Chato's Land (1972)

It may sound cliché but this is how this western starts. Charles Bronson plays Chato, an Apache Indian who captures and breaks wild horses with one other Indian, to eke out a living for himself, his wife and his young son. Chato's is a simple life, living off the land deep in the Apache territory and only coming in town by himself to receive payment for the horses he breaks for the white man.Obviously there is racism for the red Indian, and in this case the local sheriff does not take kindly to an Indian expecting to get a drink in the local town's saloon. When the sheriff tells Chato to leave or be killed on the spot, a gunfight ensues and the sheriff is left dead as a door nail. So a large posse of cowboys is gathered each with their own purpose for chasing Chato, with a posse's mind set and intent to just hang another worthless wild Indian. Chato on the other hand is more intrigued by the posse chasing him than he is worried about what they would do to him if they ever caught him and he shows no sign of fear. As the chase begins, we see Chato just wants to have a little fun with the dumb cowboys who are out of their element in Apache territory. Very quickly though the fun turns ugly when the posse stumbles upon Chato's own farm. The wild and uncontrollable animals that some of the posse are leads them to gang rape Chato's wife and hog tie her to a post outside so that Chato will have no choice but to come in to the open to rescue his wife. For good measure the posse also hangs Chato's Apache farm hand upside down and they burn his body at the stake. The director Michael Winner puts together a terrific film, supported by first class actors such as Jack Palance, Simon Oakland, Ralph Waite, and James Whitmore, who are all members of the posse chasing Chato. If you are a Charles Bronson fan as I am, then this is Bronson at his very best. Chato is a quiet and unassuming Apache Indian, whose actions speak much louder than his words. In fact in this film Chato says more in his native Apache tongue to the audience then he does in English. One by one Chato seeks and gains his revenge, and as all wild animals usually do, the posse also start to turn on one another when things don't go the way they expected it would turn out. As James Whitmore states to the posse leader Jack Palance, during one particular scene while out in the wilderness, "I have an awful feeling Quincey that this hunt is not going to end well. We should turn around and head back while we can". One by one we want to see how Chato will seek his revenge on the posse who killed his farm hand by burning him to death, and who gang raped his wife. No longer is this fun for Chato, but Chato is all business as he does in fact complete his systematic revenge. This is a great western without any computer graphic interface(CGI) effects that are so common today. No, this 1972 classic western directed superbly by Michael Winner relies on a good story line, a cast of great actors, and some wide open spaces to get you in the mood for a western that will always be considered one of Charles Bronson's best performances.No wonder than that director Michael Winner went on to direct Charles Bronson in the block buster films that followed such as the Mechanic, and Death Wish 1 & 2. Yup, they don't make westerns like this one anymore. Too Bad. I gave it an 8 out of 10 rating.

The storyline to Chato's Land is simple as can be. A half-breed Indian is harassed by a redneck sheriff while having a drink in a bar. He is forced to kill the racist and is then pursued out into his desert homeland by a posse hell bent on retribution. Very little time is spent on setting the scene; the basic set-up is underway in less than five minutes. The director is Michael Winner, who it's probably fair to say is famous for having a somewhat sledgehammer approach to film-making. His style is very unsubtle and his movies are often pretty tough, violent and unpolitically correct. You could almost view him as an English version of the Italian director Umberto Lenzi. As a result, his films are a lot of fun.This one is almost like a blueprint for Winner's later box office smash Death Wish in many ways. Both star Charles Bronson as a man whose wife has been raped by thugs and who chooses an eye for an eye style of violent retribution to put matters right. You could also definitely say that Chato's Land also fits into the revisionist western category too – although admittedly with a healthy slice of exploitation content added in for good measure – as it can quite easily be read as another early 70's Vietnam allegory. American might and arrogance comes a cropper against a less well equipped enemy. The invaders have far more gun power but they fail to take into account the environment they enter – the land understood perfectly by the enemy they seek. They commit various atrocities along the way such as setting a village on fire and then finally rape and murder. So there are underlying themes in this one but you don't really need to know any of this historical context to enjoy it because this works just great as a western with plenty of violent action.It's not immediately obvious but this is a Euro Western. It was shot in Spain but with British money. As a result it's maybe no surprise that it resembles the Italian spaghetti westerns in some ways with its amoral characters and violence. Charles Bronson is the star name in the title role. He looks and acts the part just fine but he has virtually no dialogue and the main focus is squarely on the squabbling posse led by Jack Palance. Chato is always on the periphery, which works well as we never know when he will strike. He begins by toying with his pursuers, leading them on a dance but he changes tack after the rape of his wife and murder of his son and seeks bloody revenge. The posse are, therefore, a very unsympathetic group. But they aren't all one dimensionally evil – there are the bad-bad guys but also the good-bad guys. There are a lot of grey areas and the motivation behind each man varies quite a bit. And the order in which they are bumped off is not in the least predictable either.Chato's Land is a pretty straightforward and enjoyable revenge western though. It's sometimes a little rough around the edges it has to be admitted. Occasionally it appears to have been edited with a hacksaw – for instance there is no build up whatsoever to the sudden arrival of the cowboys at Chato's family home – but this isn't really that much of an issue overall and in some ways adds to the raw feel of the movie. It's a film I have seen several times over the years and I always find it to be pretty successful and satisfying.

Chato's Land is another classic from the legendary Charles Bronson.He was a man who's actions spoke louder than words and this is proof of that fact.Bronson plays Pardon Chato,an apache who shoots a racist sheriff in self defence and is then hunted by a posse led by Quincy Whitmore played brilliantly by Jack Palance.The hunt then turns against the hunters when Chato leads them into apache territory where he is in charge and knows it inside out.The hunters then realise they have underestimated their opponent because in Chatos land Chato is the hunter and Whitmore and his posse are now the hunted.Charles Bronson probably speaks 10 lines at the most and most of his lines are spoken in apache while a lot of focus is on the supporting cast.This was the first of six movies starring Bronson and directed by Michael Winner.Though Winner has become the butt of jokes and criticism in recent years his movies of the 60ties defined the decade and in the 70ties his revenge movies set the bar for all revenge movies that would follow and that should not be forgotten when talking about Michael Winner.This is a gritty,violent revenge story and is an underrated masterpiece.Far better than modern westerns of today.

I enjoy these seventies Westerns. In their way, they explore salient issues of American history in terms of the struggles of justice during the late sixties and early seventies.Some like this film feature's beautiful photography, literate scripts, intelligent acting, and able direction. This film celebrates all of these traits as well as careful editing and attention to detail and nuance. I like the use of camera movement and quick cuts. This makes even pedestrian scenes visually engaging.Mr. Bronson does not have much screen time in this film, but his presence dominates the film. The director plays close attention to detail. Editing involves good interplay of shots to produce an excellent story.When I rank a film, a score of three is, for me, a recommendation to watch the movie. I very much recommend this movie. It is what it is, a good seventies Western.