Barquero (1970)

Frankly, this tepid and slightly mediocre spaghetti western is simply gorgeous to look at on blu-ray. The locales and the sets look so damn authentic. The setting is unique - a village on the bank of a river with a wharf and a barge. The village bank is robbed by a bunch of bandits lead by WARREN OATES. But the river stands between the bandits and freedom. And the only way they can escape is on the barge owned by LEE VAN CLIFF. But CLIFF is attached to his barge and wont let go. The villagers led by CLIFF and FORREST TUCKER escape to the other side of the river on the barge, leaving the bandits stranded in the village. Tensions run deep in both camps regarding the next plan of action.One of the reasons I bought the Blu-ray DVD was because the film had LEE VAN CLIFF and WARREN OATES facing off against each other. The muscular and sweaty CLIFF is terrific. I wonder whether the director had a soft corner for him because I'm sure the ladies would find him to be eye candy. WARREN OATES does not make much of an impression - his role is ill etched and he looks way too slight and wiry compared to CLIFF. And the supporting cast is poor - the gorgeous MARIETTE HARTLEY in the role of a posh woman coveted by CLIFF's character is irritating at best, the unremarkable MARIE GOMEZ plays CLIFF's girlfriend NOLA, JOHN DAVIS CHANDLER is a poor man's Klaus Kinski while the pudgy FORREST TUCKER and his torture of the bandits were a distraction at best. The dialogues and plot developments are uninspired. It could have been a terrific little film. It had so much going for it - the story and the location had a lot of potential. The final action scene was pretty cool. Everything in the film looks very authentic including the sweaty sex scene between OATES and a Mexican prostitute. It is sort of a huge opportunity lost. I guess its too late to wish for a remake. Nobody makes westerns anymore.

After a massacre in a nearby town, outlaw Warren Oates and his gang flee towards Mexico. But there's a river in their way and they can only cross by ferry barge. The problem is the barge is operated by tough cuss Lee Van Cleef, who takes his barge to the other side of the river to prevent the bad guys using it. What follows is a stand-off between the violent outlaws and Van Cleef, who finds himself the reluctant protector of the villagers across the river.Unique, cynical western may not sound like much on paper but it's a treat. The cast is great. Lee Van Cleef's western résumé speaks for itself. If Steve McQueen is the King of Cool, it's only because Van Cleef turned down the title. Peckinpah favorite Warren Oates is completely crazy but undeniably fun to watch. He gets many of the film's best lines. Forrest Tucker is a hoot as Van Cleef's mountain man friend. Busty cigar-smoking Marie Gomez will no doubt make a few pulses race. Mariette Hartley and Kerwin Matthews are also enjoyable. The script is good and the action is exciting. It's an underrated gem; one of the better American westerns of the period.

Finely crafted production by Aubrey Schenck, with most of its action confined to a spot on the Rio Grande where a bunch of "squatters" have set up a primitive frontier town and a man (the "barquero", Van Cleef) has built a barge connected by rope to cross the river. When a bandit leader (Oates) and his group plunder and burn a nearby town, killing everyone, they make fast tracks to the barge, only to find the town evacuated and the barge on the other side of the river, with Cleef and his woodsman friend (Tucker) reluctantly defending the mostly nebbish townspeople. The script's sardonic tone is probably indebted to contemporary Italian oaters, but its ferocious drive and its focus on a personal confrontation between to determined, opposed strangers is very effective. Cleef is good at showing that he has no real concern for the villagers, but is absolutely set on not letting Oates' bandits burn his barge. Oates is a bit over the top (method acting is the worst type to go over the top with), especially in the poorly-conceived scene where he shoots the river. Solid action film with a significant difference going for it.

Lee Van Cleef had already become an international star late in his career, following his success in the Sergio Leone Spaghetti Westerns, when he starred in "Barquero", made in 1970. The film is clearly influenced by the Spaghetti tradition, most clearly displayed in the drugged-up, psychotic villain, Jake Remy, who bares similarities to the character of Indio in "For a Few Dollars More". However "Barquero" is far superior to the many "Spaghetti" imitators and deserves to stand on its own as a great Western.The plot is fairly simple, beginning with the massacre and plundering of a peaceful town by Jake Remy and his crew of assorted bandits. Their only escape from capture is to cross the river to safety but the only person who can help them is the Barquero, played by Lee Van Cleef, who refuses, and a violent stand-off ensues.The film is aided immeasurably by the performance of Warren Oates as Jake Remy, in one of his best roles. Remy makes even most the evil Western characters look saintly in comparison, as he kills and butchers anyone who gets in his path (check out the scene in which he sleeps with a woman and then casually kills her) and his only redeeming feature is his loyalty to his men. This is perhaps the only Western in which the bad guy is given more screen time than the hero and is one of the most complex villains ever seen on screen. Remy has a past which he is haunted by, and is slowly driven mad by his determination to cross the river and by the stubbornness of the Barquero.The film does not really have a hero, as the only two characters to resemble this are the Barquero and Mountain Phil, a truly bizarre character, excellently played by Forrest Tucker. The Barquero is prepared to help the endangered townsfolk against Remy, but only because he wants to bed one of the women and Mountain Phil does not help out of kindness but more so because he is slightly insane."Barquero" was directed by the undistinguished Gordon Douglas, although he did direct the classic 1954 Sci-Fi/horror "Them". Fans of Sam Peckinpah will be pleased to see the villainous pairing of Warren Oates and John Davis Chandler, although Van Cleef fans may be disappointed as he is given little to do, besides having to wear one of the worst shirts ever committed to film."Barquero" should be seen by anyone who is serious about Westerns and is required viewing for fans of the great Warren Oates.