MOVIES: The Wind and the Lion

Sean Connery and Candice Bergen


In 1904 Mulai Ahmed el Raisuli, known as "El Raisuli, Lord of the Riff." kidnapped American Ion Perdicaris to embarrass his relative the Sultan of Morocco. The incident propelled El Raisuli into a famous international battle of wits battle with U.S. President Theodore Roosevelt. El Raisuli had much to be bitter about as his cousin the Pasha of Tangier had him arrested and chained to a wall for four years. Raisuli regarded the the powers in charge in Morocco as corrupt and beholden to European powers__his revenge kidnap an American citizen and embarrass the Sultan of Morocco. However the Raisuli was a hard man for Roosevelt to understand__ Raisuli was known for his chivalry and the befriending of the hostages he ransomed, protecting them from any harm, yet he had another side__ once burning out the eyes out of a Moroccan emissary and returning his head to the Pasha in a basket of melons. In 1975, filmmaker John Milius created a highly fictionalized account of the "Perdicaris Incident" called, "The Wind and the Lion," staring Sean Connery as, El Raisuli, Lord of the Riff. It turned into one of Connery's best performances. Milius film took much liberty with the story changing Ion Perdicaris into a woman Eden Perdicaris played by Candice Bergen. However, Milius succeeded in essentially capturing the spirit and personality of Raisuli and the tension that played back and forth between the Raisuli and Roosevelt. The element of the film that most helped capture this spirit and adventure was the film's music score written by Jerry Goldsmith, famous now for composing the music for the Star Trek movies and numerous other films. The score for the Wind and the Lion was one of Goldsmith's best and also one of the most beautiful film scores ever written. (see video below to listen) Today the Raisuli would be seen by many in the U.S. as a terrorist, but in 1904 he was considered by many as a romantic hero. The Wind and the Lion has also gained considerable recognition in the Islamic world for its accurate depiction of the spirit and nature of Berber life.