Ulzana's Raid

Holy cow!  I've been gone for over a year.  I know no one is reading this blog, but it still feels like I let someone down.  Here's the excuse: my laptop has been broken for 13 months.  I put off fixing my computer for 13 months.  That's some new level of lazy.

Anyway, let's begin.

The more I watch the films of Robert Aldrich, the more convinced I am that he is a bit of an unsung genius.  The man may not have been making classics for the ages ("Kiss Me Deadly" aside), but he did make films that are note perfect for the intended audience: men.

"Ulzana's Raid" is a man-tastic movie.  It centers around an Apache Indian name Ulzana who takes a war party across Arizona in a murderous rampage.  The Army entrusts the hunt to a scout named MacIntosh and a newly graduated lieutenant.  The film alternates between violent Indian attacks and MacIntosh's awesome, manly, Old West wisdom until culminating in the film bloody shootout.

"Ulzana's Raid" is a film about grey areas.  Does the Army have the right to go kill Ulzana?  Of course.  He's out there killing innocent homesteaders.  Does Ulzana have a good reason to kill white people?  Of course.  White men have done wrong by him.  This movie may strike a richer chord today in our world of terrorist threat.  The concept of an enemy that knows no bounds or respect for human life is extremely prescient.

Aldrich pulls no punches.  There is violence in this movie that still shocks nearly 40 years later.  I found myself yelling things like, "Oh shit!" and "Goddamn!!" and "Kill that motherfucker!!!" at my television.  The best recommendation I can give this movie is that I had a great time watching it.  What more can I ask from a movie than that?

The directing is solid.  Nothing fancy, just straightforward storytelling and clean, easy to follow action (modern Hollywood directors could learn a thing or two).  This may be Aldrich's greatest strength.  He is no frills.  This makes him more of an everyman's director than Fuller and Peckinpah.

Combine that simple, masculine direction with an actor like Burt Lancaster (one of my all-time favorite actors!) and "Ulzana's Raid" becomes a great film.  Burt Lancaster was a charming, intensely athletic actor in his youth, but somehow he became more interesting as he aged.  He gained a distinction and wisdom that few other silver screen stars have ever possessed.  His methodical plotting and philosophical musings probably would have been unconvincing coming from a lesser actor.  Thank God he got this role because Aldrich might just as likely have cast Lee Marvin (again) but as much as I love Marvin, this is the kind of role for the older, more sensitive Lancaster.

Please watch this movie.  It's a wonderful film that deserves far more recognition than it receives.  "Ulzana's Raid" is now among my top movies to watch with your dad.  He'd be proud to know that his cinephile son isn't just a Fellini-loving namby pamby.

Rating: 8 out of 10