ULZANA'S RAID, a surehand western directed by Robert Aldrich, is one of those films that most people have never heard of – even those who confess themselves fans of the genre. A blank look will invariably come into the eyes, accompanied by a shrug of the shoulders. Just another little movie forgotten in the mists of time. However, this is a film that doesn't deserve to be forgotten. It's a western that deserves classic status, mainly because it handles its unusual subject matter in a mature and direct way.
The plot is straightforward: a group of soldiers are sent to pursue an Indian raiding party who have been wreaking havoc across the West. Along the way, there's time for camaraderie, violent showdowns, shoot-outs, and plenty of soul-searching. The latter comes from Bruce Davison, a young actor perfectly cast as the green lieutenant charged with tracking down the brutal Ulzana and his men. The lieutenant is a god-fearing Christian who simply cannot understand the atrocities being carried out by the men he's after, and he's to become a witness of the shocking brutalities carried out by those men. Although Davison is excellent in a prominent role, this movie's main performance is by Burt Lancaster as a weary, experienced tracker who's seen it all before and who leads the search for the missing Indians. His performance here is simply fantastic: he isn't acting, he's living the character on and off the screen, and I look forward to seeing him in more movies.
This is a film heavy on dialogue and with little action – aside from the inevitable final confrontation – so fans raised on modern thrill-a-minute fare will no doubt find it lacking. That's a shame, because the grim subject matter is handled with plenty of sensitivity. Aldrich shot his film during the final days of the chaos in Vietnam, so it's inevitable that a kind of weary cynicism pervades the movie. The atrocities committed by the Indians are never shown but the aftermath is revealed in a couple of telling, horrifying images: bodies strung up with piles of ashes next to them, where they've been burned and tortured. These brief glimpses of savagery are far more effectual than grisly beheadings or scalpings and they've certainly stayed in my mind long after watching. Just one compelling element of what is a very fine and underrated movie.
The plot is straightforward: a group of soldiers are sent to pursue an Indian raiding party who have been wreaking havoc across the West. Along the way, there's time for camaraderie, violent showdowns, shoot-outs, and plenty of soul-searching. The latter comes from Bruce Davison, a young actor perfectly cast as the green lieutenant charged with tracking down the brutal Ulzana and his men. The lieutenant is a god-fearing Christian who simply cannot understand the atrocities being carried out by the men he's after, and he's to become a witness of the shocking brutalities carried out by those men. Although Davison is excellent in a prominent role, this movie's main performance is by Burt Lancaster as a weary, experienced tracker who's seen it all before and who leads the search for the missing Indians. His performance here is simply fantastic: he isn't acting, he's living the character on and off the screen, and I look forward to seeing him in more movies.
This is a film heavy on dialogue and with little action – aside from the inevitable final confrontation – so fans raised on modern thrill-a-minute fare will no doubt find it lacking. That's a shame, because the grim subject matter is handled with plenty of sensitivity. Aldrich shot his film during the final days of the chaos in Vietnam, so it's inevitable that a kind of weary cynicism pervades the movie. The atrocities committed by the Indians are never shown but the aftermath is revealed in a couple of telling, horrifying images: bodies strung up with piles of ashes next to them, where they've been burned and tortured. These brief glimpses of savagery are far more effectual than grisly beheadings or scalpings and they've certainly stayed in my mind long after watching. Just one compelling element of what is a very fine and underrated movie.