Legends of the Fall
Epic tale of three brothers and their father living in the remote wilderness of 1900s USA and how their lives are affected by nature, history, war, and love.
- Director:Edward Zwick
- Genre:Drama / Romance / Western
- Runtime:128 minutes
Cast
Brad Pitt : Tristan Ludlow
Anthony Hopkins : Col. William Ludlow
Aidan Quinn : Alfred Ludlow
Julia Ormond : Susannah Fincannon Ludlow
Henry Thomas : Samuel Ludlow
Sick of the betrayals the United States government has perpetrated on the Native Americans, Colonel William Ludlow (Anthony Hopkins) retires to a remote part of Montana with One Stab, a Native American friend and narrator of the film, where they build a ranch. Accompanying them are hired hand Decker, Decker’s Cree wife, Pet and their daughter, Isabel Two. The Colonel’s wife, Isabel, does not adapt to the harsh winters and soon leaves to live on the East Coast. Colonel Ludlow has three sons: Alfred, the eldest, is responsible and cautious; Tristan is wild and well versed in American Indian traditions; Samuel, the youngest, is educated but naive and is constantly watched over by his brothers.
At age 12, Tristan tries to sneak up on and touch a sleeping grizzly bear. The bear awakens and slashes at Tristan, injuring him, but he stabs at the bear’s paw and manages to cut off a claw. The bear limps away.
As the boys grow up, Samuel returns from Harvard with his fiancée, Susannah Fincannon. She finds Tristan’s wild charisma captivating, and she is conflicted over this because she loves Samuel. Before they can marry, Samuel tells his family that he is leaving for Calgary to join the Canadian Expeditionary Force, and serve England[2] in the fight against Germany. Much to their father’s displeasure, Alfred and Tristan go with him.
During World War I, the brothers find themselves in the 10th Battalion, CEF.[3] Alfred, commissioned as an officer, leads a mass charge into no man’s land, possibly an offensive during the 2nd Battle of Ypres (see below), although the date in the narration is given as February 1915, rather than the real date of April-May. Tristan abandons his own unit to be at Samuel’s side. The attack is repulsed with heavy casualties, and Alfred is wounded. While visiting Alfred in the field hospital, Tristan learns that Samuel has volunteered for a dangerous reconnaissance mission. He rushes off frantically to protect his younger brother but arrives too late to save him from being gassed and fatally machine gunned. Devastated, Tristan holds Samuel until he dies. Then, in tears, Tristan cuts out Samuel’s heart, which he sends home to be buried on his father’s ranch. Seething with hatred, Tristan single-handedly raids behind German lines, killing the gunners responsible for Samuel’s death. To the horror of his fellow soldiers, he returns to camp the following morning with the scalps of German soldiers hanging around his neck. He is discharged from army service but doesn’t go home – a deleted scene on the DVD shows him in a psychiatric hospital.) In the meantime, Alfred returns to Montana and proposes marriage to Susannah, but she declines.
Tristan returns home, where Susannah finds him weeping over Samuel’s grave. Trying to comfort him, they become lovers. A jealous Alfred confronts Tristan and later leaves to make his name in Helena. Tristan’s relationship with Susannah is doomed by his guilt and pain for failing to protect Samuel, as well as feeling responsible for driving Alfred away. These demons force him to go travelling again, chasing him all over the globe. Back at the ranch, Susannah waits for him but eventually receives a letter: “All we had is dead. As I am dead. Marry another.” Alfred finds her weeping on the porch and tries to comfort her. Colonel Ludlow finds them together, leading to a huge row and they fall out. Colonel Ludlow has a stroke later. He doesn’t speak for years and the ranch deteriorates. Eventually, Susannah agrees to marry Alfred, who is now a congressman. Alfred’s business and politics cause him to get involved with the O’Banion brothers, Irish bootleggers and gangsters. Read more
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