VERA CRUZ

By
AndersonTroy
– June 26, 2011Posted in: V

 

THE PLOT THUS FAR

During the Mexican Rebellion of 1866, an unsavory group of American adventurers are hired by the forces of Emporer Maximilian to escort a countess to Vera Cruz.

WHAT WE THOUGHT

“Shoeshine,” is one of the most devastating films of all time about good youth in bad trouble, is really about what this separation of hands implies. They and we are thrust amid uncaring officials, in a prison that seems like a slow-to-die fascist institution in this post-fascist Italy. A prison inspector still imparts, involuntarily, the fascist salute. The upraised hand of the fascist salute contrasts with the desperate friendship and fraternal love in the hands of the two boys, Pasquale and Giuseppe, whom the system will hurt in the worst way possible, by separating them, by turning one against the other, by causing one to be responsible for the death of the other.

Many of the ex-Confederates decided to go to Mexico, because during the Civil War Maximillian was pro-Southern (as Juarez was pro-Northern), and the French who supported Maximillian were pro-Confederate (unofficially) as well. Napoleon III of France saw the Confederates as one of those “nationalities” he championed in the name of his uncle’s so-called revolutionary principles. He also had a belief that the United States was growing too potentially powerful. Throughout the first two years of the war, while Lee and Jackson were doing so well in the East, Napoleon III did all he could to get the British and himself to coordinate mediating a peaceful (i.e. “pro-Confederate”) solution to the war. But every time it looked like that would occur, there would be a Northern victory (Antietam Creek, Gettysburg) that upset the plan. Also the release of the Emancipation Proclamation in January 1863 muddied the waters. It reminded the people of France and Britain that the South favored slavery.

Napoleon III was hoping a Southern victory would ensure his puppet Maximillian’s Empire in Mexico would be secure. During the war he had conferences with a former Senator from California, Dr. William Gwinn, who was pro-Confederate. Gwin wanted to have a portion of the Sonora state of Mexico set aside for Confederate emigrants to farm and mine.

The Blu-Ray comes with no special features. But, you get amazing A/V Quality that almost maxes out the complete 50 gigs of space on the disc. The transfer is flawless with a surprisingly strong uncompressed audio track that makes the old world Western aesthetic come to life. While I know that not everyone is a fan of Westerns, this is something special. I’d recommend a purchase.

RELEASE DATE: OUT NOW!

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