Farewell to the King

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Movie
German title Farewell to the King
Cross-title: Farewell to the King - They called him Leroy
Original title Farewell to the King
Country of production United States
original language English
Publishing year 1989
length 117 minutes
Age rating FSK 16
Rod
Director John Milius
script John Milius
production Andre Morgan
music Basil Poledouris
camera Dean Semler
cut Anne V. Coates
Carroll Timothy O'Meara
occupation

Farewell to the King (cross-reference: Farewell to the King - they called him Leroy , TV title: The jungle king of Borneo , original title: Farewell to the King ) is a war film by John Milius from 1989 . The director and screenwriter John Milius filmed a book by Pierre Schœndœrffer .

action

The Second World War is already drawing to a close. The American soldier Leroy is stranded in the jungle of Borneo . He is proclaimed ruler by the locals. British paratroopers Captain Fairbourne and Sgt. Tenga prepare for the Allied landing. The locals under Leroy support the landing.

"Borneo - most people hardly suspect the existence of Borneo" - this is how the film begins with the report by the British first-person narrator Captain Nigel Fairbourne, a botanist who was employed at the end of the Second World War Feb. 26, 1945 "MacArthur back in the Philippines") was sent to Borneo as a member of a "unit for special operations" in order to mobilize the indigenous tribes to fight the Japanese army.

After a rough landing by parachute, he and his colored companion, Sergeant Tenga, meet a group of natives under the leadership of Gwai. These lead the two in a south-south-east direction into the mountains in the interior of the island. Shortly before reaching the village, however, they are captured by the natives and presented to the chief as prey, well tied up. To the great surprise of the two, he turns out to be white ("... as white as we"). The attempts to explain the job to him are ignored and answered with silence. Only after a period of observation does the chief receive the two in the nave in front of the council and introduce himself as Leroy, king of this people, the "sons of the first man". Then he tells his story in retrospect:

It all started in April 1942, shortly after the fall of Corregidor "when MacArthur abandoned us". He and four comrades deserted, took a small boat and let the current carry them as far as Borneo. There they were shipwrecked, killing a comrade. The group separates on the beach. A little later, Leroy had to watch his comrades being executed by Japanese soldiers on the beach after they had to dig their own grave. The action is monitored by an officer on a white horse. Leroy tries to shoot him with his pistol, but is shaking so bad that he breaks off the attempt and flees into the jungle. There he gets lost hopelessly, is on the verge of starvation, is becoming more and more insane and "longed for heaven" until he finally wants to kill himself. At the last second he comes to his senses and instead throws the pistol away so as not to succumb to the temptation. In this state he is found by Gwai, a native who “was on the hunt but hadn't captured anything - just me”. In the village, the men led by Lian the Blessed are quick to believe that the most lucrative thing is to sell your head to the Japanese. However, the women of the village, led by Yoo, Gwai's sister, oppose the men because they are fascinated by the dragon tattooed on Leroy's chest and his clear, blue eyes: blue means sea, sea means salt and salt means life. Yoo nurses him well, teaches him the language of the village and the two fall in love. He is accepted by parts of the village community and “lives with them in the jungle like an animal, really free for the first time in his life.” Finally, he accepts Lian's challenge and kills Lian in a duel after over an hour and after he was wounded seven times . About a year after his arrival in the village, Gwai's uncle, the old chief, dies. Leroy finds the right words to “inspire the dreams of the tribe” and becomes the new “Radja”. He marries Yoo and has finally arrived in his "new world". Shortly afterwards he mastered his first difficult test when he was able to prevent a blood feud between the Gwais and the Sengar tribe through skill and knowledge of human nature. He relies on the women of the tribe, who also want to prevent the foolish feud about a cross-tribal pregnancy. He advises them to refuse their husbands so that the “holy war can be waged in a pure and chaste manner, as it should be” - whereupon the warriors abandon their plan. After all, he united 22 longhouses, forged a new trunk and thus became king.

At this point, the film jumps back into the Captain Fairbourne storyline. Leroy shows his guests around, explains “the forest, the home of gods and men” and the relationship of his tribe to the environment, and others. a. that they occasionally have to go to the sea to extract salt, which is impossible in the jungle. Fairbourne continues to try to convince Leroy that he must face the Japanese. He refuses to do so, however, because the Second World War is no longer his business and there is enough space for everyone in the jungle. Reluctantly, Fairbourne and Tengar have to realize that he is right from his point of view.

When radio transmission of the management report to the superiors, the two send too long for the Japanese to take a bearing. The next morning the village is bombed by two Japanese planes and fired at with weapons on board. Although the damage is apparently limited, Leroy is angry and thinks about selling the two to the Japanese. Fairbourne makes it unequivocally clear that this would not change anything as it would only send more troops. Finally, Leroy gives in and demands freedom and security for his people, also for the time after the war. He wants weapons for defense and a contract with the Commander in Chief of the Allied Forces in the Southwest Pacific (AD: General MacArthur), which is de facto impossible for Fairbourne to achieve.

