Big emotions, big images. “Legends of Passion” is classic narrative cinema, the likes of which are hard to come by these days. Luckily there’s Netflix, where you can watch the film with Brad Pitt right now with a convenient subscription.
In Quentin Tarantino’s “Inglourious Basterds”, Brad Pitt (currently in theatres with “Babylon – Rausch der Ekstase”) took on the iconic role of Lieutenant Aldo Raine, who demanded one thing from every single member of his Jewish fighting force: 100 Nazi scalps! In doing so, the character was referring to his indigenous ancestors who dealt with the corpses of their enemies in the same way. But Brad Pitt and scalps are not only in “Inglourious Basterds”.
In “Legends of Passion” by Edward Zwick (“The Last Samurai”), however, it is not Brad Pitt who gives the order to scalp the enemies. Instead, as Tristan Ludlow, he is here in the First World War – and takes on the gruesome trade himself! Fittingly: There is also an indigenous context in Legends of Passion, as Brad Pitt’s character was socialised by, among others, a Native American named Ein-Stich (Gordon Tootoosis). But with that, the 1994 epic, which can be streamed on a Netflix subscription, really picks up steam…
THIS IS WHAT “LEGENDS OF PASSION” IS ABOUT
Colonel William Ludlow (Anthony Hopkins) and his three sons Samuel (Thomas Henry), Tristan (Brad Pitt) and Alfred (Aidan Quinn) live in the Rocky Mountains at the beginning of the 20th century. Shortly before the outbreak of the First World War, the relationship between the three brothers is put to the test: Alfred falls in love with Susannah (Julia Ormond), Samuel’s fiancée, who in turn has feelings for Tristan. When the brothers decide to go to the front against their father’s wishes, the family bond threatens to break.
While the bloody conflict in the First World War costs Samuel his life, Tristan fully succumbs to his feelings of guilt for his brother’s death and disappears from the scene for several years. When he finally returns to his father’s farm as a wily horse trader and bootlegger, Alfted is married to Susannah and working in politics as a congressman. The brothers’ relationship is put to the test and they gradually become rivals – even in the battle for Susannah’s love.
A STUNNING EPIC
What was still commonplace in the 1990s is nowadays – and this sounds a bit absurd – still being pursued by James Cameron of all people: classic narrative cinema. Yes, “Avatar – Aufbruch nach Pandora” and “Avatar: The Way Of Water” also function as expansive screen epics that rely on big emotions and even bigger images. It is no wonder that “Avatar” is also always accused that James Cameron has made extensive use of Kevin Costner’s “Dances With Wolves” – perhaps the most impressive representative of narrative cinema of the 1990s.
Legends of Passion” also blows this horn and tells the story of a family whose life is dominated by love and death from different perspectives and over several decades. Edward Zwick’s homeland film, old-fashioned in the best sense of the word, is not concerned with the historical accuracy that the historical setting might demand at first glance. Instead, the director is steadfastly interested in overwhelming the audience through images and emotions. And here we are again on the subject.
Edward Zwick, who already has a knack for great, gorgeously illustrated cinema, takes the audience by the hand with all his narrative and directorial prudence and leads them through this story, which visibly gains in heartbreak, Brad Pitt and Julia Ormond, who pine for each other but just can’t get together, are an absolute dream couple, deeply moving in their equally animalistic and gentle passion.
So if you want to be transported back to a time when storytelling was the highest priority, you should definitely watch “Legends of Passion”. As if wrapped in a soft woollen blanket, director Edward Zwick transports us into an epic overflowing with emotion that touches and impresses. The shots of an unruly American landscape are a feast for the eyes (and John Toll’s camerawork was quite deservedly awarded an Oscar). And when Brad Pitt looks the audience straight in the eyes with a languorous gaze in the pelting rain, you have already lost your heart to the film anyway.
