This film had a lot of good moments but was undone by having a very vague plot that seemed to have no end. Instead of offering clarity, the film just seemed to meander--sometimes for the good but often for the worse. It was if the film makers threw in just about everything they could think of--even if it was irrelevant. How I truly wish they had edited this film and forced it to stick to it!
The film begins with John Mills as a Catholic priest moving to a god-forsaken small town in Mexico to replace their current priest. It seems that the old priest was a broken man, as the town was completely anti-God because the town tough guy (inexplicably played by Dirk Bogarde) didn't want religion in HIS town. For the first half of the film, Bogarde and his men did many horrible things to try to drive Mills off, but despite all the killings and attempted murders, Mills persevered.
Then, almost like magic, this problem just vanished. Bogarde stuck around and was a "kinder, gentler jerk". Heck, there was even a bit of a truce between him and Mills. None of this really made any sense and completely undid the first half of the movie.
However, in addition to a seemingly nicer Bogarde (at least he was no longer killing people), the plot just went all over the place here and the second half of the film was a diffuse mess. Out of nowhere, a very blonde and non-Mexican looking young lady who was friends with the priest announced her love for him. At the same time, I seemed to be noticing a lot of gay subtext--as if Bogarde had notions about Mills--though it was never very clear. Considering that Bogarde was gay in real life and that he ran around in leather (looking like a member of Judas Priest), I think this was intended BUT the movie makers weren't bold enough to go with this--and instead created a confusing mess.
By the way, this is a very strange looking film. Though set in Mexico, there were a lot of British accents and casting Bogarde was just weird. It would have been like casting John Wayne in Shakespeare! Plus, as I mentioned above, the leather outfit he wore was odd--looking like he belonged in an S&M film! Additionally, the French actress Mylène Demongeot played a Mexican--which is odd not just because of the French accent but the very blonde hair and very pale skin! Plus, while the film was supposed to be a Western, some people rode around on horses and looked like they walked out of a Spaghetti Western AND some rode around in cars and used telephones! This was so confusing and just looked sloppy--like they could have cared less if the actors were right for the roles.
Overall, this movie was way too long, way too confusing and way too vague. It was like there were two or three movies all mixed together here and it represents one of the worse John Mills or Dirk Bogarde films I have seen.
The film begins with John Mills as a Catholic priest moving to a god-forsaken small town in Mexico to replace their current priest. It seems that the old priest was a broken man, as the town was completely anti-God because the town tough guy (inexplicably played by Dirk Bogarde) didn't want religion in HIS town. For the first half of the film, Bogarde and his men did many horrible things to try to drive Mills off, but despite all the killings and attempted murders, Mills persevered.
Then, almost like magic, this problem just vanished. Bogarde stuck around and was a "kinder, gentler jerk". Heck, there was even a bit of a truce between him and Mills. None of this really made any sense and completely undid the first half of the movie.
However, in addition to a seemingly nicer Bogarde (at least he was no longer killing people), the plot just went all over the place here and the second half of the film was a diffuse mess. Out of nowhere, a very blonde and non-Mexican looking young lady who was friends with the priest announced her love for him. At the same time, I seemed to be noticing a lot of gay subtext--as if Bogarde had notions about Mills--though it was never very clear. Considering that Bogarde was gay in real life and that he ran around in leather (looking like a member of Judas Priest), I think this was intended BUT the movie makers weren't bold enough to go with this--and instead created a confusing mess.
By the way, this is a very strange looking film. Though set in Mexico, there were a lot of British accents and casting Bogarde was just weird. It would have been like casting John Wayne in Shakespeare! Plus, as I mentioned above, the leather outfit he wore was odd--looking like he belonged in an S&M film! Additionally, the French actress Mylène Demongeot played a Mexican--which is odd not just because of the French accent but the very blonde hair and very pale skin! Plus, while the film was supposed to be a Western, some people rode around on horses and looked like they walked out of a Spaghetti Western AND some rode around in cars and used telephones! This was so confusing and just looked sloppy--like they could have cared less if the actors were right for the roles.
Overall, this movie was way too long, way too confusing and way too vague. It was like there were two or three movies all mixed together here and it represents one of the worse John Mills or Dirk Bogarde films I have seen.