Kings Of The Sun maybe one of the very few films ever done about Pre- Columbian America that will not have a single member of the Eastern Hemisphere in it. It's curious the vision that we white folk bring to such an enterprise.
One thing is certain and it's universally certain. The native populace of this hemisphere had its wars and rivalries way before Christopher Columbus, John Cabot or any of their contemporaries ever set a foot in what became North and South America. And romantic rivalries happen every place on the globe.
Such a rivalry occurs in Kings Of The Sun where young king George Chakiris leads some of his key people and commandeers a whole tribe more of them because they have the votes to leave the Yucatan area and go miles up the coast. He's got reason to flee, a really nasty and vicious warrior king played by Leo Gordon has learned the use of metal and he's making weapons of mass destruction. Don't kid yourself in those times, the guy who invented that was on top in either hemisphere. Bearing that in mind, Chakiris flees to fight another day.
The new hybrid tribe sets up further along the coast and they meet up with Yul Brynner's tribe. They look more like American Indians than the Chakiris crowd of Mayans do. I'm not sure how much farther up the coast of the Gulf of Mexico they went and I think the writers left it purposely vague.
Chakiris had to make a bargain that he would marry the chief of the other tribe's daughter in order to put his fleet in operation. She's played by the fetching Shirley Anne Field and Brynner's got the hots for her also. That threatens to rip up a new friendship, especially when Leo Gordon and his crowd comes a calling.
Though Kings Of The Sun is an impressive looking film and the players all perform well, I've a feeling it was intended to be far more ambitious than what eventually came out. Certainly people who are more versed Pre-Columbian native cultures could make a far better comment on the authenticity of it.
One thing is certain and it's universally certain. The native populace of this hemisphere had its wars and rivalries way before Christopher Columbus, John Cabot or any of their contemporaries ever set a foot in what became North and South America. And romantic rivalries happen every place on the globe.
Such a rivalry occurs in Kings Of The Sun where young king George Chakiris leads some of his key people and commandeers a whole tribe more of them because they have the votes to leave the Yucatan area and go miles up the coast. He's got reason to flee, a really nasty and vicious warrior king played by Leo Gordon has learned the use of metal and he's making weapons of mass destruction. Don't kid yourself in those times, the guy who invented that was on top in either hemisphere. Bearing that in mind, Chakiris flees to fight another day.
The new hybrid tribe sets up further along the coast and they meet up with Yul Brynner's tribe. They look more like American Indians than the Chakiris crowd of Mayans do. I'm not sure how much farther up the coast of the Gulf of Mexico they went and I think the writers left it purposely vague.
Chakiris had to make a bargain that he would marry the chief of the other tribe's daughter in order to put his fleet in operation. She's played by the fetching Shirley Anne Field and Brynner's got the hots for her also. That threatens to rip up a new friendship, especially when Leo Gordon and his crowd comes a calling.
Though Kings Of The Sun is an impressive looking film and the players all perform well, I've a feeling it was intended to be far more ambitious than what eventually came out. Certainly people who are more versed Pre-Columbian native cultures could make a far better comment on the authenticity of it.