The Last Valley (1971)
The Last Valley refers to a peaceful mountain village that has managed to remain undisturbed by the raging Thirty Years’ War in the 1600s. When soldiers from both sides, Protestants and Catholics, find the valley, they agree to postpone the rules of wartime and instead create peacetime guidelines so that they can all survive in the town. Sounds nice and friendly, doesn’t it? Well, one of the rules Michael Caine comes up with is that any attempted rape on a village woman will result in public castration. It’s a great punishment and a fantastic scare tactic to protect the local ladies, but it’s one example of how this movie is very far from nice and friendly.
Amazingly, with all the pillaging and violence and attempted rape—because Michael Caine’s warning doesn’t scare everyone off—James Clavell’s film is uncharacteristically un-gory. There is no blood, no graphically violent scenes. When someone is stabbed, they just groan and fall over. Then the film cuts to someone else getting stabbed. So, in that aspect, I have a lot of respect for the filmmakers of The Last Valley.
However, this genre really isn’t my cup of tea, so I found it difficult to actually like this film. I gave it a chance because of the large cast: Michael Caine, Omar Sharif, Nigel Davenport, and Arthur O’Connell. Large epics full of village-pillaging, philosophical discussions, and set in a time period that isn’t particularly interesting aren’t films I typically watch. If you do, then you might like this one better.
Kiddy Warning: Obviously, you have control over your own children. However, due to violence, I wouldn’t let my kids watch it. Also, there may or may not be a rape scene.
Want to watch it? Click here to watch it on ok.ru. And thanks "john S" for posting!
More Michael Caine movies here!
Amazingly, with all the pillaging and violence and attempted rape—because Michael Caine’s warning doesn’t scare everyone off—James Clavell’s film is uncharacteristically un-gory. There is no blood, no graphically violent scenes. When someone is stabbed, they just groan and fall over. Then the film cuts to someone else getting stabbed. So, in that aspect, I have a lot of respect for the filmmakers of The Last Valley.
However, this genre really isn’t my cup of tea, so I found it difficult to actually like this film. I gave it a chance because of the large cast: Michael Caine, Omar Sharif, Nigel Davenport, and Arthur O’Connell. Large epics full of village-pillaging, philosophical discussions, and set in a time period that isn’t particularly interesting aren’t films I typically watch. If you do, then you might like this one better.
Kiddy Warning: Obviously, you have control over your own children. However, due to violence, I wouldn’t let my kids watch it. Also, there may or may not be a rape scene.
Want to watch it? Click here to watch it on ok.ru. And thanks "john S" for posting!
More Michael Caine movies here!