It's a bit long and drags in the second half, but it's worth seeing for Caine and for the unusual setting: how many films in English are set in early 17c Germany? Caine is the captain of a multinational band of mercenaries who stumble upon Eden-- the only valley in Germany left untouched by war and plague-- and decide to stay a while. Sharif plays the educated refugee who keeps looking appalled (he's also the proxy for the writer). It's all decked out realistically but it isn't really a re-creation of 17c. It's more like a modern writer's take on the 17c. In its conception the Catholics are blind idol-worshipping fanatics and the Protestants are wild idol-smashing fanatics and boys who see men shoot guns grow up to be killers. While all this is arguably true, it gets laid on a bit too thick. And it's planned out in scenes, just like a TV movie. But the photography and the locations in the Alps look great. And Caine is believably, and occasionally hilariously, German.
Review of The Last Valley
