Themes: Living With Disability, Redemption, Fathers and Sons
Main Cast: Aziz Resh, Sy Temple, Omar Sharif, Leigh Taylor-Young, Jack Palance, Peter Jeffrey
Release Year: 1970
Country: US
Run Time: 109 minutes
MPAA Rating: PG
Plot
Director John Frankenheimer, extrapolating from his earlier films The Gypsy Moths and Grand Prix, examines machismo and how men test themselves to the limits of endurance in The Horsemen. The film takes place in modern day Afghanistan. Uraz (Omar Sharif), the son of Tursen (Jack Palance), the stable master for a feudal lord, is a master horseman who lives by a primitive code of honor. Uruz's family honor is damaged when he breaks his leg playing the game which is the Afghani equivalent of polo. His father, who lost a lot of money betting on his son, will barely speak to him. To regain the family honor (and wealth) he must somehow re-learn how to ride -- after his injuries cost him his leg below the knee. In the face of great obstacles, and despite the derision and treachery of others, he gains the chance to play in the games given by the king of Afghanistan. The footage of the horsemanship in these dangerous and anarchic games is one of the real highlights of this film. ~ Clarke Fountain, All Movie Guide
Mohammed Shamsi - Osman Bey; Ishaq Bux - Amjad Kahn; Carlos Casaravilla - Messenger; David de Keyser - Mukhi; Vernon Dobtcheff - Zam Hajji; Saeed Jaffrey - District Chief; Leon Lissek - Chikana Proprietor; George Murcell - Mizrar; Ricardo Palacios - Ghulam; Eric Pohlmann - Merchant Of Kandahar; Milton Reid - Aqqul; John Ruddock - Scribe; Tom Tryon; Alan Webb - Gardi Gay; Jose Luis Chinchilla - Head Syce; Mark Colleano - Rahim; Despo - Uljan; Salmaan Peer - Salih; Jesus Tordesillas - Little Governor; Aziz Resh - Bacha to Ghulam; Sy Temple - Quadir
Credit
Gil Parrondo - Art Director, Corky Randall - Consultant/advisor, Jacqueline Moreau - Costume Designer, José Lopez Rodero - First Assistant Director, John Frankenheimer - Director, Harold Kress - Editor, Georges Delerue - Composer (Music Score), Giuliano Laurenti - Makeup, Pierre-Louis Thevenet - Production Designer, André Domage - Cinematographer, James Wong Howe - Cinematographer, Claude Renoir - Cinematographer, Vladimir Ivanov - Cinematographer, Edward Lewis - Producer, Alex C. Weldon - Special Effects, Tom Overton - Sound/Sound Designer, Chuck Hayward - Stunts, Pierre Pakamorr - Stunts, Dalton Trumbo - Screenwriter, Joseph Kessel - Book Author
The Horsemen is a 1971 film starring Omar Sharif, directed by John Frankenheimer; screenplay by Dalton Trumbo. Based on a novel by French writer Joseph Kessel, Les Cavaliers (The Horsemen) shows Afghanistan and its people the way they were before the wars that wracked the country, particularly their love for the sport of buzkashi.
Jack Palance plays Tursen, a renowned, retired buzkashi player, who is disappointed in his son Uraz (Omar Sharif). The film was filmed in Afghanistan and Spain.
