The Horsemen ( The Horse men )

The Horsemen (DVD) (*)

~~$21.99~~ $15.97

Original Title: The Horse men
Language Selections:
Dutch ( Subtitles )
English ( Mono )
English ( Subtitles )
French ( Mono )
French ( Subtitles )
German ( Mono )
German ( Subtitles )
Italian ( Mono )
Italian ( Subtitles )
Portuguese ( Subtitles )
Spanish ( Mono )
Spanish ( Subtitles )

Product Origin/Format:
Spain ( PAL/Region 2 )

Running Time:
105 min

Aspect Ratio:
Widescreen (2.35:1)

Special Features:
Interactive Menu
Scene Access
Trailer(s)

Movie filmed in 1971 and produced in:
United States ( USA, Canada )

Directed By:
John Frankenheimer

Written By:
Joseph Kessel
Dalton Trumbo

Actors:
Omar Sharif ..... Uraz
Leigh Taylor-Young ..... Zareh
Jack Palance ..... Tursen
David de Keyser ..... Mukhi
Peter Jeffrey ..... Hayatal
Mohammad Shamsi ..... Osman Bey
George Murcell ..... Mizrar
Eric Pohlmann ..... Merchant in Kandahar
Ishaq Bux ..... Amjad Kahn
Carlos Casaravilla ..... Messenger
José Luis Chinchilla ..... Head Syce
Mark Colleano ..... King
P. De Quevedo ..... Uljan (as Despo)
Srinanda De ..... Zam Hajji
Despo Diamantidou ..... District Chief
Vernon Dobtcheff ..... Chikana Proprietor
Saeed Jaffrey ..... Ghulam
Leon Lissek ..... Salih (as Salmaan Peer)
Ricardo Palacios ..... Aqqul
Salmaan Peerzada ..... Bacha to Ghulam
Milton Reid ..... Scribe
Aziz Resham ..... Gypsy Woman
John Ruddock ..... Quadir
Vida St. Romaine ..... Little Governor
Sy Temple ..... Nurse
Jesús Tordesillas ..... Gardi Gay
Tom Tryon
Barbara Wain
Alan Webb

Synopsis:

The Horsemen is a 1971 film starring Omar Sharif, directed by John Frankenheimer; screenplay by Dalton Trumbo. Based on a novel by French writer Joseph Kessel, Les Cavaliers (The Horsemen) shows Afghanistan and its people the way they were before the wars that wracked the country, particularly their love for the sport of buzkashi.

Director John Frankenheimer, extrapolating from his earlier films The Gypsy Moths and Grand Prix, examines machismo and how men test themselves to the limits of endurance in The Horsemen. The film takes place in modern day Afghanistan. Uraz (Omar Sharif), the son of Tursen (Jack Palance), the stable master for a feudal lord, is a master horseman who lives by a primitive code of honor. Uruz's family honor is damaged when he breaks his leg playing the game which is the Afghani equivalent of polo. His father, who lost a lot of money betting on his son, will barely speak to him. To regain the family honor (and wealth) he must somehow re-learn how to ride -- after his injuries cost him his leg below the knee. In the face of great obstacles, and despite the derision and treachery of others, he gains the chance to play in the games given by the king of Afghanistan. The footage of the horsemanship in these dangerous and anarchic games is one of the real highlights of this film.

In the poor, desolate northern provinces of the mountainous feudal Sunni kingdom of Afghanistan (before the Soviet-engineered republican revolutions), the status of the proud men and their clans is determined less by wealth or even military power (both rare) then by victories in the ancient, though game of buskashi, a vicious form of polo dating back to Genghis Khan, in which the chapendaz (participating horsemen) use their horse-whips on both mounts and rivals in a ruthless fight for a heavy 'ball', a dead calf, which must be carried a long way, almost impossible with all the others mercilessly assailing. Tursen, a former champion, now holds the status of village notable thanks to his position as stable-keeper of the regional lord Osman Bey, and has finally bred a horse without equal, the white stallion Jahil, in time for the royal tournament on the plain of Bagrami, just outside the capital Kabul. As Tursen is too old and has a crooked leg, his son Uraz, even prouder and with a morbidly self-destructive need to prove himself against desperate odds, represents their stable, and after defeating every local adversary it's time to try his luck in Kabul, with a powerful incentive: after victory, he may keep the triumphant horse they cherish above life itself. It's a terribly long, dangerous road across the unforgiving Hindu Kush mountains, and despite a valiant fight Uraz looses the prize and has his leg badly fractured, but decides stubbornly to return home without healing in hospital, so gangrene sets in. His servant, the humble-born groom Mokkhi, is only persuaded to join the quasi-suicidal journey as Jahil is promised to him, but the horse in equally desired by the 'unclean' nomad Zareh whose female charms tempts the men, a deadly combination in itself...

This product was added to our catalog on Tuesday 13 May, 2008.

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