Red Sun

Red Sun (French: Soleil rouge, Italian: Sole rosso) is a 1971 Spaghetti Western film directed by Terence Young and starring Charles Bronson, Toshirō Mifune, Alain Delon, Ursula Andress, and Capucine.[3] It was filmed in Spain by the British director Young with a screenplay by Denne Bart Petitclerc, William Roberts, and Lawrence Roman, from a story by Laird Koenig. It was released in the United States on June 9, 1972.

For other uses, see Red sun (disambiguation).
Red Sun
Directed byTerence Young
Produced byRobert Dorfmann
Ted Richmond
Screenplay byDenne Bart Petitclerc
William Roberts
Lawrence Roman
Story byLaird Koenig
StarringCharles Bronson
Ursula Andress
Toshirō Mifune
Alain Delon
Capucine
Music byMaurice Jarre
CinematographyHenri Alekan
Edited byJohnny Dwyre
Production
company
Les Films Corona
Oceania Produzioni Internazionali Cinematografiche
Producciones Balcázar S.A.
Distributed byLes Films Corona (France)
National General Pictures (US)
Release date
15 September 1971 (France)
26 October 1971 (Italy)
20 December 1971 (Spain)
9 June 1972 (US)
Running time
112 minutes
CountryFrance
Italy
Spain[1]
LanguageEnglish[1]
Box office3,300,488 admissions (France)[2]

Plot

Link Stuart and Gauche are the ruthless co-leaders of a gang of bandits who rob a train of its $400,000 payload. On the train is the Japanese ambassador, on his way to Washington, who has with him a ceremonial tachi, a gift to the American president. Gauche steals the gold-handled sword and shoots dead one of the ambassador's two samurai guards. At the same time, by Gauche's order, other members of the gang double-cross Link by throwing dynamite into the train car he occupies and leave him for dead. Before the gang departs, the surviving samurai guard, Kuroda, tells Gauche he intends to track him down and kill him, but Gauche is dismissive of the threat.

The Japanese ambassador instructs Link, who was not injured in the attempt to kill him, but who has been disarmed, to assist Kuroda in tracking down Gauche. Kuroda is given one week to kill Gauche and recover the sword. If he fails, both Kuroda and the ambassador will have to commit seppuku for having lost their honor in allowing the sword to be stolen and the samurai's death to go unavenged. Link reluctantly agrees, but he realizes that Kuroda will kill Gauche immediately, which Link does not want because he knows Gauche will have hidden the loot. Once they set off in pursuit of the gang, Link repeatedly attempts to elude Kuroda, only to be thwarted by the irrepressible samurai.

Sure enough, Gauche and four gang members bury the loot, and then he kills them so only he knows the hiding place. Gauche pays off others, who go their own way, and the remaining gang members stay with him. While tracking Gauche's gang, Link sees Kuroda's hardiness and skills with a sword. He also discovers that Kuroda speaks English very well. Kuroda reveals that his samurai values are disappearing and his countrymen no longer value the customs of old. Convinced that the country is changing forever and that the samurai spirit will soon be gone, Kuroda explains that the only way to honor his ancestors and his own way of life is to bring back the ceremonial sword. The two approach a ranch that has been taken over by some gang members, and in a brief battle kill them all. They take their horses, and Link teaches Kuroda how to ride. Link, now armed with guns taken from the gang, can no longer be threatened into doing Kuroda's bidding. He rides away from Kuroda, but has a change of heart and returns to him. Link has grown to respect the strict bushido code by which Kuroda lives, however he warns Kuroda that he will kill him if he tries to kill Gauche before Link learns where the loot has been hidden.

Continuing the pursuit, they come across the dead bodies of gang members killed by Comanches. Link decides the best way to get to Gauche is through his girlfriend, Cristina. The duo travel to the brothel where she works in the town of San Lucas, and Link locks her in her room. Link resumes his pleasurable friendship with the brothel keeper, and Kuroda also takes a partner for the night. The next morning four gang members arrive at the brothel. Link and Kuroda kill three of them in a firefight, and the fourth is sent back to Gauche with the message that the duo has abducted Cristina and will give her to Gauche in exchange for the stolen sword and Link's share of the spoils from the train robbery. The exchange is to take place at an abandoned mission a day's ride away.

