Posted on 02/25/2015 5:50:51 AM PST by Travis McGee
"The Last Valley" stars Michael Caine and Omar Sharif, it's set in Germany in the 1640s during the Thirty Years War.I stumbled upon this forgotten masterpiece from 1971 a few days ago when I obtained some old VHS tapes from a friend.
Just update the story line 400 years, change it to Christians vs Muslims, give everybody an AK-47, and this may be what the future is going to bring.
The movie flopped at the box office for a number of reasons unrelated to its quality. The John Barry soundtrack alone is stunning.
"The Last Valley" is now on Youtube in 12 minute segments. At least watch the first two segments, if you have time. Many social and military issues in the movie are timeless. This is the best SHTF/prepper movie I can ever remember watching.
“...reasons unrelated to quality.”
Such as?
Will have to ask Borges if it's "art".
Later
It's a timeless post-SHTF drama with many lessons for the future.
At least watch the first two 12-minute Youtube segments. The credits end at 3 minutes in.
Extreme wide-screen format that didn’t fit many theaters. Terrible backing by the studio. Some critics didn’t like Caine’s German accent, I thought it was fine.
I remember this film. It was pretty good.
Watching it though, I could see were it would mean absolutely nothing to people who don’t know history.
The ‘uninformed’ like films where they only need to ‘bring’ the price of the ticket.
They don’t need to bring a frame of reference, some pertinent information, a functional understanding of the facts, discernment and perspective... etc.
Most films NOW are made for idiots who only HAVE the price of the ticket and nothing else.
That’s why they are films loaded with action, gore, literal acting... and become nothing but an assault on the senses.... this is what passes for ‘entertainment’ and its appeal is limited to people only interested in gratification and shock value.
mark for later
Boring? Hardly! Watch the first segment or two and then let’s discuss it.
Thanks for posting this.
Michael Caine, in that 1970’s time-frame, was heavily influenced by his (drop-dead-gorgeous) wife.
Middle-east politics and religious concerns are foremost in his work of that time.
Reference: “The Man Who Would Be King”.
An Amazon review:
The Last Valley, written and directed by the historical novel writer James Clavell. It is co-written by J. B. Pick, whose only other claim to fame is being the screenwriter of the Dean Martin, Matt Helm movie, The Wrecking Crew. That aside this is a well made film with a great story. Filmed on location in the Tyrol area of Italy, these natural and scenic backdrops add historical credibility to this film, as well as providing breathtaking views.
The story is about a Captain, played brilliantly by Michael Caine, in charge of a group of multi-national mercineries during the 17th Century Thirty Years War. It is also about a wanderer, seeker, and a man escaping from the ravages of war, Vogel, played by Omar Sharif. There is also a large international supporting cast, who all do their part, most notable being Nigel Davenport as the Village elder, Per Oscarsson as the village priest, and Arthur O’Connell, most known for his part on the 70’s TV show, Chico and the Man.
What started out as Religious Wars, mainly in what is present day Germany, and Alpine Valleys quickly turned into political jocking by petty German Princes, the Holy Roman Emporer, the Kings of France, Sweden, and Denmark. Added to all this war destruction were outbreaks of the plague. The film does a wonderful job with reconstructing this historical backdrop, even with minor details, like when the village priest asks one of the soldiers “Are you a Lutheran Protestant, a Calvin Protestant, or God forbid a heretical Anabaptist or Satan worshiper.” While the Catholics and Protestants, throughout the 17th century, had a love-hate relationship, to put it mildly, the both agreed on their disdain for all things Anabaptist (present day Mennonites, Amish and Hutterites.)
Michael Caine, as the Captain, plays a freebooting leader of a religiously mixed group of mercenaries, who wreak havoc and destruction on any city, town, or village in their way. They have two rules, the Captain calls the shots, and they are not allowed to discuss religion. Omar Sharif plays Vogel, an educated wanderer, all too familiar with the ravages of this hypocritical war. He has been running from it for 20 years. Things are so bad, that even gold and silver, have lost their appeal. All people want is peace and the ability to farm their small part of the world. The film opens with an emaciated Vogel wandering into a small village trying to purchase food and shelter, not seconds later, rumbling down the moutains into the valley are the Captains soldiers, who burn, pillage, and rape with abandon, and some with a self-imposed blessing by God in their warrior pursuits. So, once again Vogel is forced to run, over mountains and valleys until he comes by a deserted, idyllic, little village in a naturally protected valley. But, his peace doesn’t last long before the Captain arrives in the same place. They find the villagers hiding in the mountains. Vogel convinces the captain that this, little piece of paradise, would make a great place to winter over, and he being educated could act as the go-between soldier and peasants. I don’t want to give more away, but against the backdrop of war, fanatical religion, lust, and a search for peace this story continues to unfold.
This is a great movie, running, 2 hours and 5 minutes. Michael Caine is brilliant as the pragmatic, unbelieving warrior. Omar Sharif, as a kind of naive 17th century, Parsifal, plays off of Caine’s cynicism and hatred of all things religious and political. There is great inter-personal relationships in this film also.
This movie should be shown in all world history classes as it provides a great tool for what life was like during the Thirty Years War. 5 Stars Plus for this wonderful movie.
For those who know how to access the usenet, a quality DVD rip resides in these groups:
alt.binaries.multimedia.vintage-film.post-1960
alt.binaries.movies.xvid
I agree 100%. If they made it today, they would not do the sword and spear-thrust killings off camera. They would be in gruesome close-up.
I wish this movie would be remastered and re-released in some hi-def format. The soundtrack alone is stunning.
I think the key negative was the Thirty Years War explanation. It fits into four lines of a high school history book, and when it came up in a college history class....it was a six-minute explanation. Because it’s five separate civil wars and built over extreme religious issues...it’s an impossible war to put into any discussion group.
How do you use it?
Thanks Travis. It’s going to be cold this weekend. Sounds like a great way to fill the afternoon.
Another Amazon review.
“The Last Valley” sunk almost without a trace back in the 70’s when it was first released. The only comments I recall from that time were from critics who mercilessly panned Michael Caine’s accent. It’s difficult to see just why the film failed. The script contains hardly a dull line, Clavell’s direction is very good, John Barry’s score is quite simply superb and the acting, with the exception of Arthur O’Connell and Christian Roberts in minor roles, is first class. Michael Caine dominates the film and gets some marvelous dialogue to utter. No wonder he rates his performance so highly and no wonder he’s registered profound disappointment over the negative reviews. It just might be that because the script vigorously berates both Catholic and Protestant religions with equal disdain, the film found itself without a champion from either side to defend it. As for the score, I am at a loss to understand why it at least was not nominated for the Academy Awards that year. John Barry is usually terrific, but his score for “The Last Valley” is his best ever - including “Dances With Wolves”. The performance of Per Oscarrson as the priest is memorable also. A wonderful film that sits comfortably in my top 10 of all time.
This film is a perfect starting point for the discussion, but the theme and message are timeless. The Thirty-Years War is merely the backdrop. 90% of the film takes place in an isolated valley that has remained hidden from the outside strife until “the Captain” arrives with his 15 mercenaries. They are tasked to forage for supplies for an Army, and must decide to pillage the valley, or winter over in it instead. There are parallels and lessons to many wars and eras, not just the Thirty Years War.
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