Produced in 1976 by Warner Bros., The Outlaw Josey Wales, novel (Gone to Texas) by Forrest Carter, directed by and starring Clint Eastwood as a badass rebel on the run.
Eastwood and Ten Bears delivers the most powerful and moving dialogue
Josey- You'll be Ten Bears?
Ten Bears- I am Ten Bears
J- I'm Josey Wales.
TB- I have heard. You're the Grey Rider. You would not make peace with the Blue Coats; You may go in peace.
J- I reckon not. 'have no where to go.
TB- Then you will die.
J- I came here to die with you... or to live with you. Dying ain't so hard for men like you an' me, it's livin' that's hard. When all you've ever cared about's been butchered and raped... Governments don't live together; people live together... Governments don't always give you a fair word or a fair fight. Well, I've come to give you either one. Or get either one from ya. I came here like this so you know my word of death is true; and my word of life is then true... The bear lives here, the wolf, the antelope, the Comanche, and so will we. We'll only hunt what we need to live on, same as the Comanche does. Now every Spring when the grass turns green and the Comanche moves north, we can rest here in peace. Butcher some of our cattle and jerk beef for the journey. The sign of the Comanche, that will be on our lodge. That's my word of life.
TB- And your word of death?
J- Here in my pistols, there in your rifles, I'm here for either one.
TB- These things you say we will have, we already have.
J- This is true. I ain't promisin' you nothin' extra. You're just givin' me life and I'm givin' you life. And I'm sayin' men can live together without butcherin' one another.
TB- It's sad that governments are cheaped by the double tongue. And there is iron in your word of death for all Comanche to see. And so there is iron in your words of life. No signed paper can hold the iron. It must come from men. The words of Ten Bears carries the same iron of life and death. It is good that two warriors such as we meet in the struggle of life... or death. It shall be life.
Eastwood and Ten Bears delivers the most powerful and moving dialogue
Josey- You'll be Ten Bears?
Ten Bears- I am Ten Bears
J- I'm Josey Wales.
TB- I have heard. You're the Grey Rider. You would not make peace with the Blue Coats; You may go in peace.
J- I reckon not. 'have no where to go.
TB- Then you will die.
J- I came here to die with you... or to live with you. Dying ain't so hard for men like you an' me, it's livin' that's hard. When all you've ever cared about's been butchered and raped... Governments don't live together; people live together... Governments don't always give you a fair word or a fair fight. Well, I've come to give you either one. Or get either one from ya. I came here like this so you know my word of death is true; and my word of life is then true... The bear lives here, the wolf, the antelope, the Comanche, and so will we. We'll only hunt what we need to live on, same as the Comanche does. Now every Spring when the grass turns green and the Comanche moves north, we can rest here in peace. Butcher some of our cattle and jerk beef for the journey. The sign of the Comanche, that will be on our lodge. That's my word of life.
TB- And your word of death?
J- Here in my pistols, there in your rifles, I'm here for either one.
TB- These things you say we will have, we already have.
J- This is true. I ain't promisin' you nothin' extra. You're just givin' me life and I'm givin' you life. And I'm sayin' men can live together without butcherin' one another.
TB- It's sad that governments are cheaped by the double tongue. And there is iron in your word of death for all Comanche to see. And so there is iron in your words of life. No signed paper can hold the iron. It must come from men. The words of Ten Bears carries the same iron of life and death. It is good that two warriors such as we meet in the struggle of life... or death. It shall be life.
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I have always loved this movie because they make peace and because Josey cares for so many people. He just seems to collect the helpless and hurt and protect them throughout the movie. It's the way you wish things would have really been.
Will Sampson As Ten Bears! Great movie!
would they communicate in English?
Likewise, enjoi (y)our world and it's beings and know others think the same :-)
It is quite likely they could have communicated in english. Many Indian's were interpreters, scouts etc; and many tribes were sought out as allies during war/s - and forgotten about after the war/s. And in Canada there was "Chinook jargon" that was a hybrid language melding others into a simple, common language system that others used to communicate - included english, french, spanish, Chinese word contributions/variations. American Indian and Canadian First Nations ("First Nations" coined when federal, provincial and Canadian Indians agreed on common terminology for the BC Treaty Commission agreed on legal language/terminology) often became fluent in the languages of the new peoples.
And this is also one of my favourite movies for many of the same reasons listed above, and Chief Dan George was great in this movie too. I've admired and respected how Clint Eastwood showed the human side of Indian's and other cultures in his movies.
This has always been one of my favorite scenes. In particularly "It is good that two warriors such as we meet in the struggle of life... or death." People who know and respect the concept of HONOR! Everyone is used in someway by someone else but that doesn't mean it's a bad thing. Use me well and I will use you well and we will give each other life. Power (i.e. government) makes people forget this and the promise of life, not death.
Hands up to Clint Eastwood for also seeing Chief Dan George in Little Big Man and just had to have him in Outlaw Josey Wales!
Many hours The Late great Chief Dan would call my late Beautiful Mother and they would speak our tongue skwxwu7mesh (Squamish) both fluent as also Chief spoke some (Squamish) in both movies,
Remain In Sweet Peace Mother and Chief.
Xo.
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