SpuffyWeb Sadly Over-hyped

Lawbolisted Powerful

Erica Derrick By the time the dramatic fireworks start popping off, each one feels earned.

Maleeha Vincent It's funny, it's tense, it features two great performances from two actors and the director expertly creates a web of odd tension where you actually don't know what is happening for the majority of the run time.

Wuchak RELEASED IN 1970 and directed by Elliot Silverstein, "A Man Called Horse" chronicles events in 1825-1826 when an English aristocrat on a hunting expedition in the Dakotas (Richard Harris) is captured by the Lakota Sioux. As the months pass he starts to understand their way of life and is eventually embraced as part of the tribe. Manu Tupou plays the Lakota chief while Jean Gascon appears as a "crazy" Flathead captured by them, who just so happens to speak fluent French and English (Why Sure!). Corinna Tsopei plays the chief's sister while Judith Anderson is on hand as a cantankerous aged Native.People say that this was the precursor to the great "Dances With Wolves" (1990) and, while this is true, it's the obvious progeny of Westerns like "Broken Arrow" (1950) and, especially, "Run of the Arrow" (1957). Nevertheless, you have to respect a Western that totally eschews the common staples of the genre (quint Western towns, saloons, sheriffs, gunfights, cavalries, stampedes, forts, etc.) and focuses solely on life in-and-around a Native teepee village in the early 1800s.One obvious problem is the fact that a handful of the key Natives are played by Caucasians, but it's hard to hold that against a film made in 1969 and, besides, many of the cast are Native American. Another problem is that the movie purports to take place in what is now western South Dakota or thereabouts, but with the exception of establishing shots at Custer State Park, South Dakota, the movie was shot in Arizona and Mexico 700-1200 miles away! This wouldn't be so bad, but anyone who's been to the Dakota region can tell the difference.Anyway, critics nitpick this or that detail, but the movie effectively puts you in a Native village in the first half of the 19th century. The Sun Dance ceremony is a highlight with its fascinating depiction of the excruciating Vow to the Sun. Again, nitpickers criticize the details, but the Sun Dance was a real ceremony practiced by the Plains culture Natives back then.One thing I really respect is that the filmmakers refused to whitewash the Lakota Sioux in the name of idiotic political correctness. Their first appearance, for instance, shows them ruthlessly murdering several white hunters and stealing their horses and supplies. Moreover, they're plainly shown in a state of brutal war with other tribes. Needless to say, the American West was a far cry from the Garden of Eden before Europeans, etc. came and settled it, which is how eye-rolling liberal academics try to paint it. Aduh.THE FILM RUNS 114 minutes. WRITERS: Jack DeWitt, Dorothy M. Johnson & Gregory Crosby.GRADE: B

Leofwine_draca 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.

MartinHafer "A Man Called Horse" is a very unusual film about the west for many reasons. It's NOT set during the usual 'glory days' when most films of the type were set (1866-1880). It had no cowboys. And, it had very little dialog in English.The film begins with a rich Englishman, John Morgan (Richard Harris), on a hunting expedition in the American West in the 1830s. He and his party are attacked by Sioux warriors and Morgan is taken prisoner by the natives. At first, he's treated like a slave and his life truly sucks. It didn't help that the only one who spoke any English in the tribe was another slave who was French...and the guy was a little nuts! Through the course of the film, however, Morgan learns to respect and even enjoy life with the Sioux and becomes an important member of the tribe. There is naturally much more to it than that but it's best you just see it for yourself.This movie is almost like an ethnographic portrait of the Sioux and the times instead of a typical western film. The usual sorts of clichés and expectations are mostly missing. Some will hate this--some will no doubt be relieved. All I know is that I enjoyed it and liked the more intimate and native-centered approach of the film. Well made all around...though the sun ceremony is NOT for the squeamish.

disdressed12 at the beginning of this movie,there is a blurb about how the events portrayed are taken directly from historical documents of the period.the South Dakota Sioux Indians also had a lot of input into the movie.so,we can assume it is fairly accurate.one thing it does is show the Native American Indians as being just like any other people.this movie took awhile to get going,in my mind,but once it does,it's action packed,and it's very well acted.Richard Harris is the title character.he is a British Lord who is captured by the Sioux in the mid 1800's.first he is treated with disdain,as nothing more than a servant to the aging mother of the chief.gradually,though,things change,though,and he becomes much more.this is a very touching and heart breaking movie.it's also very thought provoking.overall,i give A Man Called Horse a 6/10