The Adventurers (1970)

Synopsis: Set in anarchic South America, THE ADVENTURERS is a thunderously charged 1970s political action-thriller. Bekim Fehmiu stars as Dax Xenos, a troubled playboy whose politico father was killed during... Set in anarchic South America, THE ADVENTURERS is a thunderously charged 1970s political action-thriller. Bekim Fehmiu stars as Dax Xenos, a troubled playboy whose politico father was killed during a revolution. Searching for enlightenment, Xenos travels from woman to woman in an attempt to cope with his tumultuous childhood. After having an affair with the older and refined widow Deborah Hadley (Olivia de Havilland), he switches gears and falls for the young and sultry Sue Ann Daley (Candice Bergen). The two have a child, but when tragedy strikes and their son is killed, Xenos breaks down and leaves her, opting to seek revenge on his father's murderer, Rojo (Alan Badel). Produced as an end note to the 1960s, THE ADVENTURERS showcases some of the more risqué social trends of the time on both a micro (infidelity, drug use, debauchery, lesbianism) and macro (totalitarianism) scale and then attempts to explain their origins. In one of his darker films, director Lewis Gilbert manages to save viewers from the pitch blackness of utter despair by serving up some of his witty British-isms. Racy nudity and the well timed appearance of Ernest Borgnine as Fat Cat come as welcome bits of comedy relief in this otherwise bleak film. An underrated film that shares themes with works like Shakespeare's HAMLET and Gunter Grass's THE TIN DRUM, the overbearing melancholic truths of THE ADVENTURERS evoke both a crippling sadness for humanity and a hope for future generations to come. [More]

Starring: Charles Aznavour, Candice Bergen, Ernest Borgnine, Olivia de Havilland

Starring: Charles Aznavour, Candice Bergen, Ernest Borgnine, Olivia de Havilland, Bekim Fehmiu, Alan Badel, Leigh Taylor-Young, Rossano Brazzi, Jaclyn Smith, Thommy Berggren

Director: Lewis Gilbert

Director: Lewis Gilbert

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