Emperor of the North [DVD]

I liked this very famous film, but it took me two viewings to really appreciate its great quality. Below, more of my impressions with limited SPOILERS.In time of Great Depression in USA tens of thousands of homeless and jobless people wandered around the country. If most were simply looking for a job and a new life, with time some abandoned all idea of return to the society and became "professional" vagrants. The merchandise trains were one of the main ways to travel through the immensity of United States - but the "hobos" breaking and hiding in the wagons were considered a nuisance by rail companies. Therefore the railroad employees and especially the conductors were asked to prevent the homeless from acceding the trains and disembark them as soon as they were found, if necessary by force. This unavoidably created a state of permanent hostility and conflict between the "hobos" and the railways men, with fistfights and brawls being frequent - and from time to time things would go much further and lives were lost on both sides...This film tells the story of two men who, placed on opposite sides of this conflict, will mercilessly fight one another. Shack (Ernest Borgnine) is a particularly brutal, even sadistic and vicious conductor, who is literally consumed by the hatred of vagrants who try to ride his train - and he doesn't hesitate to throw out the stowaways without bothering to stop the train, actually killing some of them... A-No.1 (Lee Marvin) is a kind of legend amongst hobos - a grizzled old timer who went everywhere, saw everything and knows all the tricks of their "trade" better than anybody else. After Shack kills another hobo, A-No.1 challenges him by claiming that he will ride his train, all the way to the final station in Portland, Oregon.At two hours this is a long film and action scenes are finally rather few, but it is definitely not boring. Robert Aldrich recreated the general atmosphere of the Great Depression very, very well indeed. All the trains showed in the film were real survivors from the 30s and film was shot really in Oregon, on the same locations by the way where the legendary "The General" by Buster Keaton was turned. Both main actors gave a great performance.The scenario is very strong, which is not surprising as it was at least partially inspired by Jack London book "The road". Another source of inspiration were the memories of a real famous tramp, Leon Ray Livingston (1872-1944), who actually was really nick-named A-No.1 (and sometimes also "The King of Tramps").The one thing which I liked a little bit less is the character of Cigarette (Keith Carradine) a young, obnoxious, loud-mouthed and not very bright vagabond who obstinately follows A-No.1. This film would have benefitted if Cigarette had less screen time or if he had at least some redeeming traits... I think that Cigarette's character was supposed to deliver some humor and counter-balance the grim and serious A-No.1 - but instead of being funny, Cigarette is just annoying.I must admit, that after seeing this movie the first time I was slightly disappointed. But "Emperor of the North" is a kind of film which grows on you - after thinking about it a little and seeing it a second time, I finally realized how good it really is. As far as my perception of this movie is concerned, this is mostly a story of a fight for dignity in a time of great human suffering. But this fight is not only waged by A-No.1, but also by Shack.It is easy to see that A-No.1 challenged Shack not only to make his reputation (he is ALREADY a legend) but especially to confront and if possible humiliate a deadly bully, who caused so much suffering to his fellow tramps. But as cruel and sadistic as Shack is, he also fights for his dignity. He lives in times when everything seems to degrade and fall apart - therefore, he tries obsessively to cling to something, to preserve the purity and security of what is both his own personal territory and a happy place - HIS train, the Number 19 (he doesn't agress people out of the train).And he has some reasons to consider tramps as agressors, who degrade and desecrate the one place of safety he knows - the vagrants sometimes cause fires when cooking food, they break parts of wagons, steal merchandises, leave excrements, cause delays by slowing trains to board them (by spreading oil on tracks), etc. For somebody insecure enough all this trouble in his personal space of security can cause a real, almost physical suffering. So as far as my understanding of this film is concerned, Shack is not simply a murderer and a bully - he is a murderer and a bully with a cause to defend. And that makes him even scarier...The brutal confrontation between those two men who both are powerfully motivated and refuse to concede defeat is shown in this film with a great talent. But it is not only an action/adventure film - it is also a road movie and a great picture of times of Great Depression. And even if this film is rather brutal with all characters being tough and rough men (we see very few women in it), it has also some precious humorous moments.So bottom line, this is an important, precious and very interesting film, which is worth to be watched and re-watched - even if it is not exactly an easy action/adventure movie. I recommend it warmly. Enjoy!

Emperor of The North.AND NOT THE NORTH POLE ..Storyline It is during the great depression in the US, and the land is full of people who are now homeless. Those people, commonly called "hobos", are truly hated by Shack (Borgnine), a railway conductor who swore that no hobo will ride his train for free.it has become an obsession with "Shack" a sadistical railway conductor of the Oregon, Pacific & Eastern Rail-road, who makes it his obsession to prevent any such free riders to ride his number 19 train. Even to the point of beating them to death with a baseball bat or a heavy chain. Well, no-one but "A" Number One (Lee Marvin), who is ready to put his life at stake to become a local legend, thus as the first person who survived the trip on Shack's notorious 19 train..WHAT CAN I SAY?.Hard Times Breeds Hard Men.This is a man's movie: ugly, violent, and pessimistic.This film is one of the unsung gems of the seventies, part adventure film, part social drama, part road movie.Ernest Borgnine was superb as the murderous railroad agent intent on keeping a legendary hobo off his train. Lee Marvin gave one of his best performances as TOP hobo,. This film really gets the feel of a depression-era.The action in this movie is very real. violent and memorable movie from two of the screens best actors.There is definately nothing else quite like it. Basicaly the main action revolves around tramps riding trains across depression hit America There are some good stunts and action scenes involving daring-do on moving trains you cant predict the outcome they also did not need any gimmicks or "special effects".Of course having Lee Marvin and Ernest Borgnineas the 2 main stars helps.What actors alive today could match those two legends? They didn't need stunt doubles and stand ins!These were "real men".This is a man's movie:its ugly,its violent,its pessimisticits Action-packed greatnessits thoroughly captivating storyits also one of the finest photographed movies ever made. When you view this movie, you feel as though you are right there taking part in it..You've never seen anything like it for sheer breathtaking excitement.one thing left to say ?it is the best railroad movie of all time