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    		•

    FILMS

    The Magnificent Seven (1960)
  • Starring Yul Brynner, Eli Wallach, Horst Buchholz, Steve McQueen, Charles Bronson, Robert Vaughn, Brad Dexter, James Coburn

  • Directed by John Sturges

    • This is one of those classic Westerns that I had always promised myself that I'd watch, and yet hadn't until just recently. It's strange, because everyone uses the phrase "the magnificent seven" if fate just happens to make the numbers in their party exactly seven, no matter the venture. Hell, as children, me and my brother and our five younger cousins had shirts that rightfully declared us "The Magnificent Seven." There was seven of us, and damnit, I thought we were pretty magnificent. (Also, being the second tallest of the seven, I felt like I was second in command, which it turns out, I was not.) So, it was fun and I thought that we were cool—and I had no idea who Yul Brynner or Steve McQueen or Charles Bronson or James Coburn were. Imagine my surprise when, years later, it turns out that there's a movie called The Magnificent Seven. And it's fantastic.

    The plot is fairly simple (not to mention well-mocked in The Three Amigos). There is a small Mexican farming village that is constantly harassed by the local bandito (Wallach) and his gang of banditos. This dude rides in real menacing-like and takes food and drink and, goshdarnit, if he takes any more the farmers might starve come winter. The farmers are busting their humps to grow some corn so they can pound it into a tortilla, and this Mr. Bandito just shows up and takes all their corn. This just won't do. No, it won't do at all.

    The farmers can't stand up the banditos because, well, they're farmers. Three of them take the little money they have and travel to the nearest town in search of men. Mercenaries or gunfighters. Some sort of hired muscle to help them with their bandito infestation. They come across Chris (Brynner) who accepts the job—despite the fact that the money isn't really worth the effort. But he takes the job and then starts gathering a gang of trusted guns to return to the village and take on Mr. Bandito.

    Side note: The image to the right isn't actually from the movie—it's from a trailer for the move and is included on the DVD. It starts with Coral Singers chanting "Seven! Seven! Seven! They fought like 700!" My initial reaction to this was, "Wow, that's kinda cool. There's seven of them, and they're standing in such a way that they form a seven." About three seconds passed, and I realized that no, it was indeed pretty silly and have since laughed at myself for ever thinking something so silly might've been, even if only for a moment, cool.

    (Fair spoiler warning: I'm going to reveal something about the end of the movie. So, those of you who don't want it spoiled, close your eyes.)

    The movie never tells you exactly what all of these men want from life, or what they're running from, but it's implied that some of them are trying to make up for past transgressions, or perhaps just the life they've chosen—much in the way Clint Eastwood's William Munny in Unforgiven is forced to face his demons. Defending this small town for a few pesos a day might make right all of the previous years of bad things. Whether it does or doesn't the film never says. Some of them live, some of them die. Maybe that's their only release from the bad things they've done. And perhaps, it's justice.

    My favorite line in this film is when Harry's (Dexter) dying on the floor from a gunshot wound to the belly and he asks Chris, "There really was gold up in those hills, wasn't there? What was it? Gold? Silver?" The only reason why Harry came along was he thought the village was guarding a gold mine. Everyone repeatedly told him there wasn't, but he just thought they were lying to him, so they'd keep it all themselves. Even in his last breaths he's begging for Chris to tell him that there was gold up in the hills. Harry couldn't see the nobility in dying to defend some poor, hungry people from tyrants. But we forgive him—logic ain't an easy path to tread when your bleeding out the gut. "Of course there was," lies Chris. "Lots of gold." And then Harry gets a look on his face that says, "Gee, that would've been swell." And he dies happy.

    Maybe he knew it was a lie, maybe he didn't. But I'm not so sure it really matters.