Fairbourne then calls for technical and weapons assistance to train the natives and, he hopes, undermine Leroy's authority. Shortly afterwards, a special command and supplies arrive by parachute, which is appropriately recognized by the villagers as an “arrival from heaven”. The training goes to everyone's satisfaction, but instead of weakening Leroy's authority, the troops quickly adapt to the living conditions in the village and consider “the king a nice guy”. Fairbourne too has to admit that he had a wrong opinion of the king, but continues to stay out of village life.

Then there is an incident through which the tribal structure threatens to break apart. Gwai's baby, whose mother he had stolen from another tribe and who died, is now also to be killed according to tribal laws. Gwai wants to prevent this by all means and threatens the other tribal warriors with one of the weapons that were flown in to fight the Japanese. Leroy, whose hands are tied by tribal law, has to watch the situation worsen. Fairbourne recognizes the predicament and agrees to kill the baby, as he, as an outsider, is not subject to tribal laws and thus no blood feud can be triggered. To the horror of all bystanders, he prepares to shoot the baby. At the last second Leroy falls into his arms and declares the child to be his own, so that it is no longer endangered by the new relationship. Angry and disgusted, he asks Fairbourne why he wanted to shoot the child. He only replies: "You almost saw it" and "I've watched you for a long time - you really are a king."

After completing the training, the first deployment against the Japanese army takes place, in which the unit encounters an opposing patrol. Fairbourne, who suffers from malaria and has never seen Japanese up close, gets the idea of ​​wanting to take a photo, and is promptly discovered. In the ensuing battle, he is separated from his people and wanders around aimlessly in delirium. He is finally discovered by the Japanese officer on horseback and Leroy at the same time. Leroy just manages to save Fairbourne over a bridge, which is destroyed behind him.

Back in the village, Fairbourne is nursed back to health. During his feverish dreams he often called out "Vivian", his fiancée whom he misses painfully. Leroy, worried about Fairbourne's negative attitude towards women in the village, is relieved by this simple explanation. As for Fairbourne's promises of freedom and security for the tribe after the war, he and Yoo still don't believe him.

Fairbourne decides to push through the contract with Leroy with his superiors and is picked up by a small plane. Upon his arrival at the headquarters, he is greeted by his fiancée Vivian, who is fascinated by his stories and finally asks him if Leroy is also his king. During a private meeting with his superior Colonel Fergerson, Fergerson made it clear to him that he had no understanding of Fairbourne's sympathies for the natives and that Fairbourne would sooner or later have to betray them in order to fulfill his duties as a British officer. In addition, he strictly rejects the contract requested by Leroy. Shortly thereafter, Fairbourne and Fergerson are summoned to see General MacArthur about the "Mad King Business". To the horror of his adjutant, General Sutherland, who wanted to get rid of the matter at the door so as not to bother the chief of the Allied forces in the Pacific with such ridiculousness, MacArthur signs the treaty drawn up by Fairbourne. He explains that history is always written by "extraordinary men - some even become kings, others only leave the trace of a stone that is thrown into the ocean." Since he does not know what one is dealing with here, he can calmly sign the contract - and unspokenly wash your hands with it in innocence. Fairbourne is nevertheless overjoyed and thanks her warmly. After a goodbye scene with Vivian in front of a waiting plane, the plot returns to the jungle.

Things didn't just develop positively there. In the three days of his absence, the ties between the special unit and the villagers, especially the women, have become even closer. Leroy is impressed with the signed contract, although he knows it will likely not be fulfilled. For him, this was a vote of confidence from Fairbourne, because "only people count, not life". In return, he shows Fairbourne the secret pass of the clouds, over which one can bypass the jungle. A Stone Age people who have never had contact with a civilization live in the vicinity. Leroy is also concerned about this and demands that the pass cave should be filled with explosives in order to block access for the protection of all in an emergency. So the days of peace end and war breaks out completely. Yoo has dark premonitions and is afraid of the "wind from the south-west, the wind of flies". Leroy tries to calm her down.

The Australian army has landed and is driving the Japanese troops inland as expected. The sinking of the Japanese army is "as sad as the sinking of a large ship". Hunger and madness rule the jungle and gruesome fighting takes place, in which the heads of the enemies are traditionally captured by the natives. Only a strong unit, led by a colonel on horseback, inexplicably resists doom. This “phantom column” “fights like Genghis Khan” and is evidently well looked after. It moves towards the Pass der Wolken, head-on towards Leroy's village. Eventually the Sengar village is destroyed. The inhabitants initially disappeared without a trace, until Sergeant Tenga found their remains: only the bones, they were eaten by the Japanese troops. The shock about this new horror is deep and it is decided to lure the "phantom column" into an ambush in order to finally destroy them.

