Figures in a Landscape (1971)

The Age of Commercialism

best movie i've ever seen.

Best movie ever!

The film never slows down or bores, plunging from one harrowing sequence to the next.

Robert Shaw and Malcolm McDowell star as MacConnachie and Ansell, too men making an escape across various rural backdrops with their hands tied behind their backs. They may have been imprisoned for crimes of some sort, and now authorities relentlessly pursue them through the countryside. Their most persistent nemesis is a helicopter manned by two people.Exactly where this is taking place, we never do find out. We don't learn very much about our protagonists, so they both remain something of an enigma. The plot is often stripped to the bare essentials; this is a very existential, interesting action-chase-thriller with a straightforward set-up. Scripted by Shaw himself, from the novel by Barry England, it does give some decent acting showcases to the two stars, and it also puts them through their paces almost non-stop. One can imagine that this must have been quite a gruelling shoot physically.Shaw and McDowell are very good, under the direction of famous blacklisted filmmaker Joseph Losey ("The Damned", "Accident"). But the real "stars" of the picture have to be the cinematographers (three of them are credited) and camera operators, who impressively capture some truly breathtaking scenery - deserts, forest, snowy mountaintops, etc. To that end, it's appropriate that "Figures in a Landscape" was shot in 2.35:1. It IS a very nice-looking picture.Exciting and harrowing at times, this is the kind of story that intrigues its viewers by largely leaving exposition out of the picture, and firing their imaginations.Seven out of 10.

Joseph Losey directed this handsome but rather ponderous adaptation of Barry England's book about two British soldiers escaping imprisonment in a Latin America country, doggedly pursued by a helicopter armed with a sniper. Screenwriter and co-star Robert Shaw reportedly completed the final draft of the script while the film was in mid-production (he receives sole on-screen credit). Shaw omits the military backgrounds of the characters, instead making the exhausted, griping men an anonymous duo, which has led some to believe this an existential adventure. It certainly has more aerial and explosive action than any other Losey film (the helicopter stunts are often hair-raising), but the men (Shaw and a young Malcolm McDowell) are angry blanks--and this seems entirely deliberate. The dazzling on-location work in Spain of the three cinematographers, Henri Alekan, Peter Suschitzky and Guy Tabary, is worth-seeing, and the picture's puzzling, downbeat finale is intriguing, but this trek from the jungles to the mountains is mostly an unrewarding journey. ** from ****

Rugged maniacal brute MacConnachie (a fabulously ferocious and galvanizing performance by Robert Shaw) and wimpy intellectual Ansell (a sound portrayal by Malcom McDowell) are a couple of escaped fugitives who are on the run in some unspecified foreign country. The pair find themselves being relentlessly pursued by an ominous black helicopter.Director Joseph Losey makes excellent and inspired use of the harsh, sprawling, and desolate countryside. Shaw's stark and intriguing script eschews pretense and exposition in favor of stripping down the premise to its mean'n'lean existential essentials whereby the plot basically becomes a gritty meditation on survival and the ruthless extremes people will resort to in order to stay alive in a hostile and pitiless world. Shaw and McDowell play off each other exceptionally well as a couple of radically contrasting fellows who are forced to depend on each other so they can persevere through a grueling ordeal that's beyond their control or understanding. Several scenes involving close calls with the helicopter register as quite dangerous and hence are positively harrowing to watch. The striking widescreen cinematography by Guy Tabary, Henri Alekan, and Peter Suschitzky offers a wealth of breathtaking aerial shots. Recommended viewing.

Two men being chased ...why? The terrain is probably South America so perhaps they are on the run from drug dealers or maybe they are mercenaries that have fallen foul of paymasters. One of the characters kills for the first time so both being mercenaries seems unlikely. Little clues are given through the film, like when one asks the other if he would like to stop to clean his boots, a reference to a military background perhaps. This film will have people place it in a different location according to when they see it, it could well be Afghanistan but at the time it was made not very likely.A not bad film that sticks in the mind, always a good sign so perhaps a film that will last the test of time. My main criticism is that Robert Shaws' accent takes a tour of the British Isles!