Days of Violence (Giorni della violenza, I)

DAYS OF VIOLENCE

THE CIVIL WAR IN AMERICA. NORTH AGAINST SOUTH.

THE STATE OF MISSOURI WHICH WAS PART OF THE SOUTH...

...DUE TO ITS GEOGRAPHICAL LOCATION AS WELL AS ITS TRADITION...

...COULDN'T JOIN THE CONFEDERATION OF THE SOUTHERN STATES ANYMORE...

...SINCE IT WAS OCCUPIED BY THE TROOPS OF THE NORTH...

...RIGHT AFTER THE BEGINNING OF THE WAR!

HELPLESSLY AND WITHOUT THE PROTECTION OF AN ARMY...

...THE FARMERS HAD TO WATCH SOLDIERS...

...RAVAGING AND RANSACKING THEIR LAND...

...UNDER THE SUBTERFUGE OF THE LIBERATION OF THE SLAVES.

IN ORDER TO PROTECT THEIR PROPERTY...

...SOME BRAVE MEN FORMED GUERILLA SQUADS...

...TO WAGE AN ANARCHIC PRIVATE WAR AGAINST THE OCCUPYING FORCE.

BUTCH FROM SPRINGFIELD WAS THE LEADER...

...OF ONE OF THOSE REBEL UNITS IN MISSOURI.

Stop it! Let go of me!

No! No!

Let go! No!

No!

Let go! Let go! No!

Let go of me! Let go of me! I don't want to!

- Let go! No! - Hank!

No!

Are you alright, Lizzy?

Watch it, Johs!

Alright now, you listen to me:

Get away from here before Clell comes back!

And if I was in your shoes, I wouldn't come back. Got me?

But you pay me my money first!

Oh yeah... Your money!

Beat it!

What a creep!

He disgusted me ever since he came here.

- It was horrible! - It's all over now.

Come on.

Lizzy, what happened?

Hank tried to rape her in the shed.

- Fortunately I got there early enough. - Oh, Lizzy!

Clell! Clell!

What's wrong, darling? What happened?

Hank...

I just saw him.

If I catch him, I'll teach him a lesson he won't forget.

It's alright, Clell. I've sorted it out.

Clell...

Let me go!

Believe me, I already kicked that bastard's head in.

Would be better if you stayed.

Your brother's right, Clell.

And maybe your wife exaggerated a little.

How can you say that?

Don't forget, I'm the boss here!

And as the boss I worry about my farm...

...from which this damned war has taken all capable men.

We had Hank for only a month. And now we've lost him as well...

...just because of a woman's tears!

You would sell your soul just to save the ranch, wouldn't you?

Of course!

Hank isn't coming back, Mr. Evans.

Well...

Then let's see how you and your brother do all the work by yourselves.

After the elopement of the slaves and the departure of the other men to war.

And the war arrived here.

Fairwood was already occupied by the Yankees.

- When? - Last night.

And the officer who leads them is a merciless guy.

,, West Point Cadet Shooting Match."

- ,,1st prize". - Give me that!

Captain! Where are your good manners?

- Who's there? - Hank Song, Captain.

Come in!

Leave us alone.

It took you a long time to get here.

I'm not giving the orders of which regions should be occupied.

Didn't we make a deal...

...when you arrived as a civilian last month?

Conclude.

I will, Captain.

You'll furnish me with the men tonight - not in uniform, of course.

I'll secure you 50 horses - stolen of course.

But you could say you confiscated them.

Let's say, 50 dollars a horse, which makes the nice sum of...

I can calculate myself!

Stiller! You and your men hide here!

I think, dad wants to send me to Jackson.

Yes, I know.

He's worried, now that the Yankees arrived.

And you? You say nothing to change his mind?

Christine...

You know that I rarely agree with your father's decisions.

But this time I think he's right.

You would be in danger if you stayed.

And what about you?

That's something different.

No, it's not.

If you really loved me, you wouldn't let me go.

But I do love you!

That's why I want you to go.

That's a strange way of showing your love.

I can do better than that.

Open up!

Get down!

Come on, guys!

Halt!

Come on! What are you waiting for? Hunt them down! Kill them!

- Dad, please! - Come on, quick! Move!

These goddamned Yankees!

I won't let them steal my horses or destroy my work!

Johs!

Take cover, fast!

- What should we do, Clell? - We won't make it for long!

Hey, there's a shoot-out down there!

Look!

Horse thieves!

They're Yankees! Let's go!

If they are getting the idea...

...to attack us from behind, we won't have a chance.

There's someone coming.

You guys follow the thieves. You, on top.

The rest, come with me!

We're safe! That's Butch from Springfield.

Hey, you!

Hey, Butch!

Look who's there. Clell und Johs!

- What are you doing here? - We were after the thieves.

- I've seen a herd. Was that yours? - No, Mr. Evans'.

Oh yeah. Send him my compliments. He's a good Southerner!

Let's go. Let's try to catch them.

Why do you want to bore me? Here is the herd.

You're a true friend. Thank you so much.

Me, too. Thanks!

We shot two of those guys.

But the leader and another one escaped.

- Hm... not the full service. - Thanks anyway.

Please. You will have the chance to pay me back.

One day I could come to you and ask for help.

Life in the prairie is tough.

No sleep, oftentimes no food... and no women.

But hey, that's just the shady side!

Why don't you two join us?

Forget about Clell, he's married. But why don't you join us?

You're almost as tough as me.

I could fight an entire company of Yankees on my own!

Nevertheless, they made it to Fairwood already.

Yankees in Fairwood?

I'll take care of them tomorrow.

And you Johs, think about my offer.

Let's go!

Goodbye, my friends.

In good times, bad times and even at war time - viva South America!

I... I really have to thank you.

But you have to do more for this ranch, your place of birth.

We've done what we can already.

You only returned what they had stolen.

But that's not enough!

You have to fight violence with violence!

There are bands calling themselves rebels or guerillas.

But I think of them as patriots!

Become the leader of one of those bands and earn their respect.

Other young men would follow you then!

That's the only way to protect the ranch against robbery.

- By becoming outlaws? - Johs!

- You don't understand. - No...

I understood very well.

Excuse me Mr. Evans, but there's already a war going on.

And you can't start your own private one.

The Yankees may be ransacking.

But in the name of justice and freedom I don't feel like fighting them.

Are you against the South?

I'm against slavery... and injustice.

That's enough! I'm not interested in your personal opinion.

If my ranch is supposed to be ransacked in the name of justice and freedom...

...I don't want you to stay here, Christine.

You're leaving for Jackson tomorrow morning.

And you'll stay with your grandmother until you're out of danger.

Johs will take you to the stagecoach.

Tomorrow morning already...

- Aren't we there yet? - Just a few more miles.

Fine. If this conversation bores you, just tell me!

- Christine... - Christine, Christine!

You didn't do anything yesterday to change his mind!

Your dad never liked seeing us together.

If I asked him to let you stay on the ranch...

...he would have thought...

...I do it only for my self-interest.

Don't you understand?

Johs! The Yankees!

But...

That's Butch from Springfield!

- Hello Butch. - Hello you two.

No, I didn't change sides.

We're going to pay a little visit on the Yankees in Fairwood.

And these costumes are our tickets of admission into town.

And where are you going?

I'm accompanying Ms. Evans to the stagecoach to Jackson.

I advise to stay as far away as you can from this place.

It's going to get crazy down here.

You know, thanks to him we were able to...

...save the herd...