The operation fails completely, on the contrary, the Japanese troops manage to surprise and overrun the lurking unit during a thunderstorm at dusk. The unit is greatly decimated and has to gather again in the morning. The "phantom column" meanwhile moved over the pass of the clouds towards the village. Leroy is beside himself and pursues her with all the men still available. At the pass there is fighting with the Japanese rearguard, applauded by the completely confused Stone Age people. Finally the breakthrough to the village succeeds, which was encircled by the Japanese troops. Leroy and Fairborne are late and outnumbered so they can't stop the carnage. After merciless fighting they manage to push the Japanese troops away from the village - too late for Yoo and most of the women and children.

Leroy goes insane and falls into a blood frenzy. Much of the surviving Japanese were spotted in a river bed nearby. Fairbourne's proposal to leave them to the Air Force bombers is rejected as cowardly by all the natives. Singing, you circle the surviving enemies in a valley basin of the river. These no longer have a chance. With the cry “I AM LEROY!” He opens the final carnage. After that there is dead silence. Leroy wants to know what day it is. Fairbourne replied that it was August 6, 1945 shortly after 8:00 a.m. (Ed .: about 10 minutes before the first atomic bomb was dropped). Leroy vows never to raise his hand to anyone from that moment on. Fairbourne and the remnants of the special unit continue to pursue Japanese troops and the like. a. the escaped phantom colonel. They get into an ambush in which Fairbourne is life-threateningly wounded by a bayonet. He is sure that he will die and goes into a coma.

Almost three weeks later, he woke up in a hospital in Brunei. Vivian is with him and tells him that the war is over. The Japanese phantom Colonel Mitamura surrendered to Leroy straight away after he went to him without weapons and "allowed him to see the sky again". As expected, the Allies do not keep the treaty with Leroy, which leads to a battle between Australian troops and the natives. When Colonel Fergerson visits Fairbourne, he tells Fairbourne that the division is planning to send a heavy howitzer up the Pass of the Clouds, a death sentence for Leroy's village. Fairbourne then reveals to Fergerson something about the salt supply to the natives to avoid further bloodshed. A few days later, Leroy, Sergeant Conclen, who has also deserted, and the Japanese Colonel Mitamura surrender to the Australian troops. Gwai and Leroy's daughter lead the natives back into the jungle. Leroy is mistreated as a deserter by the Australians. Colonel Fergerson is furious about it - "It ends badly, that's how it has to be." - and demotes the unit commander.

After his recovery, Fairbourne visits the Japanese Colonel Mitamura at his hangman's meal, the day before the scheduled execution. He turns out to be an educated, sensitive person and shows no fear of death. When asked why, he explains to Fairbourne that he and his people had a duty to fight and survive. They descended so deep into horror that there was no escape. It was not the lust for evil that brought them to these deeds, but the hunger for some bread and rice. Leroy has also become his king and he admires him. He also tells Fairbourne that the King values ​​him highly and sees him as a person of great value.

Fairbourne is promoted to major for his services and receives a medal. He is leaving Borneo forever. What will become of him and Vivian remains unclear. Leroy is also on the ship, which is supposed to take him to Manila to be tried as a deserter before a court-martial. When the ship hits a reef in the "Strait of Mindanao", Fairbourne frees him with the words "For King and Fatherland". Fairbourne wants him "out there as a free man". Leroy swims ashore and waves to Fairbourne, who mumbles "Farewell to the King" in the last scene.

Reviews

The lexicon of international films writes about this: Unoriginal jungle war picture book; naive, psychologically superficial, predictable in the development of the plot. The subject of forced violence ebbs away in a lengthy jungle story of conventional design and apathetic dramaturgy.

Roger Ebert ( Chicago Sun-Times , March 3, 1989) wrote that Milius had no message to convey. The strength of the portrayal of Nolte is that he appears in the jungle as in his own element, not like a guest. The action is predictable.

Hal Hinson ( Washington Post , March 3, 1989) wrote that the film was like a boy's dream about a simple, natural life. The real enemy is civilization. The images seem haphazard and random, the fight scenes are limp and uninteresting.

Others

The film, shot in Hawaii and Malaysia , opened in US cinemas on March 3, 1989, grossing over US $ 2.4 million .

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Farewell to the King. In: Lexicon of International Films . Film service , accessed July 30, 2017 .Template: LdiF / Maintenance / Access used 
  2. ↑ Critique in the Chicago Sun-Times
  3. ↑ Critique in the Washington Post