A Man Called Horse

A Man Called Horse remains an incredible experience. Hollywood at the end of the Sixties started to look at the Western in ways that were unthinkable just ten years before. Here, there are no cowboys only Indians and what we get is a brave attempt at a genuine understanding of the Native American life in the 1820s. With over 60% of the language in non-English without subtitles you would expect to be lost or bored - but that simply isn't the case. The tone and setting of the film make it very easy to come along with and an excellent performance by Richard Harris as the first captured and abused then wanting to fit in British nobleman makes compulsive viewing. All in all, this is truly landmark cinema - it made a huge impact when it was released - and I promise you you will be affected by it - it has a real psychological effect on the viewer. Powerful film-making and a terrific film.

Although this film appeared to be a western for the 1970's, the story was not new. The writer, Dorothy M. Johnson, originally wrote it for the T.V. series Wagon Train (1957-65). Ralph Meeker was cast then in the Richard Harris role, and an excellent job he made of it, in his quiet way. A good story will always stand the test of time, as this proves.

Richard Harris plays English aristocrat John Morgan, who gets captured by the Sioux Indians. They call him "horse" and try to force him to become one of them. Morgan resists at first, but as he is with them for a while, he comes to identify with them, and finally goes through their initiation ceremony, which doesn't look too pleasant. Like another 1970 movie about a white man living among the Indians ("Little Big Man"), "A Man Called Horse" shows the Old West from the Indians' point of view. And of course, both these movies came out long before "Dances with Wolves", so they should certainly get credit before it does. Oh yeah, and that man who plays Black Eagle (Eddie Little Sky)? You might have seen him on "Gilligan's Island" as various Pacific Islanders.

GOOD - This was a fairly interesting story that included some nice photography in spots. The movie does a good job of making one feel part of what it must have been like to be a Sioux Indian during the early 19th century, with all their customs and ways of life. This is an intense at times, too. BAD - Whitle the aforementioned intenseness keeps your attention, it also means there are some very unpleasant scenes in here, especially when Harris must undergo tests of courage and pain. This movie is not always enjoyable to watch. The film also has too much Sioux dialog with no interpretations (subtitles) of what the Native Americans are saying.

I have to laugh sometimes when I read otherwise sane comments from amateur reviewers. This film has fairly awkward productions values compared to the present, also many of the actors playing native people are very much NOT native. That aside, this is a BREAKTHROUGH movie for Hollywood circa 1970. This movie is not similiar to Dances With Wolves-it's effectively the other way around. I find it strange so many people make that comment. This movie predates the other by more than THIRTY YEARS!!! Anyway ackward production values aside the presentation of the Lakota is far from the touchy feely view Costner presented,we see the brutal side of their way of doing things also, which is as factual as what we see today just not very PC. This is a great period classic,well worth watching.

A MAN CALLED HORSE is a solid enough western of its day, perhaps slightly dated for the modern viewer but a film that still provides a hard-hitting and thought-provoking journey. Richard Harris is well cast as the tough hunter captured by the Sioux tribe and forced to undergo all manner of indignities, tribulations, and torture as he gradually finds himself accepted by a race he previously viewed as inferior. Yep, this is the DANCES WITH WOLVES of its day, and while not as glossy or well made as that film, it's still quite engaging. What's most interesting is how much of a visual story this is, with barely any dialogue which means the film gets by on physicality alone. The torture scenes remain gruelling to this day.