Kirk Douglas gives a typically commited and physical performance in the lead of an interesting cast of character actors in an action/war/melodrama/problem picture 50's western.
There are lashings of brilliant location settings and crisp but muted and naturalistic cinematography which emphasise the natural and environmental tapestry that the human characters act upon.
There are melodramatic happenings based on lovesick, horny, jealous courtships and on friendships and familial relations. There is action and adventure and there are stunts and shooting galore at times.
The supporting cast of very excellent virtue are sadly underused, their characters being often less important background for Kirk Douglas than the physical surroundings. Even the primary antagonist, played by Walter matteu, is lost in the background and given less than satisfactory form for large parts of the film.
The Indian Fighter can't quite put all this together into a complementary whole and it feels as though the plot, the characters, the themes and the action are unable to coexist harmoniously. Much like how the family relatives can't and the 'white man' settlers and native "red skins" can't, and obviously will never be able to.
In this way 'The Indian Fighter' accidentally holds fast with it's artistic themes as a dramatic piece: the love story "chase" causes the climax of bad intentions to boil into open conflict by displacing the attention and energies of the protagonist from his professional mission but its 'culmination' offers the eventual avenue for resolution of that conflict. Also this love story unbalances the film as a drama for most of it's length but finally wraps up it's narrative to elucidate the film's theme of the reluctant warrior men and survivor women, and the unstoppable gravity of violence that their peers construct about them.
I do not believe that this is anything but unintentional however, it is simply that the film fails to build itself up, brick by brick, course by course, steo by step, until it's clear and convenient love story success introduces us to "The End". So the art form does indeed follow it's thematic subject. But that's the problem. It shouldn't follow it ....it should lead it!
This is why I have mixed feelings towards 'The Indian Fighter': this film has a powerful lead actor, a lovely supporting cast, great location cinematography, a skilled genre movie director and it has themes and moral issues that it wishes to put forth. The execution is the let down. The whole is less than the sum of it's parts. That is a regrettable outcome.
I rate at 5.5/10 and I want to round that up to 6 on IMDb but I can't this time. I recommend to fans of 'problem westerns' and 'anti-westerns', maybe even to fans of revisionist westerns, if they can hold to a 50's temper and timbre. Otherwise it's main credits to the general film fan are it's cast of faces, it's attempts at depth, and mostly it's wonderful photography.
There are lashings of brilliant location settings and crisp but muted and naturalistic cinematography which emphasise the natural and environmental tapestry that the human characters act upon.
There are melodramatic happenings based on lovesick, horny, jealous courtships and on friendships and familial relations. There is action and adventure and there are stunts and shooting galore at times.
The supporting cast of very excellent virtue are sadly underused, their characters being often less important background for Kirk Douglas than the physical surroundings. Even the primary antagonist, played by Walter matteu, is lost in the background and given less than satisfactory form for large parts of the film.
The Indian Fighter can't quite put all this together into a complementary whole and it feels as though the plot, the characters, the themes and the action are unable to coexist harmoniously. Much like how the family relatives can't and the 'white man' settlers and native "red skins" can't, and obviously will never be able to.
In this way 'The Indian Fighter' accidentally holds fast with it's artistic themes as a dramatic piece: the love story "chase" causes the climax of bad intentions to boil into open conflict by displacing the attention and energies of the protagonist from his professional mission but its 'culmination' offers the eventual avenue for resolution of that conflict. Also this love story unbalances the film as a drama for most of it's length but finally wraps up it's narrative to elucidate the film's theme of the reluctant warrior men and survivor women, and the unstoppable gravity of violence that their peers construct about them.
I do not believe that this is anything but unintentional however, it is simply that the film fails to build itself up, brick by brick, course by course, steo by step, until it's clear and convenient love story success introduces us to "The End". So the art form does indeed follow it's thematic subject. But that's the problem. It shouldn't follow it ....it should lead it!
This is why I have mixed feelings towards 'The Indian Fighter': this film has a powerful lead actor, a lovely supporting cast, great location cinematography, a skilled genre movie director and it has themes and moral issues that it wishes to put forth. The execution is the let down. The whole is less than the sum of it's parts. That is a regrettable outcome.
I rate at 5.5/10 and I want to round that up to 6 on IMDb but I can't this time. I recommend to fans of 'problem westerns' and 'anti-westerns', maybe even to fans of revisionist westerns, if they can hold to a 50's temper and timbre. Otherwise it's main credits to the general film fan are it's cast of faces, it's attempts at depth, and mostly it's wonderful photography.