The Wind and the Lion
Studio: Metro Goldwin Mayer (distributed by Warner Brothers)
Production Year: 1975
Rated: PG
Aspect Ratio: 2.35:1
Running Time: 119 minutes
Subtitles: English, French, Spanish
By the mid-1970s, Hollywood’s abandonment of the traditional adventure film in favor of the modern era’s action movie was already well under way. From the exhilarating swashbucklers of Flynn and Fairbanks vintage to the effects- and explosion-intensive celluloid amusement-park rides of today, all the pieces of this transformation were in place by 1975.
Thus it was with a sense of refreshingly retro pleasure that film goers greeted John Milius’s unabashedly old-fashioned exercise in pure adventure. Very loosely based on a real incident,
The Wind and the Lion tells of the 1904 kidnapping by Berber chieftain Mulay Achmed Mohammed el-Raisuli (Sean Connery) of American citizen Eden Pedecaris (Candice Bergen) and her two children. In an effort to embarrass a hopelessly decadent Sultan of Morocco while also humbling a United States of America then proclaiming its speak-softly/carry-a-big-stick foreign policy, the Raisuli would use the hostage situation to make a last stand for Arab traditionalism.
Unfortunately for the Raisuli, neither the French nor the Germans are prepared to sit idly by as geopolitical forces converge on the region, each pushing for its piece of the strategic pie. Into this mix arrives an opportunistic President Theodore Roosevelt (Brian Keith, at the top of his form), seeking to score reelection points by seizing on the kidnapping as a campaign issue ("Pedecaris alive or Raisuli dead!").
In the process, viewers experience the heroics and larger-than-life stature of the Raisuli through the worshipful eyes of a little boy, William Pedecaris. Which brings us to young Simon Harrison and Polly Gottesman, who plays sister Jennifer Pedecaris. What makes these roles shine is that the children act like real children, as opposed to the wise-beyond-their-years miniature adults Hollywood favors now. By flawlessly conveying a childlike innocence throughout the proceedings, these young actors offer audiences the opportunity to indulge in full-on hero worship as the Raisuli, resplendent in all his tribal garb, strides across the screen wielding his sword and his rifle.
Throughout the story, Bergen and Connery maintain a delicate balance in the obvious sexual tension between them that, in the hands of a less-skilled director, would otherwise threaten to go over the top. The result is sexy without the sexuality, which also is out of vogue in modern Hollywood.
Stunningly photographed,
The Wind and the Lion echoes the panoramic, old-fashioned epics of the David Lean era. Yet the action, the
jihad, is on a human scale.
Also worth noting is Jerry Goldsmith’s exceptional score, at times lush and heavily orchestrated while at others intimate and understated. It’s one of his best.
How is the transfer?
All too often, DVD reviewers give kudos to transfers of films that are themselves hugely saturated with palpitating colors (hence the popularity of modern, digital-to-digital animated features). Overlooked, however, is the true test of a film-to-video transfer’s excellence: adherence to the look, feel, and sound of the original film. If the original film itself is understated and the DVD maintains that look faithfully, the reviewer tends unnecessarily to lower his or her ranking of the disc.
Which is unfair.
Though human memory is as fallible a tool as there is in the reviewer’s bag, it can be said that this Warner transfer accurately maintains the look of the original Metrocolor theatrical prints. Skin tones are muted in comparison with film stocks in common use today. However, the Arabian vistas are breathtakingly colorful, and the subtle shadings in the interior shots have the appearance of film.
Further, the remastered Dolby Digital 5.1-channel soundtrack is quite similar to the limited dynamics evident in the original soundtrack album issued by Arista in 1975. Though it is bright in the upper midrange, there seems to be no significant activity below the upper bass/lower midrange. And the track exhibits a clear emphasis on the left-channel/right-channel extremes. One can follow clearly the microphone's tracking of Sean Connery as he speaks while walking from extreme left to extreme right. Yet the center-channel activity is not slighted by any of this.
As for the surrounds, they are most evident during quieter sections — birds, wind, crowds, etc. Interestingly, though, there is not much surround activity during the few battle scenes.
Extras include a quite good making-of feature made at the time
The Wind and the Lion was being shot, in addition to the original theatrical trailer (which is in mono). John Milius’s anecdotal commentary track is laced with the controversial filmmaker’s humor. His political leanings, much in evidence in the film itself, are quite on hand.
Final thoughts.
Those who well know the look of the film will greet this disc as an old friend. What one saw on the big screen in 1975 is what one will see in the home theaters of 2004. It’s a time machine that recalls an adventurous era long missing from the Hollywood tableaux. And it’s a disc deserving of the highest recommendation.
