'SEPTEMBER DAWN' FAILS HISTORY TEST.Byline: BOB STRAUSS >FILM CRITIC On Sept. 11, 1857, 120 members of a wagon train heading to California were massacred in Mountain Meadows, Utah Mountain Meadows is an area in present-day Washington County Utah. It is a place of rest and grazing used by migrants on the Old Spanish Trail on their way overland to California. On September 11, 1857, the Mountain Meadows Massacre happened here. . Ever since, apparently, survivors and kin of the victims have wanted the Church of Jesus Christ Church of Jesus Christ may refer to:
n. Savage, indiscriminate killing; a massacre. Noun 1. bloodbath - indiscriminate slaughter; "a bloodbath took place when the leaders of the plot surrendered"; "ten days after the . Twenty years TWENTY YEARS. The lapse of twenty years raises a presumption of certain facts, and after such a time, the party against whom the presumption has been raised, will be required to prove a negative to establish his rights. 2. after the event, one Mormon was executed for taking part in the crime; but even today, it seems, there are those who insist it was Paiute Indians, not Mormons, that did the dirty deed. "September Dawn" puts the blame squarely at the feet of religious extremists. It takes pains to acknowledge Mormons were still traumatized by attacks they'd suffered earlier themselves (in a flashback flash·back n. 1. An unexpected recurrence of the effects of a hallucinogenic drug long after its original use. 2. A recurring, intensely vivid mental image of a past traumatic experience. , director Christopher Cain's son, TV's Superman Dean, plays church founder Joseph Smith getting murdered by an angry mob) and that President Buchanan was planning to wrest wrest tr.v. wrest·ed, wrest·ing, wrests 1. To obtain by or as if by pulling with violent twisting movements: wrested the book out of his hands; wrested the islands from the settlers. control of the Utah Territory from Gov. Young at the time. That noted, though, "September Dawn" plays like a movie made by people who don't like Mormons very much. This is not Cain's stated intent -- invoking the, ahem, latter-day symbolism of the Sept. 11 date, he claims it's a commentary on religious fanaticism in general. But even if Cain and co-screenwriter Carole Whang Schutter hold no animosity toward the LDS LDs See: Liquidated damages , the flat-footed fakiness of their story prevents "September Dawn" from feeling historically accurate. When the band of Arkansas travelers enters the area seeking provisions and a place to rest, the locals are naturally wary. But the community leader, a fictional bishop named Jacob Samuelson (Jon Voight), orders hospitality be offered -- while quietly ordering his oldest son, Jonathan (Trent Ford), to spy on the gentiles. Jonathan's way with horses soon endears him to the encamped pioneers, and the genuinely nice young man quickly becomes enchanted en·chant tr.v. en·chant·ed, en·chant·ing, en·chants 1. To cast a spell over; bewitch. 2. To attract and delight; entrance. See Synonyms at charm. by Emily (Tamara Hope), the sweet yet strong-willed daughter of the party's open-minded protestant minister. While this Romeo and Juliet Romeo and Juliet star-crossed lovers die as teenagers. [Br. Lit.: Romeo and Juliet] See : Death, Premature Romeo and Juliet archetypal star-crossed lovers. [Br. Lit. reduction naturally makes Jonathan question the Mormon dogma he's been raised in, his father grows increasingly paranoid. Communications with Young (played with imperious detachment by Terence Stamp) convince Jacob that God indeed wants the wagon train wiped out. The actual massacre is staged, as far as I can surmise, with a good deal of historical accuracy. And it's appalling, as it should be. However, it's also tricked up with extensive melodrama and biblical resonance (the film even manages to work in the most tortured Cain and Abel Cain and Abel In the Hebrew scriptures, the sons of Adam and Eve. According to Genesis, Cain, the firstborn, was a farmer, and his brother Abel was a shepherd. Cain was enraged when God preferred his brother's sacrifice of sheep to his own offering of grain, and he murdered replay imaginable). The director of some decent, modest indie films ("The Stone Boy," "Where the River Runs Black") but, also, of "Young Guns" in his day, Cain has never exactly had a knack for persuasively re-creating the past on screen. Bob Strauss (818) 713-3670 bob.strauss@dailynews.com SEPTEMBER DAWN - Two stars >R: violence, prejudice, children in jeopardy. >Starring: Jon Voight, Trent Ford, Tamara Hope, Terence Stamp. >Director: Christopher Cain. >Running time: 1 hr. 51 min. >Playing: In wide release. >In a nutshell: Too fictionalized for its own historical good. |
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