The Last Valley (1971)

tmdb28039023 September 8, 2022

★ 6/10

The Last Valley is set in the German countryside during the Thirty Years' War (1618-1648), a conflict originally motivated by religious differences that soon became mainly political (if there’s any difference at all). Vogel (Omar Sharif), a former teacher constantly running from the ravages of war, discovers a village hidden in an idyllic valley; unfortunately for him, the Captain (Michael Caine) and his band of mercenaries — which includes Lutherans, Calvinists, and Anabaptists (“pagans”, “blasphemers,” “Satan worshipers”, and “worse;” i.e., Catholics) — arrive at the same time. To save himself, and the village, from looting, pillaging, and rape by the soldiers, Vogel persuades the Captain to camp there and forget about war, famine, and, of course, the plague, for the winter. Using Vogel as a mediator, the Captain brokers a truce with the population, agreein…

Wuchak February 5, 2023

★ 7/10

**_Wintering in a paradisal vale in the Alps during the Thirty Years' War_** In 1643, during the horrible Thirty Years War in Europe, a band of ruthless mercenaries and a drifter discover a hidden vale, the last valley untouched by the horror. The drifter, Vogel (Omar Sharif), talks The Captain (Michael Caine) into wintering in the peaceful valley rather than pillaging it and raping/killing the villagers. The first thing that makes a favorable impression with James Clavell's "The Last Valley" (1971) is the outstanding opening credits sequence with John Barry's magnificent score. Parts of the film have a dreamy, surreal quality, particularly the beginning and ending, which is reminiscent of the later "Apocalypse Now" (1979). Caine is outstanding as a man so hardened by the horrors of war that he no longer even has a name, just "The Captain." He would perform a similar role in the…

CinemaSerf May 29, 2023

It might be possible 50 years on, to make the casting choices work that James Clavell tried to do with this. Back in 1971, however, casting Omar Sharif as the teutonic "Vogel" opposite Michael Caine's only marginally more convincing "Captain" really does stretch the imagination a little too much. Add arch-Englishmen Nigel Davenport ("Gruber") and Brian Blessed ("Korski") and you have a recipe for characterisation disaster. Though well produced, with plenty of attention to detail and a typically strong score from John Barry, that is what we get! It is set amidst the bitter and rancorous 30 years war - maybe not an historical event known to many in Germany, let alone anywhere else - and has the ingredients of a good action drama. Armies, villagers - even individuals fight over the roles of their churches in their lives - Protestant v Catholic - a story of battling traditions that should ha…