Barbarosa (1982)

Memorable, crazy movie

Great Film overall

A Masterpiece!

The performances transcend the film's tropes, grounding it in characters that feel more complete than this subgenre often produces.

"Barbarosa" stars the great country singer Willie Nelson in the title role: a self-styled outlaw, who makes the acquaintance of bumbling former farmboy Karl (Gary Busey). Karl has accidentally killed his brother in law, and now he's on the lam. Barbarosa isn't particularly looking for a sidekick or a protégé, but he and the eager-to-please Karl forge a strong friendship. As they go around committing robberies, there is a nemesis from Barbarosas' past, Don Braulio (Gilbert Roland) who is eager to put an end to his days.Australian filmmaker Fred Schepisi made his American debut with this thoughtful and likable film, a very nicely shot combination of character study and Western drama. It examines the nature of myths and legends - how they get started, and how they endure. It's intelligent, fairly violent but never overly gory, and fairly visceral. The screenplay by William D. Wittliff has some good lines, and gives us a story and characters worth caring about. It also isn't afraid to make us fill in the gaps, instead of blatantly spelling everything out for us.Nelson is a natural pick for the lead. Barbarosa is somewhat ornery, but basically good hearted, and a feisty and colorful person to boot. Busey's rarely been more appealing, and he and Nelson get some fine chemistry going as their personalities clash. The ladies (Isela Vega, Alma Martinez) are absolutely lovely and are very appealing themselves. Roland, a veteran of Hollywoods' Golden Age, still had a powerful screen presence, and his antagonist is no one dimensional bogeyman. There are also some first rate actors in other supporting roles: Danny De La Paz, George Voskovec as the vengeful Herman Pahmeyer, Howland Chamberlain, Harry Caesar, Kai Wulff, and father and son character actors Roberto and Luis Contreras.Best of all, this film manages to make its points and explore its themes while also wrapping up in a reasonable amount of time (90 minutes all told). It's all gorgeously shot (by Ian Baker) and wonderfully scored (by Bruce Smeaton).Buseys' son Jake has a tiny role as a "cook boy".Eight out of 10.

Naïve, but eager farmhand Karl Westover (a fine and amiable performance by Gary Busey) goes on the lam after he accidentally kills his brother-in-law. Karl befriends shrewd and resourceful outlaw Barbarosa (wonderfully played with tremendous rascally charm by Willie Nelson), who teaches Karl how to survive in the wild.Director Fred Schepisi offers a flavorsome and meticulous evocation of a past time and place, relates the story at a measured pace, makes the most out of the dusty and desolate Tex-Mex prairie frontier setting, and puts a welcome and refreshing emphasis on people over action. William D. Wittliff's provides a wealth of witty dialogue and a surprisingly intricate narrative in which the relationships between the various clearly delineated characters are quite compelling and complicated. Moreover, the natural and engaging chemistry between Nelson and Busey gives this picture a winning surplus of pure heart and appeal; they receive sturdy support from Isela Vega as Barbarosa's lusty estranged wife Josephina, Gilbert Roland as the vengeful Don Braulio, Danny De La Paz as the angry and relentless Eduardo, George Voskovec as the vindictive Herman Pahmeyer, Alma Martinez as the sweet Juanita, and Luis Contreras as slimy bandito Angel. Both Ian Baker's crisp widescreen cinematography and Bruce Smeaton's harmonic score are up to par. A real sleeper.

Barbarosa is a terrific western, very under-rated, and easily deserving a higher place in the pantheon of oaters.Many posters correctly point out the film's theme of legend-building, how the myth of the Barbarosa started and grows.But there's another key and tragic element to this fine film - the cost young men must pay to fuel their fathers' hatred and rivalries. The sons of both German settler and Mexican patriach must sacrifice their very lives, attempting to settle old scores for fathers.Sadly, it's an all-too-familiar story for mankind, as generations of old men seem all-too-willing to sacrifice flesh and blood for notions of revenge and honor. Great flick.

There is something genuinely sweet and innocent about Willie Nelson – even though he wasn't even fifty yet while filming Barbarosa he already has the worn, tough, aged face of a man twenty years older than he, and yet he has the eyes of a puppy dog. He is the perfect man to play the legendary thief Barbarosa, a man who is feared by many but whom the audience must like immediately. Gary Busey playing the farm boy Carl seems a little too old for this role (he was pushing late 30's) but is terrific as well.Barbarosa is a light, easy-going film, with some occasional moments of violence. That's really the best praise aside from the actors that I can give it. It's obvious where the film is headed once the two protagonists meet up; every step of the movie has been mapped out. Luckily the film only runs 90 minutes so it's never dragged out. Quite the opposite; Barbarosa tends to dabble in so many little thoughts that they all seem meshed together.Part of the film wants to have that mysticism about Barbarosa, that perhaps he is a ghost who cannot be killed, but the film never plays with it enough. The Spaniards all know of the the legend that they whisper his name with eyes wide as he rides by…and yet nobody in Carl's town mentions Barbarosa once. Barbarosa gets shot by a group of Spaniards who are out looking for him and Carl is the one who has to bury him. It's not surprise when Barbarosa rises from the grave, but even Carl isn't all that shocked. Instead of a 'Wow, you really are invincible!' reaction, we get a 'Oh that's good, you're OK.' Maybe that's the point – that Carl accepts Barbarosa as a person, not a fable or a legend. My problem is that Carl or his town never heard of this man before Carl meets up with him…why not? They're only a few days away apparently – does Barbarosa not like that part of the country – do his people never leave town? Barbarosa is a lot of back-story and not enough of a friendship tale. The scenes with Barbarosa teaching Carl are trite and unbelievable. Carl seems to know too much too soon about being out in the wild.Barbarosa is never exciting enough to be an adventure film and there aren't enough calmer moments for the film to develop the friendship between these characters. Instead of learning about the outlaws, each scene is about them being hunted or hated. You would think these characters would have a great deal to talk about! It's not until the very last bit of the film that we learn why Barbarosa became who he was, and it's no big surprise.The very end of Barbarosa should have worked – it's a obvious gimmick that's tried and true, but the friendship hasn't been solidified like it should and so the ending falls flat. Barbarosa isn't a bad movie, it's that so much of the movie is like the ending - it's a nice try, but it never hits the bullseye.**1/2 out of ****