Horsemen on scorched earth
| Movie | |
|---|---|
| German title | Horsemen on scorched earth |
| Original title | The Jack Bull |
| Country of production | United States |
| original language | English |
| Publishing year | 1999 |
| length | 116 minutes |
| Age rating | FSK 12 |
| Rod | |
| Director | John Badham |
| script | Dick Cusack |
| production | Kevin Reidy |
| music | Lennie Niehaus |
| camera | Gale Tattersall |
| cut | Frank Morriss |
| occupation | |
| |
Rider on scorched earth (original title: The Jack Bull) is a late-west by John Badham , produced for television in 1999 , which addresses the demand for legal justice. The script is based on the novella Michael Kohlhaas (1810) by Heinrich von Kleist . Alternative titles are The Jack Bull - Riders on Scorched Earth and Wyoming.
action
Myrl Redding ran a farm and horse breeding business in rural Rawlins , Wyoming , circa 1885 . He has a wife and a son. When he wants to bring a few horses for sale at auction in Casper , the self-righteous rancher Henry Ballard demands a road toll, which Redding cannot pay immediately. Redding leaves two stallions and his Indian colleague Billy Redwood with Ballard as a deposit. On the way back he finds his horses injured, battered and emaciated. Billy Redwood had already fled from the beatings and injured dogs chased on him. Redding demands that Ballard restore the horses to their original condition and give Billy $ 50 in compensation for pain and suffering, which Ballard maliciously refuses.
Redding hires a lawyer to enforce his claims, who half-heartedly tries to bring proceedings with the local judge Wilkins, who is friends with Ballard both privately and professionally, and dismisses the case. Redding's wife Cora is now trying to get help in Cheyenne through the woman friend of the chief prosecutor, Metcalfe. There Ballard's henchmen who happened to be present beat Woody, the foreman Reddings who had accompanied Cora. He is thrown against a carriage, which breaks loose and drives over Cora. Dying, she hands the application to Metcalf, who later sends it back to the responsible local judge.
The Wyoming Territory is striving for statehood recognition during these months; Redding realizes that the therefore still uncertain case law will not help him. He sells his land to his neighbors and hires about forty people from Rawlins with whom he wants to ride against Ballard. Redding formulates his unchanged request and hands it over to Ballard. After the seven-day deadline had passed without success, he and his followers stormed Ballard's ranch, which, however, narrowly managed to escape. In pursuit of Ballard, Redding had his claim printed and distributed. Redding burns down the barn for a relative of Ballard's who does not want to reveal his whereabouts. Redding and his people come across Slater, Ballard's foreman, in the woods. When trying to shoot Billy from behind, Redding kills Slater in self-defense. When Billy and Redding approach Farmer Mathis' property, the latter shoots wildly and accidentally hits his wife. Redding gets an amnesty and due process from the governor in the claims matter for his horses and the compensation for pain and suffering if he and Billy end the hunt for Ballard and come to Cheyenne. Redding agrees, Billy flees. In the process that Judge Tolliver is lawfully conducting, Redding's demands are granted: Ballard is sentenced to restore the horses to their original condition with his own hands on the Myrl Redding farm and is sentenced to two years' imprisonment for perjury . Since the jury believed Farmer Mathis testimony that Redding shot his wife, Redding is sentenced to death.
After Ballard cared for the horses for Redding against his will on his farm in chains and under guard, Ballard is then taken to prison, where he is supposed to serve the remainder of his sentence. Wilkins is then informed personally by Tolliver, who holds him responsible for everything that happened, that he is behind a procedure that is supposed to remove him from his office for his corruption and that will most likely be successful. Redding is hanged the same day. Then his son goes home with the horses and his father's body.
Reviews
The lexicon of international films writes that the Kohlhaas- oriented western knows how to convince in all respects and can join an important film tradition. Despite many references, the film is not a copy of known material, but its continuation by other means, which raises questions of justice against the background of a society that is preparing to hand over the right to vigilante justice into the hands of the state jurisdiction.
production
Locations
The film was shot at the CL Ranch in Calgary and the Heritage Park Historical Village (both Canada ).
Voice actor
John Cusack is not spoken here by his standard German voice, Andreas Fröhlich .
| actor | Voice actor | role |
| John Cusack | Charles Rettinghaus | Myrl Redding |
| LQ Jones | Jochen Schröder | Henry Ballard |
| Rex Linn | Detlef Bierstedt | Shelby Dykes |
World premieres
The first broadcast in the United States was on 17 April 1999. In Germany the film was the first time on May 1, 2000 Premiere to see. The film was released on January 27, 2003 as a German DVD and on November 28, 2011, the German first release was on Blu-ray .
Additional information
See also
- Michael Kohlhaas - The Rebel , German film from 1969
Web links
- The Jack Bull in the Internet Movie Database (English)
literature
- Michael Staiger: Michael Kohlhaas in the media change. A comparison of Kleist's narrative with its filmic transformations. In: German lessons. 63, No. 1, 2011, ISSN 0340-2258 , pp. 55-67.
Individual evidence
- ↑ Horsemen on Scorched Earth. In: Lexicon of International Films . Film service , accessed March 2, 2017 .