A young Spaniard (Rudolph Valentino) achieves his childhood ambition of becoming a bullfighter. But as his fame spreads, he has difficulty dealing with the temptations of his livelihood. Based on the novel by Vicente Blasco Ibanez (FOUR HORSEMEN OF THE APOCALYPSE) and directed by Fred Niblo (the 1925 BEN-HUR). This acclaimed film is considered one of Valentino's best but honestly, I didn't much care for it. There was an underlying implication of masochism and misogyny that I found unpleasant. We're meant to be sympathetic to Valentino's toreador when a femme fatale (Nita Naldi) lures him away from his faithful wife (Lila Lee) but while Naldi is seen as a "snake", Valentino's weak willed philanderer gets a pass. To the film's credit, like the novel it's based on, it sees bullfighting as a savage and barbaric "sport" (something ignored in Mamoulian's 1941 remake which is more romanticized) and there's a parallel between Valentino's toreador who kills bulls and the murderous bandit (Walter Long) who kills people (this character is eliminated in the 1941 remake). With Rosa Rosanova, Leo White and Charles Belcher.
No comments:
Post a Comment