Barbarosa is a 1982 American Western film starring Willie Nelson and Gary Busey.
It is about a young cowboy on the run from the law who partners with a famous bandido and learns about life from him.
"One of the best overlooked westerns of the last 20 years" according to reviewer LG Writer,[citation needed] and featured on an episode of the television show Siskel & Ebert dedicated to uncovering worthy sleepers, it is "a tale of betrayal, vendetta, honor, and dignity".
Barbarosa was the first American-made film by noted Australian director Fred Schepisi.
Young Karl Westover, a post-Civil War Texas farm boy, accidentally kills his brother-in-law and must flee to Mexico.
Barbarosa takes pity on Karl and shows him how to find water, make a fire, and catch an armadillo for his supper.
Filling his sombrero with loot, Barbarosa instructs Karl to gather the rest, and steals away.
Karl is being pursued by Floyd and Otto Pahmeyer, the brothers of the man he killed, sent by their vengeful father.
But in the morning, a stuporous Angel struggles awake to find himself buried to the neck in the desert sand, with the dead heads of Floyd and Otto surrounding him.
Barbarosa and Josefina have a nubile daughter, Juanita, who decides she likes the Gringo Child and hides Karl from searchers in her bed.
Barbarosa twirls his Appaloosa horse in the gate, whooping, displaying his horsemanship and courage, and the bandidos escape at a gallop amid a hail of bloodless gun play.
Climbing out of the Rio Grande canyon, Karl attempts to lend Barbarosa a hand up the final ledge.
When Karl struggles back to the canyon rim that evening he finds Barbarosa waiting beside a campfire.
But Karl reveals his other hand from behind his back, tossing a dead armadillo into Barbarosa's lap.
Suddenly a shot rings out — it is old Mr. Pahmeyer, still seeking to kill Karl for the death of his sons.
Karl buys his horses, but Barbarosa declines to accompany him back to lawful living.
But their laughter turns to screams as Mr. Pahmeyer takes another potshot from the woods, again missing Karl but killing his father.
During a brief split, Karl aids Barbarosa in evading Eduardo Zavala, the most recent young would-be killer sent out by Don Braulio.
He hones his silver crucifix down to a dagger point, wraps his feet in rawhide thongs, and stalks Barbarosa on foot.
Taking Karl's horse, Eduardo makes it back to the hacienda and is greeted as a hero.
Out of the night gallops a red-bearded man in an enormous sombrero on an Appaloosa, whooping and twirling and shooting up the sky.
[3] In a contemporary review, Pauline Kael called it "spirited and satisfying", and offered particular praise for Willie Nelson's unexpectedly "great screen presence".