The Last Valley (1971)

Set in Germany during the Thirty Years War, a former teacher (Omar Sharif) struggling to stay alive stumbles across a peaceful valley untouched by the horrors of war. Shortly, a band of pillaging and looting mercenaries lead their Captain (Michael Caine) discover the valley and Sharif convinces him to protect the village while the villagers shelter he and his men until the spring. An uneasy peace seems to be working but what will happen in the spring? This ambitious, intelligent epic written (from the novel by J.B. Pick) and directed by novelist turned director James Clavell still hasn't found its audience 40 years later which is a pity. It's flawed, yes, but what it attempts to do and, for the most part, succeeds in doing is more challenging than many more successful efforts with lesser aims that one can forgive it its trespasses. One can't fully embrace either the barbarianism of the soldiers but neither can one accept the bigotry and religious fanaticism of the villagers so it's easier to invest empathy on individuals (like the Satan worshipping Florinda Bolkan) rather than as a whole. The over insistent score by John Barry is problematic, not so much because it seems derivative of his LION IN WINTER but it tries too hard. Filmed in Austria. With Arthur O'Connell, Nigel Davenport, Yorgo Voyagis, Christian Roberts, Michael Gothard, Madeleine Hinde, Brian Blessed and in an overwrought performance, Per Oscarsson as the village's fanatical priest.