The Horsemen (1971)

The most famous film ever made about the obscure Afghani sport of buzkashi, John Frankenheimer’s The Horsemen (1971) is an exotic drama that describes the ins and outs of the curious, extremely dangerous contest. Played on horseback, the game involves picking up a decapitated goat and carrying it around a large playing field, all while dodging the vicious whippings of one’s opponents. Truly bizarre stuff, particularly when Omar Sharif and Jack Palance are the ones doing the whipping. Frankenheimer’s film is comprised largely of breathtaking action sequences, but he does capture his horsemen doing mounting of a different sort. Leigh Taylor-Young plays a young groupie who can’t resist her attraction to one lucky buzkashi phenom.