Dark of the Sun



Dark of the Sun (also known as The Mercenaries in the UK) is a 1968 adventure-war film starring Rod Taylor, Yvette Mimieux, Jim Brown, and Peter Carsten. The film, which was directed by Jack Cardiff, is based on Wilbur Smith's 1965 novel, The Dark of the Sun. The story about a band of mercenaries sent on a dangerous mission during the Congo Crisis was adapted into a screenplay by Ranald MacDougall. Critics condemned the film on its original release for its graphic scenes of violence and torture.

Plot
Sometime in the mid-1960s, mercenary Bruce Curry (Rod Taylor) is hired by Congolese President Ubi (Calvin Lockhart) supposedly to rescue the European residents of an isolated town about to be attacked by rebel Simbas in the Congo. But in reality his mission is to retrieve diamonds, worth fifty million dollars, from a mine company's vault. Curry's subordinates include his friend Ruffo (Jim Brown) and alcoholic Doctor Wreid (Kenneth More). He also reluctantly recruits ex-Nazi Henlein (Peter Carsten) because he needs his military expertise and leadership skills.

The Congolese president provides Curry with the use of a steam train and soldiers. On the way, the train is attacked by a United Nations peacekeeping plane. The mercenaries then pick up Claire (Yvette Mimieux) after they find her house burned down and husband murdered by Simbas. Meanwhile, Henlein, who resents Curry's leadership, begins to cause trouble because the German knows about the diamonds. Things come to a boiling point when he kills two children whom he suspects of being rebel spies. Afterward, Henlein makes romantic advances towards Claire, which Curry interrupts. Curry and Henlein then fight an inconclusive duel which involves a chainsaw. Curry is prepared to kill Henlein, but Ruffo stops him.

Further complications arise when the mercenaries reach the town. First, the diamonds are in a time-locked vault delaying the train's departure. Second, Dr Wreid attends a pregnant woman at a mission hospital and refuses to abandon her. Curry reluctantly agrees to let the doctor stay behind. Back in town, Curry waits anxiously for the vault to open.

The delay allows the Simbas to catch up and begin attacking the town and station. Finally, the train, loaded with the diamonds and fleeing residents, slowly leaves the station under small arms fire, but a mortar round destroys the coupling between the last two carriages. As the rest of the train picks up speed and steams away, the last coach with the diamonds and most of the Europeans on board slowly comes to a stop before rolling downhill back into the Simba-held town.

Curry and Ruffo set out to retrieve the diamonds from the rebels at nightfall. Using a Simba disguise, Ruffo carries Curry's 'lifeless body' into the town's hotel. Its rooms contain graphic scenes (for the film's time period) of male rape, murder and torture. Following a diversion by government soldiers, they get the diamonds and escape in some vehicles. When they run low on fuel, Curry leaves to find some. Henlein uses his absence to kill Ruffo in the mistaken belief that he has the diamonds. Henlein flees into the bush. When Curry returns to find his friend dead, he is filled with murderous revenge. He pursues Henlein and kills him after a vicious fight. Curry then returns to the truck convoy. With his job done, Curry reflects before turning himself in for a court-martial to answer for his actions.

Cast

 * Rod Taylor as Capt. Bruce Curry
 * Yvette Mimieux as Claire
 * Peter Carsten as Capt. Henlein ‡
 * Jim Brown as Sgt Ruffo
 * Kenneth More as Dr. Wreid
 * André Morell as Bussier
 * Olivier Despax as Lt. Surrier
 * Guy Deghy as Delage
 * Bloke Modisane as Kataki
 * Calvin Lockhart as President Ubi
 * Alan Gifford as Jansen
 * David Bauer as Adams
 * Murray Kash as Cochrane
 * John Serret as Father Dominic
 * Danny Daniels as General Moses

‡ This character was based on the German mercenary Siegfried Müller who fought in the Congo during the 1960s. Müller was featured wearing an Iron Cross in a 1966 East German documentary entitled Der lachende Mann (The Laughing Man).

Novel
The script is based on the second published novel by Wilbur Smith. Both the book and the film are a fictional account of the Congo Crisis (1960–1966), when Joseph Mobutu seized power during the First Republic of the Congo after national independence from Belgium.

The conflict in Dark of the Sun juxtaposes the anti-colonial struggle in the province of Katanga within the context of the Cold War. A UN-peacekeeping operation was employed to protect civilians during this brutal secessionist war. Actual violence in the Congo resulted in the deaths of up to 100,000 people.

Smith had just written his first published novel, When the Lion Feeds. He decided to quit his job in the South African taxation office, calculating he had enough money in sales and unclaimed leave to not have to work for two years. "I hired a caravan, parked it in the mountains, and wrote the second book," he said. "I knew it was sort of a watershed. I was 30 years of age, single again, and I could take the chance."

Screenplay
Although the novel is set against the Baluba Rebellion in 1960, the film's screenplay is set during the Simba Rebellion of 1964-65, when mercenaries were recruited by the Congolese government to fight a leftist insurgency. Rod Taylor claimed he rewrote a fair amount of the script himself, including helping devise a new ending.

Filming
Most of the film was shot on location in Jamaica using the country's railway system, taking advantage of a working steam train as well as safety and cost-effectiveness. Interiors were completed at MGM British Studios, Borehamwood near London. At the same time, MGM was filming Graham Greene's The Comedians (1967) in Africa, though the original took place in the Caribbean.

International versions
In the German version, Curry was renamed Willy Krüger and was portrayed as a former Wehrmacht officer who had already clashed with Henlein during World War II because of the latter's fanatical Nazism. The German version also cuts the scene where Henlein murders two Congolese children and is misleadingly entitled Katanga, implying the film takes place during the first Congo emergency in 1961-64, when mercenaries like Müller and 'Mad' Mike Hoare were involved.

The movie was released in France as Last Train from Katanga (Le dernier train du Katanga).

Reception
The film was considered extremely violent for its time showing scenes of civilians being raped and tortured by Simbas. One contemporary reviewer was moved to comment that the director's main objective appeared to be to pack as much sadistic violence into the film's two hours as he could. On the subject of violence director Jack Cardiff commented: "Although it was a very violent story, the actual violence happening in the Congo at that time was much more than I could show in my film; in my research I encountered evidence so revolting I was nauseated. The critics complained of the violent content, but today it would hardly raise an eyebrow."

Martin Scorsese and Quentin Tarantino are two of the film's fans. Scorsese calls the film one of his "guilty pleasures". He elaborated: "This movie-Rod Taylor vs. the Mau Maus-was the most violent I'd seen up to that time. There's a scene where Taylor fights an ex-Nazi with chain saws. In another scene, a train full of refugees has finally escaped the Mau Maus in the valley below-and just as it's about to reach the top of a hill, the power fails, the train goes all the way back down, and the refugees are slaughtered. It's a truly sadistic movie, but it should be seen. I'd guess that because of its utter racism, a lot of people would have found it embarrassing, so they just ignored it. The sense of the film is overwhelmingly violent; there's no consideration for anything else. The answer to everything is 'kill.'" The film was a particular influence on Tarantino, who used several tracks from the score for his movie Inglourious Basterds, which features Rod Taylor in a guest role as Winston Churchill.