charles Bickford | Klaus W. Krause |
| Abe Kelsey | Joseph Wiseman | Walther Süssenguth |
| Andy Zachary | Doug McClure | Paul Edwin Roth |
| Lost bird | Carlos Rivas | Gert-Günther Hoffmann |
literature
- Alan Le May : The Unforgiven . With a new introduction by Don Graham . Gregg Press, Boston 1978, 245 (VIII) S., ISBN 0-8398-2465-3 (so far no German translation exists)
Web links
- Which one does not forgive in the Internet Movie Database (English)
- Which are not awarded in the online film database
- Which are not forgiven at Rotten Tomatoes (English)
Individual evidence
- ↑ Goatdog's Movies - The Unforgiven (March 27, 2006)
- ↑ Dennis Schwartz (January 18, 2005) Ozu's World Movie Reviewers - The Unforgiven
- ↑ Rob Schmidt (June 14, 2007) Review of The Unforgiven ( Memento of the original from October 28, 2007 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.
- ↑ Which one does not forgive. In: Lexicon of International Films . Film service , accessed March 2, 2017 .
- ↑ Joe Hembus: Western Lexicon - 1272 films from 1894-1975. Carl Hanser Verlag Munich Vienna 2nd edition 1977. ISBN 3-446-12189-7 . P. 114.
- ^ Phil Hardy: The Encyclopedia of Western Movies. Woodbury Press Minneapolis 1984. ISBN 0-8300-0405-X . P. 277.
- ↑ Entry in Arne Kaul's synchronous database ( Memento of the original dated February 1, 2014 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. ; Retrieved November 26, 2007
