Comments fromThe I Spy Forum continued
-- more comments from SAM on this episode below --
Author: Colonel Boris Benkovski
Date: 11/20/01 11:03:53 AM
The titel of the episode remains a mystery, none of us seems to know what the significance of it is. But, I for one, rather liked the overall plot idea, far-fetched though it may be. Disenchanted Russian pilot disappears, and our government naturally assumes he is defecting. The twist is that he has actually chosen to live in his own little world, and leave the 20th Century behind. I've had the same dream myself.
There was again some wonderful use of the scenery, though I suspect that the opening segment, the garden spot where Kelly and the girl are enjoying the grapes and each other, it looks to me as if that is a studio shot. Otherwise, there was some very good scenery, especially in those segments where K&S are scouring the countryside for Quetzelcoatl, and the park where Nicolai met his contact. There was also some great music in this one, some of which reminded me of the Magnificent Seven soundtrack.
There were a few gaping holes int he logic however. For instance, how long had Dmitri Balin been missing? From the newpaper articles, and the briefing Kelly & Scott got from their contact, it apeared that Dmitri had been missing for only a week or so. Yet he had already grown a full beard and shoulder length hair, had already become accepted byt he small tribe he lived with. There was also the extreme coincidence that in their search they would just happen to run across the only Russian agent in the entire area changing a flat on his RV.
Some bad editing in the search sequences, Kelly and Scott must have changed clothes in the jeep, as SAM mentioned already.
There was some good verbal by-play between the guys at the hospital, and Culp had some tender moments with the girl, but the best scene to me was the swimming pool scene, where Kelly is flirting with the girls down below, and keeps calling in code for Scotty ("Battle stations, man!" and All hands on deck!"). Then he sees the wire and gets deadly serious, even swinging a chair at Scotty in order to keep him from jumping in the pool. This scene, and the assassination attempt on the girl in the hospital make Nicolai into the one of the most ruthless and determined enemies the guys ever come across.
As for Nicolai himself, there is a good explanation as to why he talks like LBJ, and why it was he who was sent to find Dmitri, though he is not a professional agent, he is Dmitri's old friend, former Commanding Officer, and a dedicated Marxist to boot.
After the guys find out who it is they are looking for, the second search scene lead to a great interchange with the Mexican villagers. Even Scotty's threat of bringing in the Federales doesn't phase these people from their loyalty to Balin, or their pride and indepedence. The local people are treated with more dignity in this episode than is usual for Hollywood's treatment of Latin America even up to the present day. The visit to the tribal village is as much travelogue as entertainment.
Dmitri's explanation for his actions seem a bit far-fetched, but are none the less touching and sypathetic. Kelly's lecture to him about "copping out" doesn't change his mind, and I have always enjoyed the part where Dmitri chastizes Kelly for his typical American intimacy by using his first name in conversation.
When Nicolai shows up, the plot takes a predictable twist, and the ending is inevitable. The guys attempt to turn Dmitri against Nicolai by telling about Nicolai's attempts to kill them, but Dmitri won't believe it until it is too late. The Indians take their vengeance on Nicolai in a gruesome fashion, they apparantly burn him alive, and Kelly and Scott simply walk away and allow it too happen, coldly, but not without some distaste.
Overall, I liked the idea behind the episode, and the it was a bit more imaginative than many Cold War spy plots, though a bit short on action, or on any real sense of urgency. With the somewhat above average plot, the great scenery and music, a few funny lines by the guys, I'll go ahead and give this one a good solid B.
Author: SAM
Date: 11/20/01 10:48:46 PM
Hi Colonel!
Yes indeed I have to go along with you on this one! You also noted the interesting Mexican village scene with the 'locals' extreme loyalty to Dmitri - I thought there was a lot of 'MOOD" in the evening dialogue between Kelly and Dmitri - which proves again that well-written speaking parts, even long ones, don't have to be boring.
(as an aside - has anyone seen the film "Thirteen Days?" - we know the ending, it is 2 1/2 hours of almost all dialoge, but it is fascinating - there were mainly 20 year olds in the audience and they seemed riveted to the screen.)
SAM
Author: Soapy Snide Patterson
Date: 11/21/01 6:39:00 PM
I'll just add that A DAY CALLED 4 JAGUAR evinces a common theme in American literature, and later in American film, known as "going native." It refers to a plot found in countless stories in which a "civilized" member of white society goes among some society of dark skinned "natives" or, worse, "savages," and becomes seduced by some aspects of their "primitive" way of life (you can see Rousseau's "noble savage" here) to the point that he adopts it as his own, and becomes one of them -- to the extent possible. One could surely point to Conrad's HEART OF DARKNESS here. Examples from Hollywood films include all versions of MUTINY ON THE BOUNTY, Anthony Mann's superb 1952 western BROKEN ARROW, with James Stewart going to live among the Apaches; Elliot Silverstein's 1969 A MAN CALLED HORSE, with Richard Harris as an English gentleman who takes up life among one of the eastern US Indian tribes; or, more recently, Michael Apted's 1992 film THUNDERHEART, in which Val Kilmer abandons his job as a serious FBI agent after being strangely seduced by the Sioux of South Dakota (a bit too much mysticism, but still a fine film -- which I had occasion to discuss with Apted in England three years ago).
In each of these stories, as in countless others, the protagonists leave behind 'civilised' society, and join 'primitive' society largely for the reasons articulated by Rory Calhoun's character in 4-JAGUAR.
I have for many years thought 4-JAGUAR was well conceived and executed, but you see it was by no means a wholly 'original' concept. Indeed, one reason it may work so well is that it evokes such deeply familiar themes. As a result, we in Western society have a ready-made 'context' in which to put such stories, conceptually. In other words, it 'makes sense' to us, and easily evokes our sympathies and understanding, as Benkovski has already indicated was his personal reaction.
The idea of "going native" is NOT inherent in all cultures. In many others, it would be anathema to shed one's cultural moorings and take up those of a new and different one. So this narrative is in some important ways 'culturally specific.' We have long romanticised the notion of throwing off our over-civilized way of life, with all its decadent trappings, and going to live among those with a simpler, more 'pure' way of life -- and fewer clothes (that's always part of it).
Perhaps all these things, and more, account for why 4-JAGUAR 'works' for me -- and, apparently, for some of you.
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