Figures in a Landscape (1970) Joseph Losey

Two escaped convicts (Robert Shaw and Malcolm McDowell) are on the run in an unnamed Latin American country. But everywhere they go, they are followed and hounded by a menacing black helicopter.

Director Joseph Losey has finally made the great ambiguous movie he was shooting for with the like of BOOM! and SECRET CEREMONY. The film is startling in its use of the vast scenery the two men find themselves against. Losey's direction has never been so tightly controlled, with sharp, jarring editing and a creepy, sparsely used score by Richard Rodney Bennett. A huge asset is the casting of Robert Shaw (who also scripted) and Malcolm McDowell as the escapees. They have great chemistry...McDowell's naiveté and neediness working well against Shaw's veteran soldier's gruffness. Shaw has a great speech where he recall's the courtship of his wife during "the war." A thrilling, rarely seen, movie!