Link and Kuroda, on the way to the exchange, have a non-violent confrontation that compels Kuroda to agree to not kill Gauche until Link has obtained from him the information he seeks. The seductive Cristina is revealed to be conniving and duplicitous, but completely committed to Gauche. In trying to escape from the duo she rides into the path of some Comanches, and she kills a warrior who attacks her. In retribution, the leader commands her to be bound and her neck to be tied with wet buckskin. As the sun dries the buckskin, she is slowly strangled. Link and Kuroda charge into the group on horseback, killing many and driving the rest of the Comanches away. Christina is released from her restraint by Link.

Link and Kuroda, when they arrive at the mission, are ambushed by Gauche and his men. Gauche, who has with him the ceremonial sword, tells one of his men to shoot Link, disregarding Cristina's appeal not to do so. Just then the Comanches attack in strength, which forces the ex-partners, along with Kuroda and Cristina and Gauche's men, to fight together on the same side. The defenders successfully repel the attacks, first on the mission, then, after it is burned down, in the surrounding cane fields. However, the attrition rate is high. When the last attack has been countered and the Comanches are dead or have fled, only Link, Kuroda, Cristina and Gauche are alive.

Gauche immediately faces off against Link, who has run out of bullets. Kuroda closes in behind Gauche, and could kill him, but, remembering his promise to Link, he hesitates. Gauche turns and shoots Kuroda, mortally wounding him. Link seizes the opportunity to grab a rifle from the ground, and Gauche shoots at Link too, but now Gauche's gun is empty. Gauche is confident that Link's primary motive is still greed, and tells Link he knows Link will not shoot him. Gauche, while telling Link he is ready to make a deal, has slowly moved towards Cristina. When she tosses him a rifle so he can shoot Link, Link, who has moved to attend to Kuroda, shoots Gauche. The first shot staggers Gauche, and Link follows it up with two more, leaving Gauche dead. Link has decided that the dying samurai's honor is more important to him than learning the location of the stolen money. Link promises the dying Kuroda that he will return the tachi to the Japanese ambassador, but Kuroda warns him if he returns to the train station he will be arrested and imprisoned. After Kuroda dies, Link rejects Cristina's offer to become lovers and search for the loot in the place she thinks it might be. He tells her he is taking her back to San Lucas. Soon after, Link hangs the sword in front of the train station where the Japanese ambassador is arriving, thus eluding capture and at the same time preserving Kuroda's honor.

Cast

Cast notes

Bronson starred in The Magnificent Seven, an American remake of Seven Samurai, in which Mifune had appeared. Film director John Landis has an uncredited appearance as a henchmen killed by Mifune's character.

Production

The project was announced in 1968, with Toshiro Mifune attached early on. Ted Richmond Productions was going to make it for Warner Bros.-Seven Arts.[4] Clint Eastwood was mentioned as a possible early co-star.[5] The film was eventually made by France's Corona Films, headed by Robert Dorfman and Richmond.[6]

Bronson was extremely popular in Japanese theaters at this time, and Red Sun set an attendance record in Tokyo, playing for a record 35 weeks in its first run engagements.[7]

References
  1. "Soleil Rouge". British Film Institute. London. Archived from the original on February 5, 2009. Retrieved November 11, 2012.
  2. Box office information for film at Box Office Story
  3. "Movie Reviews". NY Times. 26 April 2018.
  4. Martin, Betty (Oct 9, 1968). "Mike Witney Changes Wars". Los Angeles Times. p. c20.
  5. "Tate Case Chatter Goes On--and On". Los Angeles Times. Sep 22, 1969. p. e19.
  6. Martin, Betty (Oct 23, 1970). "MOVIE CALL SHEET: Wendell Burton to Star". Los Angeles Times. p. d17.
  7. Michael R. Pitts (1999). Charles Bronson: the 95 films and the 156 television appearances. McFarland & Co. p. 211. Retrieved June 26, 2020.
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