Word: buzkashi
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Dates: during 1971-1971
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Based on a florid Joseph Kessel novel, The Horsemen concerns a master Afghan rider named Uraz (Omar Sharif) who enters the game of buzkashi to assert his manhood and prove himself to his stern and demanding father (Jack Palance). Buzkashi, the national sport of Afghanistan that seems almost medieval in its ferocity, is a considerable test. Contestants ride fiercely against each other, struggling for possession of a headless goat that they must carry twice around the playing field before depositing it at the feet of their king. In the unrestrained fury of the competition Uraz breaks a leg and loses...
Frankenheimer's technical virtuosity receives ample display, the buzkashi alone is thunderously exciting and imparts a startling sense of participation. But he has tried to do too much. Besides his obsession with courage, he obviously also wanted to say something about greed, honor and duty, but the themes never mesh. Dal ton Trumbo's screenplay and his fake Arabian Nights dialogue do nothing to help. There is much talk of "the coolness of my shop" and characters greet each other with such fulsome salutations as "Peace on you, O master of the stables." Miss Taylor-Young bolts across...