Barbarosa
| Barbarosa | |
|---|---|
 |
|
| Directed by | Fred Schepisi |
| Produced by | Paul Lazarus III |
| Written by | William D. Wittliff |
| Starring |
Willie Nelson Gary Busey Gilbert Roland Isela Vega Danny De La Paz |
| Music by | Bruce Smeaton |
| Cinematography | Ian Baker |
| Edited by | David Ramirez Don Zimmerman |
|
Production
company |
|
| Distributed by |
Associated Film Distribution Universal Studios |
|
Release date
|
February 19, 1982 |
|
Running time
|
90 minutes |
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
Barbarosa is a 1982 motion picture starring Willie Nelson and Gary Busey about a young cowboy on the run from the law who partners with a famous bandito and learns about life from him. "One of the best overlooked westerns of the last 20 years" according to reviewer LG Writer, and featured on an episode of the television show Siskel & Ebert dedicated to uncovering worthy sleepers, it is "a tale of betrayal, vendetta, honor, and dignity". Barbarosa was the first American film by noted Australian director Fred Schepisi.
Young Karl Westover (Gary Busey), a pre-Civil War Texas farm boy, accidentally kills his brother-in-law and must flee to Mexico. Early into his flight he is met by the outlaw Barbarosa (Willie Nelson) who, seconds later, kills a man who was following him. It is apparent that Barbarosa knows him, but doesn't say. Despite his disgust that Karl has nothing worth robbing, is loath to leave the poor rube to die in the desert. Barbarosa shows Karl how to find water, make a fire, and catch an armadillo for his supper before leaving him with the advice to go home to Texas.
Karl makes his way to a small pueblo and finds a grubby cantina. He is enjoying his first good meal in a long time and receiving the attentions of his first working girl ever when Barbarosa bursts in and robs everyone at gunpoint. Filling his sombrero with loot, Barbarosa instructs Karl to gather the rest, and steals away while everyone is bemused by Karl's amateurish performance. Nevertheless, Karl escapes, and he and Barbarosa ride together for the winter while Karl learns the life of an outlaw adventurer.
Karl is being pursued by Floyd and Otto Pahmeyer, the brothers of the man he killed, sent by their vengeful father. They are naive farm boys as Karl once was, and Karl and Barbarosa easily get the drop on them. Again to Barbarosa's disgust, Karl leaves them alive and tells them to go home. They say they can't, being more afraid of their father than the banditos. "You know how Papa gets", they tell Karl, and hike off to replace their guns and resume the chase.
The banditos encounter a poor old couple with a burro, and (yet again to Barbarosa's disgust) Karl refuses to rob them. Barbarosa and Karl are then captured by the outlaw Angel Morales and his gang, and as Angel is debating what to do with them the old couple, Angel's parents, arrive in camp and reveal great gobs of loot hidden in their burro's pack; Barbarosa tells Karl, "Well, I hope you're satisfied!" When the old couple tell their story, the enraged Angel shoots Barbarosa in the belly. He spares Karl's life for restraining Barbarosa from robbing his parents, but sets him to digging Barbarosa's grave. When Karl dumps Barbarosa's body in the shallow grave and starts throwing dirt in his face, he sneezes and whispers fiercely, "Stop that!"; it seems that the bullet was deflected by Barbarosa's big silver belt buckle, and he has been playing dead. Barbarosa scuttles off into the brush when no one is looking, and Karl quickly fills in the empty grave.
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Wikipedia