Brief
reflections on “Vera Cruz”
Directed
by Robert Aldrich
Screenplay
by Roland Kibbee and James R Webb
Starring
Gary Cooper, Burt Lancaster, Denise Darcel and Cesar Romero
Film noir and
existentialism are ideologies which challenge the traditional view of morality
and even its very existence through the eyes and experiences of disillusioned,
even amoral characters who can win as well as lose. They are usually associated
with crime or gangster genres, but “Vera Cruz” takes some noir and existential
concepts and applies them to the western.
Take a politically
volatile setting in which traditional values regarding national sovereignty and
autonomy are challenged and add a couple of main characters who do not
demonstrate what might be viewed as typically western characteristics in that
they appear to accept and support the dubious values set at the start of the
film, and you have an intriguing and somewhat disconcerting exposition with no
clear hero or moral cause to root for.
A brief historical
digression might be helpful at this point…
Our film takes place
during the Second Franco-Mexican War of the 1860s. France, under Napoleon the
3rd, wished to re-establish its empire’s interests in the Americas and ousted
President Juarez with the help of Mexican conservatives who wished to protect
their own interests and see a King replace the President. Austrian Emperor
Maximilian was made head of state but there was great resistance in the form of
Juaristas who sought to re-establish Juarez as President.
Aided and abetted by
Spain and Britain, the French agenda was for purely commercial and financial
gain and, as suggested in our film, such an overtly self-serving incursion and
conflict inevitably attracted mercenary adventurers, unfettered by conscience
and principle, who would be willing to risk their lives in exchange for wealth,
advancement and adventure. One such individual is Joe Erin, a self-centred
manipulator of situations and people who professes and recognises no loyalty
except to himself. Joe is charming but, in his heart, he is quite amoral and he
has the skills and determination to bully and manipulate others for his own ends
without consideration of the consequences for those he uses.
Into this moral morass
wanders Ben Trane, a former officer in the Confederate Army who has lost
everything – his home, his position, his pride and his moral compass, at least
to some degree. He appears willing to work for Emperor Maximilian if the price is
right and he will go on to consider stealing a fortune in gold, though not
simply for himself, but to help restore his family home and business. We learn,
then, that he may be disillusioned and is dabbling in distinctly amoral
activities, but there is a higher purpose to his actions.
He may have chosen this
theatre of war to sell his skills exactly because the French action is
essentially amoral as they seek to take advantage of and plunder what, to
Trane, is a foreign land and Trane thinks he will feel no sympathy, attachment
or qualms. However, he discovers an empathy with the Juaristas who, like Trane,
have lost their homes, their society and their freedom. In the end, Trane
cannot act selfishly when he sees a cause greater than his own needs.
As is so often the case
in films noirs, the “hero” learns to recognise a purpose or cause in which he
can believe or which restores his humanity and belief in principle having lost
them through experience and suffering. We may be surrounded by amorality but it
is left to the individual to decide whether or not he or she will follow that
path, and so the scene is set for a show-down of sorts between the amoral
mercenary Joe and the disillusioned but fundamentally principled Trane.
“Vera Cruz” may be
relatively slight and obvious but it paved the way for other more overtly
challenging, insightful and perhaps even realistic portrayals of moral conflict
within the western genre, and the flag of existential confrontation was flown
in such films as “Ride the High Country”, “The Magnificent Seven”, the
spaghetti westerns and, of course, “The Wild Bunch” which all owe something to
the premise and style of “Vera Cruz”.
My thanks for taking the
time to read this article. I hope you found it of some value.
Stuart Fernie (stuartfernie@yahoo.co.uk)
No comments:
Post a Comment