oOgiandujaOo_and_Eddy_Merckx I watched Behold a Pale Horse twice in a row. It's a long movie where little action happens until the end, and there are no heroes.Manuel Artiguez is an outlaw who has continued to fight the Spanish Civil War for twenty years after defeat, from his base in the French town of Pau. His raids appear to serve little to no purpose other than as acts of defiance. His adversary is Captain Viñolas, a venal and rather fatuous adulterer, who despite being a Catholic is as far from grace as the radical atheist Artiguez.Nothing appears to keep the men alive except for adversarialism and antagonism. A small boy Paco, crosses the border to find Artiguez in the hope that he can inspire Artiguez to avenge his father and kill Viñolas. He sees a bull on his trip, and it's pretty clear this represents Artiguez, who knows no other course of action than to fight (and, it's hinted at, womanise). The other children have a natural reaction to Paco, seeking out Artiguez, why would you do such a thing? There are several scenes in the movie where the old revolutionaries are shown alone, interspersed with many vibrant scenes of the young healthily enjoying themselves. Artiguez and Viñolas have become rather insistent irrelevances, in a region which wants to forget the bloodshed. The two of them engaged in a savage and stupid dance of death The young priest Francisco attempts to engage with Artiguez but has little effect. He is a confused man who is only just able to tell the difference between the warmth of his own heart and the coldness of logic. He is a neophyte, although he is able to put a few good thoughts out there. The baroquerie of Lourdes, shown in the movie hardly aids the case for religion with all its fetishisations.It is a sad movie, full of manifest failure on the part of all its participants. One of the final scenes is of several dead participants led out on mortuary trolleys, all for once profoundly equal, the tragicomedy of their lives at an end.The rich black and white photography seems often visually allegorical in its combinations of compositions and saturations. This is particularly the case where Viñolas antagonises a bull as a picador. It is an entirely bewitching movie.

jazerbini I got a DVD copy of "Behold a Pale Horse" and I can now after many years seeing it more calmly as I did a few times. It is a hymn to liberty and resistance to tyranny. Impressive in every way. A film that should make us wonder about its depth. Men who are murdered and banished from their homeland, children who lose their parents and grow up with the feeling of revenge. Mothers who die without the right to see their children banished to another country. Zinnemann made ​​a masterpiece. The black and white only reinforce their distress. Peck have here a magnificent performance as the revolutionary Artiguez that an almost suicidal gesture, and that also deserves further analysis,back to their homeland, knowing that he would die, but why should it back to his mother and the boy who trusted him. The gesture is much more important than the continued oppression of Vinolas, Artiguez knew this would also end. At the end of the film there is the impression that Viñolas is the winner. Applauded by all those who live with tyranny, blind and cowardly. But Viñolas own wonders: Why Artiguez back? Each of us knows the answer: Artiguez returned to prove that it can be beaten but not defeated. His gesture fighting for freedom would bear fruit. Others would follow the the steps of Artiguez finally ridding Spain of terror that dominated the Franco era. A monumental wonderful work.

ma-cortes Intelligent and magnificent film by the great director Fred Zinnemann . It deals with "Manuel Artíguez" (Gregory Peck), he is a popular "maqui" or partisan who after the Spanish Civil War, left the country such as hundreds of comrades to take refuge in France. Twenty years later, "Paco" , a 11 years kid , and son of his best friend passes the Spanish border to ask him for return to Spain and murder the Captain of the Civil Guard, "Viñolas" (Anthony Quinn), in revenge for the death of his father. Artíguez, a resident in the city of Pau is nowadays retired and ignores the request of the boy . But, "Pilar" (Mildred Dunnock) mother of "Artíguez" falls seriously ill, and "Viñolas" decides to prepare a trap that allows capture "Artíguez" . Although a good priest (Omar Sharif) advises Manuel that he's being double-crossed by Carlos (Raymond Pellegrin), Manuel determines to return at whatever cost.Picture inspired by the novel "Killing a mouse on Sunday" by Emeric Pressbuguer in which the personages undergo a physical wage war and ideological battle in post-Spanish Civil War . At the beginning displays frames of the documentary "Morir en Madrid," with opening montage by courtesy by Frederic Rossif. The film was shot in Franstudio, Saint-Maurice, Val-de-Marne, France and Lourdes, Hautes-Pyrénées, France . There was built a Spanish street that followed once time was terminated the shooting . Pressburger's novel was loosely based on the last raid of real-life anarchist guerrilla Antonio Sabate who was murdered in an ambush in 1959.This film is almost unknown since it was banned in Spain for its politics issues until subsequent exhibition in 1979. The movie was prohibited in Spain, which was still commanded by Generalissimo Francisco Franco (deceased in 1975), the victorious General of the Spanish Civil War . And it was scheduled to be telecast on a major American network, but was canceled at the last minute, allegedly at the behest of the Spanish government. Fortunately today we can enjoy this splendid masterpiece , a motion picture masterfully realized and played with a top-notch list of first players . The performers hand perfectly their respective characters . The "Manuel" role in his bitterness and deception is awesome , as well as the "Viñolas" in his toughness and rudeness . Furthermore , a large secondary cast formed by veterans as Mildred Dunnock and Paolo Stoppa ; and brief roles by Daniela Rocca ,Jose Luis Villalonga, Claude Berri , Michael Lonsdale, Christian Marquand and Rosalie Crutchley as the ill wife.This is an interesting and thought-provoking thriller well produced by Alexander Trauner ( also production designer) and Zinnemann . It packs tension , high intrigue , political events and is slow-moving ; however is pretty entertaining . In spite of the fact that the runtime is overlong, is neither tiring , nor dull , but thrilling . The motion picture is stunningly directed by Fred Zinnemann who had a lot of experience from his former classic films as ¨High Noon, From here to eternity, Man for all seasons ¨, among them. Rating : Very Good , better than average. In spite of being such fine movie the picture had a minor success at the box office . Rating : Above average . Essential and indispensable watching , valiant try by all.

davidauth I first saw this black and white movie when I was only 19, and it made a big impression on me. I have always rooted from the underdog, as for example, the role Gregory Peck plays to perfection. Although Anthony Quinn is supposedly the enemy, Peck is really still fighting a lost war, which is a much bigger issue for him than one police chief. This, of course, is why he kills the informer, formerly his close and trusted friend, rather than Anthony Quinn, the police chief. The greater enemy for Peck is the Catholic Church, which sided with Franco and the Nationalists during the Spanish Civil War, just as it did in Nazi Germany, against the Jews. The pivotal revelation and internal conflict for Peck's role is that a simple parish priest has obviously come to his personal aid (the role played by Omar Sharif), rather than that his friend has turned informer. With the Catholic Church on the side of the Republicans, the civil war may have had a different outcome. Of course, under Franco, the dictator-church bond continued and even got stronger. This is why the Franco Government got upset with Columbia Pictures, not because Anthony Quinn has a mistress in the movie! What this shows is that most movie critics know nothing about the Spanish Civil War. This reflects badly on them, rather than on the movie, a great and beautifully filmed example of never giving in to defeat in the face of tyranny.