| Zachariah: The First Electric Western | |
|---|---|
_poster.jpg) Theatrical release poster | |
| Directed by | George Englund |
| Written by | Joe Massot Phil Austin Peter Bergman David Ossman Philip Proctor |
| Produced by | George Englund Lawrence Kubik |
| Starring | John Rubinstein Patricia Quinn Don Johnson |
| Cinematography | Jorge Stahl Jr. |
| Edited by | Gary Griffin |
| Music by | Jimmie Haskell |
| Color process | Metrocolor |
Production company | |
| Distributed by | Cinerama Releasing Corporation |
Release date |
|
Running time | 93 minutes |
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
| Budget | $1,200,000[2] |
| Box office | $625,000[2] |
Zachariah is a 1971 Americanacid Western film directed byGeorge Englund and starringJohn Rubinstein,Patricia Quinn andDon Johnson.[3]
After finding amail-order gun whileriding in thedesert, Zachariah and his bestfriend, Matthew theblacksmith, begin to play with it, and eventually decide to leave their smalltown and seek more colorful adventure asgunfighters. While following acriminal band called "The Crackers" into asaloon, Zachariah and Matthew were calledgay by an older lookingman, and that’s followed by Zachariahshooting theaggressor dead, demonstrating he has a quick talent for gunplay. He and Matthew strong-arm their way into joining The Crackers, but find they are inept at pulling off successfulcrimes, and leave them behind.
A tauntingfiddler alerts Zachariah to the legendaryoutlaw Job Cain, and soon he and Matthew seek him out at hishome saloonhoping to join with him. Job, whose gun skills are kept sharp through musicaldrumming, challenges the boys tofire at each other to demonstrate their talent, but Zachariah refuses, sensing that it will lead to an eventualshowdown between himself and his friend. He leaves thecompound to seek answers elsewhere, but Matthew stays behind to join Cain'sorganization.
Zachariah meets an Old Man living alone in the desert, who allows him to stay thenight provided he leave his gun outside thehouse. He alludes to thepleasures to be found in aborder town called El Camino, and Zachariah rides off for there the next day. El Camino is a virtualsin city, centered around thebrothel/spa operated by Belle Starr, who insists she onlysleeps withaffluent gunslingers. Zachariah manages to charm her intointimacy, but ultimately chooses to leave her, finding thathedonism is not what he has been seeking either. Meanwhile, Matthew has risen into apositions of trust with Job Cain, but plots to ultimately surpass the gunslinger.
Zachariah returns to the Old Man's compound, where he learns about thebeauty and stillness of the desert. The Old Man teaches him amantra, "Hurry up and die", to stress the contrary notion of slowing down andenjoying the circle of change. Zachariah sheds most of his gunfighterattire and becomes morespirit-minded.
Cain announces hisplan to take his men and visit El Camino, asking Matthew to watch his saloon. Matthew insteadtrails him, and stops at the Old Man's compound, where he is reunited with Zachariah, and announces his plan toduel with Cain in El Camino. Zachariahfurtively returns to practicing his shooting, anticipating his prophesied showdown with his friend. The Old Man is horrified at the return toviolence, and confronts him with his spentbullets and a deadmouse, demonstrating how even when he seems to be shooting at nothing, he is stillharming the desert; he tells him he will notspeak to him again. The next morning, however, after Zachariah finds anarrowhead in the area where the Old Man had been searching, he breaks his silence to tell him he is ready todie, and expires soon after.
Matthew confronts Cain in El Camino, andshoots him dead. It is hinted he too celebrates with Belle Starr. He returns to the compound, and goads Zachariah into a gunfight with him. Zachariah tries multiple means to stall the duel, but Matthewpersists. The two fighthand to hand in thedirt, and Zachariah rides off, wondering aloud how Matthew seems to havelearned nothing. Matthew angrily expends all his bullets, yellingthreats of death, but then begins tolaugh with a sense of clarity, and rides off to reunite with his “friend” in thesunset as he has come to the realisation all he needs is Zachariah not all thisnonsense of being a gunfighter.
The film is loosely based on the works ofHermann Hesse's 1922 novelSiddhartha,[5] and 1930 novelNarcissus and Goldmund (wherein two young friends takedivergent paths in life, to reunite and share similarperspectives);surrealistically adapted as amusical Western.Massot said his inspiration came from when he joinedthe Beatles in India,[6][7]when they were studyingTranscendental Meditation underMaharishi Mahesh Yogi in early 1968.[8] Massot said he arrived to find onlyGeorge Harrison andJohn Lennon there, after their bandmates had left the course early, and the twoBeatles "locked into some sort of meditation duel ... to see who was the stronger character".[8]
Massot initially asked Harrison to provide the film's soundtrack, following his work onWonderwall, which Massot directed.[9] According toLevon Helm ofThe Band, Harrison discussed makingZachariah as anApple Films project starringBob Dylan andThe Band, in late 1968.[10] The following April,Rolling Stone announced thatCream's drummerGinger Baker and The Band were to be major players in the film.[11]
This film was billed as "The first electricWestern".[3] It features appearances and music supplied byrock bands from the 1970s, including theJames Gang,[3]New York Rock & Roll Ensemble, andCountry Joe and the Fish as "The Cracker Gang".[3] FiddlerDoug Kershaw acts and plays "TheBallad of Job Cain"[3] as doesElvin Jones as agunslinging drummer named Job Cain,[3]Byard Ray andObray Ramse appeared as the duo White Lightnin'.
The music and lyrics that appear in the movie soundtrack were written by:
TheNew York Rock & Roll Ensemble performGrave Digger.[12] The soundtrack features songs by the James Gang,Joe Walsh, andCountry Joe and the Fish.[13][12]
Zachariah (Original Motion Picture Soundtrack), the soundtrack album, was released in 1971 as avinyl LP byProbe Records, asubsidiary label owned byABC Records.[12] It contains the following titles:
Side 1:
Side 2:
Don Johnson later said in a 2014interview withThe A.V. Club, "they kind of loosely built it around the story ofSiddhartha, and I was sort of theGovinda character."[14]
Roger Greenspun ofThe New York Times wrote in areview of the film "It is, at least in my experience, the first movie toparody theWestern with the apparent intention ofpropagandizing homosexual love. I am aware thatmale relationships are a stock in trade of most Westerns and that, inAndy Warhol's brilliant 'Lonesome Cowboys,' there has already been ahomosexual parody."[3]
The film recorded a loss of $1,435,000.[2]
On thereview aggregator websiteRotten Tomatoes, 50% of 6 critics' reviews are positive, with an average rating of 4.8/10.[15] Collider lists it as one of the 10 Best Acid Westerns, amongstAlejandro Jodorowsky's 'El Topo',Peter Fonda's 'The Hired Hand,' andDennis Hopper's 'The Last Movie.'[16]
Zachariah was released toDVD byMGM Home Video on August 24, 2004, as aRegion 1widescreen DVD, and released toBlu-ray byKino Lorber on February 5, 2019.
