"Here's to being free - la la la la la

DVDs:


	• Zorro Alain Delon; Ottavia Piccolo Passion Productions, 2003 view larger image
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Zorro (Alain Delon)

Zorro
Having been a great fan of Alain Delon from the 60's and 70's, and after buying and playing "Purple Moon" Alain Delon 1960, which I thought was fantastic. Yeh, lets try Zorro 1975. Wonderful stuff. Lots of fun, perhaps not quite true to the original story, but well worth a look. Set in South American instead of Mexico, a minor point.

"Here's to being free - la la la la la - Zorro's back."

Four stars for the full length film. Three stars for the chopped version.

The adventurer and brilliant swordsman Diego journeys to Nueva Aragon to pose as his murdered friend, who had been slated as the new governor of that corrupt pueblo. Diego has vowed to live up to his friend's ideals but promptly realizes that martial measures might at times be called for. Accordingly, in Nueva Aragon, Diego adopts foppish mannerisms to fool the evil Colonel Huerta and to camouflage his other identity - that of the rabble's fabled hero and avenger Zorro. As the masked and cloaked people's bandit, Diego does his best to bring justice to a beleaguered province...and does his best also to spark a gleam in the eyes of an outspoken aristocratic senorita.

I know of two versions of this 1975 film. There is the 2 hour film and there's the truncated and awfully edited copy, which is an hour and a half long and is absent of key explanatory scenes (Diego's friendship with Miguel de la Serna, Nueva Aragon's new Governor; how Diego learns of Zorro). If you've seen the 2 hour film, then the story makes sense and the movie experience is a fun one. If you have the other version...well, I share your pain. Somewhere, sometime in the past, I've managed to watch the film as it was meant to be seen. I don't know why this film was cut short of half an hour, other than to be able to show it on TV in a 2 hour window with commercials. But then why release this crap version on dvd?

Charismatic French actor and then sex symbol Alain Delon (LE SAMOURAI, ROCCO AND HIS BROTHERS - both classic films) plays Zorro with virility and dash. As the Fox he is clever, nimble, and often cockily grinning. He athletically leaps and swings about. And with his commanding voice he pulls off the hero role quite well. As the governor, he's also effective, perfectly playing the simpering and quite cowardly fellow. Delon is very good.

This story wasn't meant to be exactly faithful to Johnston McCulley's book THE CURSE OF CAPISTRANO, which debuted Zorro. When this Diego arrives as the new governor, Zorro is already an established legend, an identity of which Diego readily makes use. The venue is also moved to the corrupt town of Nueva Aragon. Oh, and Zorro gets a dog in this one. Plenty of rollicking action escapades here, as Zorro mocks and abuses a host of bumbling soldiers. The film culminates with Zorro's sprawling, extended sword fight with his nemesis, the wicked Colonel Huerta (a solid Stanley Baker).

And the song? Yep, the happy-go-lucky theme song initially tormented me, but oddly enough I grew to like it. Whenever "Zorro's Back" was played it usually served to showcase an action sequence, but, in a way, it also serves to punctuate what Zorro stands for. It's also disturbingly easy to sing along to.

There's an awful, most unconvincing stunt sequence of a carriage crashing over a cliff, and Diego's mute servant turned out to be very annoying. But, minus those objections (oh, and the clipped 30 minutes, of course), I've really got no complaints. This one's pretty darn good.

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A fun movie

This film is no masterpiece or classic but is has two great things going for it. The first is obviously Alain Delon who is one cool and good looking guy. He plays the masked swordsman who is trying to restore justice to a peasant village that is being terrorized by the corrupt government officials and a mad general named Huerta. Delon's brother was set to become governor of this village but days before his arrival Huerta orders his execution. Delon assumes his place and becomes the governor much to the dismay of Huerta. Delon's scenes as the governor are quite hilarious as he plays him very fey and effeminate. It is all a charade however as once he puts on the mask and wields a sword he is someone that you don't want to mess with. There are plenty of great swordfights and action sequences that help to speed the film along when it gets slow. The other great thing going for this film is the theme song by the De Angelis Bros. " Here's to Being Free ( Zorro's Back) ". Wes Anderson dropped the Zorro's Back chorus and used it in Bottle Rocket. The song is very catchy and is used frequently when Delon is in action making this a fun film to pass the time with.

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