Soldier Blue (1970)

User Rating:

6.8/10   

Director:

Ralph Nelson

Writers:

Theodore V. Olsen (novel)
John Gay (screenplay)

Release Date:

30 October 1970 (Sweden)

Genre:

Drama | Western

Tagline:

The most savage film in history!

Plot:

After a cavalry group is massacred by the Cheyenne, only two survivors remain: Honus, a naive private devoted to his duty...

Plot Keywords:

Massacre | Infanticide | Wilderness | Soldier | Color In Title

Cast

Candice Bergen	...	Kathy Maribel Lee, 'Cresta'
Peter Strauss	...	Honus Gent
Donald Pleasence	...	Isaac Q. Cumber
John Anderson	...	Col. Iverson
Jorge Rivero	...	Spotted Wolf
Dana Elcar	...	Capt. Battles
Bob Carraway	...	Lt. McNair
Martin West	...	Lt. Spingarn
James Hampton	...	Pvt. Menzies
Mort Mills	...	Sgt. O'Hearn
Jorge Russek	...	Running Fox
Aurora Clavel	...	Indian woman (as Aurora Clavell)
Ralph Nelson	...	Agent Long (as Alf Elson)

MPAA:

Rated R for strong violence including a rape, and some nudity.

Runtime:

Argentina:115 min | UK:114 min (cut version) | USA:112 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono

Certification:

UK:18 | Canada:PA (Manitoba) | USA:PG (edited for re-rating) (1974) | Canada:R (Ontario) | Iceland:16 | Sweden:15 | Argentina:18 | Australia:(Banned) (original rating) | Australia:M (censored) | Finland:K-18 | Netherlands:16 | Norway:16 | UK:X (cut) | USA:R (original rating) | West Germany:16

Filming Locations:

Mexico

Company:

AVCO Embassy Pictures

Trivia:

James Hampton's film debut.

Quotes:

Col. Iverson: [to Lt McNair] 'McNair! Raze the village! Burn this... pestilence!'

Movie Connections:

Referenced in Grindhouse (2007)

Soundtrack:

Soldier Blue

I look out and I see a land...

Don't miss the beginning at any cost.Or else you would not hear Buffy Sainte-Marie's eponymous anthemic song (Yes this is my country,young and growing free and flowing from sea to sea...).The version of the song as performed here features a string arrangement not present in the original version (which is to be found on BSM's "she used to wanna be a ballerina",vanguard).This song is as moving today as it was 30 years ago,and when the singer implores "can't you see there's another way to love her?" it gains an universal meaning(not only American natives or Vietnamese as it was mooted at the time for the movie)

The movie is famous for the slaughter which ends it.Terribly realistic ,it remains impressive today and may repel some viewers.There's a very strong use of the score during these scenes.But most of the movie deals with the initiatory journey of a young naive soldier,"educated " by a woman who was captured by the Indians and had to live with them for a while.Candice Bergen's performance came aside as a shock at the time because she used to play frail young maids (Robert Wise's "the sand pebbles";Claude Lelouch's "vivre pour vivre" ) before.But there's a problem:her character is not really believable;just compare her with the heroines with a similar fate in Ford's movies :"the searchers" ,1956;"two rode together",1961..They are far from Crista 's outspoken and politically aware character.Actually ,it seems that this woman is a contemporary woman,with Joan Baez's, Buffy Sainte-Marie's or Jane Fonda's mind (in the late sixties)..

For all that,"soldier blue " is worth watching and superbly uses wide screen :the landscapes match Sainte-Marie's song.Primarily an intimate movie,for most of the time there are only two people on the screen.Hence the contrast with the violent finale.