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Kings of the Sun | 19-10-2008 18:00

In Kings of the Sun, Yul Brynner plays Indian Chief Black Eagle, another
role ideally suited to his physical attributes. Stripped to the waist the
whole time, bronzed and brooding, he exemplifies the idea of the noble
savage, in tune with the ways of nature but able to hunt and fight with
lethal agility. The story is a heady blend of Mayan history, war, cosmology
and religion, including human sacrificial rites, together with American
Indian tribal culture, all taking place in Yucatán, Mexico.

When Mayan King Balam (George Chakiris) flees his enemy Hunac Kell (Leo
Gordon) by sea, he finds a new land for his people and builds a city, but
the territory already belongs to Black Eagle and his tribe. The two
factions move through phases of conflict and co-operation, but as much as
politics, the driving force behind it all is the mutual interest by the two
leaders in a woman, Mayan Princess Ixchel (Shirley Anne Field).

Watching the film today, what is fascinating is seeing how such an
historical piece is tackled within the movie conventions and mores of the
era in which it was made, reflecting that society, and how the plot lines
are shaped so as the whole resembles an offbeat western. There are no
difficulties of communication as Mayans and Indians speak the same language
(English). Russian Yul Brynner's portrayal of an Indian is very effective,
but in addition Caucasian actors Richard Basehart and Barry Morse play
Mayan priests, George Chakiris is of Greek extraction and Shirley Anne
Field is English, and their mingling with the more ethnically authentic
extras does jar to some extent.

The love contest between Balam and Black Eagle puts Ixchel in control as a
woman who must be wooed correctly and has it in her power to make a choice
between the stuffiness, inhibition and misplaced pride of the former and
the passionate, expressive primitivism of the latter - very 60s zeitgeist.
Whatever their differences, warriors are always fearless in battle and
self-interest is put aside for the greater good. Ultimately everybody acts
in a morally upstanding way and the unfortunate Mayan practice of human
sacrifice is viewed as a vice to be overcome.

Yet despite these underlying paint-by-numbers qualities, Kings of the Sun
remains an enjoyable, well-achieved adventure epic. Like Taras Bulba it is
directed by J. Lee Thompson and his flair for large-scale battle scenes and
hand-to-hand combat is evident again in some superb set pieces when the
swords and arrows fly. The intense light and vivid colours of the Yucatán
land and seascapes compliment the smouldering emotions of the protagonists
and the Mayan costumes and architecture make for a pleasing variation on
the standard Greco-Roman look of the sword-and-sandal epic. Throughout, the
action is enriched by a loud and strident Elmer Bernstein score that fuses
Mesoamerica with the American West and which finally becomes a kind of
grandiose trademark, just like his score for The Great Escape, made the
same year. But it is the commanding presence of Brynner himself that makes
the movie, totally believable as a tribal chieftain, displaying a range of
strengths and vulnerabilities in a heroic way that transcends the bathos
that is so often the pitfall of this kind of role.

The Disc

Like Taras Bulba, the film is presented in anamorphic 2.35 : 1, as per the
Panavision original. The transfer looks particularly good, almost free of
artefacts and, in this case, its vivid colours - the intensely blue Mexican
seas and skies, the burnished flesh tones - harmonise well with the film as
a whole. Again the audio is a good mono to stereo conversion, similarly
loud and gutsy, with the music score heavily in the foreground.

A trailer has been included by way of an extra, which makes for an
interesting quality comparison with the main film. Its print is well worn,
dirty, soft, the colours milky, the sides cropped to 4:3, so it shows all
the classic faults of unsatisfactory sources for older movies, of which the
film itself is thankfully free.

Conclusion

This is an excellent transfer of a not well-known film, but along with The
King and I, The Magnificent Seven and Westworld, it is one of Yul Brynner’s
best and a perfect showcase for the idiosyncratic brand of otherness he
brought to movies. Losing out on the role of Spartacus was one of the big
regrets of Brynner’s career; his Chief Black Eagle is perhaps the next best
thing.